Scrathbuilding plans

[oceanlink]

Does anyone know of any sites or areas that provide plans(inc dimensions, etc) of buildings to model ? in OO

I am keen to try and develop this side of my layout, but would like to see some buildings with which I could adapt.

Anything of modern era is of particular interest.

 

Cheers

[scanman]

Hi -

 

From personal experience - not really! If the building is modern, an approach to the local authority planning department might lead to the consulting architect (some buildings have these details on commemorative plaques etc in the entrance area. Failing that, a 'press appel' for info in the local paper might get results? Howwever, architects drawings are usually 'overkill' in the details.

 

Probably the best way it to make your own drawings. Make a site visit armed with camera, notepaper, tape (a 30m 'open face' Draper is the best bet - dries relatively quickly if it gets wet, & there's little to 'jam up' if it gets dirty). Before this, contact the buildings occupants and ask permission. If working from a piublic area you actually dont need permission - but it is courteous to ask. Explain why you want the info & if possible provide evidence of previous work (proves your bona fides - important in these days of heightened security etc).

 

I also take a collapsible plastic pole, painted alternating red & white at 1' 0' intervals. Placed vertically against against the ground floor wall and photographing to get (if possible) the full hieght, the image provides an easy way to calculate the height of the building. If the building is brick-faced, remeber the standard brick since the early 19th century is 9" long, 4" deep and 3" high. E.g 4 brick courses is 1' 0".

 

Take more measurements and photos than you think you'll need. Re-visitng the site wastes valuable modelling time! Often you will 'mod' the building to fit a particular area of the baseboard. If you don't. and the owners have been co-operative, send them a photo of the completed model.

 

If the building is 'trackside' - ie inside the railway's boundary fence do not trespass. The average fine is about £1000 - and the information is normally available from Network Rail through their customer services department (initially).

 

Hope this helps

 

Regs

 

Ian

[rovex]

When I was living in Leeds, I found a visit to the Local City Archives very useful, the tended to have full plans for most buildings built between 1880's up to about 1960 or so. The earlier plans were drawn to a scale of 8ft to the inch, which worked out at about 1:96. You can of course enlarge them on a photocopier, but I found that subject to stretching the ground floors to give doors big enough for people to get in and out of, the size of most Victorian city buildings was such that they were still prety impressive built to 1:96.

 

The archives won't have railway buildings as generally these were free of planning restrictions.

 

Some archives are better than others, A recent visit to Birmingham City Archives was disappointing as the City planners in the seventies threw a lot of the old plans away as being of no interest.

 

As for generic village style buildings I did buy a book back in the late 70's which had a number of village style plans (shops, cottages and even a church) I have seen the same plans available on cd-rom ( I think) on ebay and also there is someone on there that sells cd-roms of buildings, which would probably be adaptable.

 

Getting plans from the current city planners can be difficult because of the issues surrounding copyright.

 

Rovex