Fancy a go at scratchbuilding

[stannyblade]

Anyone know of a guide for us novices? Or anybody care to do a quick guide for us?

What program do you use to design the build?

[micknich2003]

Gavin, if you mention what exactly you intend to have a go at, we may be able to help.

[stannyblade]

Houses, shops etc but just don't know where to start

[Sandy Harper]

Gavin

Are you a competent kit builder? \if so a good photograph or/and plan, is a good starting base.

 

If you have never built a kit then I wold suggest that you try one of the card kits that are easily obtainable to 'get the feel' of what is required. Once you have built one you will see lots of ways to improve the build and then you are on your way!

 

I started scratch building plastic wagons after I bought a kit and a selection of styrene sheets. By using the measurements from the kit , I made my own 'kit'.

 

Failing that, Wild Swan do a good selection of books on making buildings (other book suppliers are available!)

 

Sandy

[Stubby47]

I find making a copy of a real building easier than making a model of something I've made up.

So, find a suitable subject, take plenty of reference photos and measurements, then using some old cereal packets, draw up some wall shapes with cut outs for windows.

The finish of your building can be covered in a suitable downloaded texture sheet. Windows and doors can be purchased from several suppliers, or made from styrene microstrip.

 

Allan Downes once said "a building is just a few boxes stuck together".

 

Whatever you do, don't expect perfection first time, but try, try, try again.

 

And add lots of photos to your build thread so we can all point out all the errors ( sorry, make helpful suggestions!)

[teaky]

You could consider one of the Wills Craftsman series of kits.  They come with a set of plans and all the materials you need but require all the main parts to be cut from basic sheets.  They are a straightforward stepping stone from a pure kit of parts.  You don't need to build exactly to plan and could modify the plan provided before you begin thereby achieving a kin of semi-scratchbuild.  It all depends on what you've done previously and how much you wish to experiment.

 

Sandy Harper's recommendation regarding Wild Swan books is a good one.  Plastic Structure Kits by Iain Rice,  Architectural Modelling by Dave Rowe and Creating Model Buildings by Geoff Taylor are all excellent books.  None of them, however, use computer based design, so that doesn't answer one of your original questions I'm afraid.