Making A Start In Scratch Building - Modern Industrial Units

In this blog, we take a look at one of our scratch builder's basic blank sets.

 Designed to give you a head start with scratch-building.

Have you ever looked at those layouts at model shows, online & in magazines that feature fantastic-looking scratch-built buildings? Then thought they look amazing, but I'll never be able to do anything like that. Maybe you don't feel confident about trying a scratch-building project & just keep putting it off having a go. At some point, I'm sure there will be a point on your layout build, when you may need a bespoke or custom-built building or structure, to fit a certain scene or even that corner of your layout that just crying out for something.

Trying to find or find someone who can create or build that custom bespoke building can be time-consuming. So learning to scratch build is one aspect of the hobby that helps you develop new skills, as well as try out new modelling methods. Creating a building or structure that you scratch-built, is something to be proud of. It certainly also gives your layout a unique bespoke building or structure which could be a focal or talking point. For beginners & seasoned modellers alike looking to take their first steps in scratch-building, we have a growing range of items for your scratch-building needs. In particular, some are perfect for newbies to have a go at their first scratch-building project.

One of these is our LX308 which is available in both OO scale & N scale. The LX308 is an Ultra-Low Relief Industrial Unit / Warehouse End Wall Blanks set. It contains two large end wall blanks & two smaller end wall blanks. The blanks feature two openings with removable blank infill pieces. These can be cut & released to reveal the two openings. These openings could be used as doorways, windows, or perhaps as an opening for vents, grilles, ducting, or pipework maybe. One of the openings is higher up the wall & can be used as a fire escape door leading onto an outside staircase for example.

'The blanks what do you recommend I cover them with?'

For wall coverings on the faces of the blanks, plasticard sheets, cardboard, card, or our photo-realistic wall texture sheets make great ways to achieve a realistic finish quickly and effectively.

'If I want to paint the blanks, what paints would you suggest?'

Acrylic paints, both brush-on and acrylic matt aerosol spray can paint, are good ones to use for painting.

‘Are the blanks easy to cut?’

Yes they are easy to cut, just use a saw or a powered electric jig saw for example, but with them being made from MDF you will need to wear a suitable mask and ideally work outdoors to avoid breathing any of the dust in.

‘Do they take long to assemble?’

They are quick & easy to assemble. Use suitable glue like PVA, Roket Card Glue, Super Phatic Glue, or Laser Cut Kit Glue.

Can you give me some ideas on how to use these?

Yes sure. We'll look at some customers' & club members' scratch-build projects that have used the LX308 blank sets. Plus a couple of full relief buildings to get your creative ideas going.

Customer/club member projects

in this example above, Club member Digger Evans has gone for the painted wall finish with his LX308 blanks. Digger has also added nicely done subtle weathering. The weathering has been applied in various places that you would expect to see on buildings of this type. Digger has also added extra details such as a company name, a loading bay with a security roller shutter door, drain piping, cables, an extractor fan, and fire doors with a stairway. Digger is using this as a low-relief industrial building for his layout.

in this next example above, Stuart Boughey has gone for the texture wrap method for the wall finish. Stuart has used the TX140-OO Corrugated Industrial Unit Panelling in a weathered Green finish. He's only used one of the doorway openings on his scratch build, with the other doorway left blank. Other details included a fire escape, industrial vent fans, drain pipes & a CCTV camera. This scene is a diorama that Stuart built for a modelling competition, which also includes a street scene & part of a railway station. Stuart says he really enjoyed creating this diorama & adding all the little details.

In the image above, club member Tiddlesbury has modelled the LX308 with cladding sheeting. This has been painted & suitably weathered to give a gritty industrial urban look which really sets the scene. Other scratch-build details have been added in the form of drain pipes, as well as corrugated roofing too. Note that the roof & building stand a little proud of the backscene to give further depth to the building. To add further scenic interest, the unit has been positioned on top of a small embankment with palisade fencing & some clutter in the form of pallets & items of litter that you generally find in urban industrial locations such as this.

Half Relief

Moving on now to half relief structure now. SMGS Park is currently working on a scratch-building project which features a half-relief industrial building. Here you can see that the roof & also a side wall has been added to extend the relief of the building. This has been done using card, greyboard, or MDF offcuts. Roof edging has been given some extra cladding which adds further detail & interest to the SMGS Park scratch build.

Over on the left-hand side in the photo above SMGS Park has further adapted some of the other LX308 blanks by cutting them in half to create the wall core base sections for another building. The cross braces have been fitted on the top of the walls, and are ready to take the roof coverings. So it's always worth keeping those offcuts, as they can come in handy for modelling projects.

Full Relief

Full buildings now. The LX308 blanks can be used to scratch build & create a full building or buildings. With the addition of either another LX308 blanks kit along MDF, wood, plywood, etc, for additional walls & roofing. In this impressive example by David Ranger, David has created a scratch-built warehouse logistics depot. He's used a number of LX308 blanks kits for the main walls of the building. Then for the roof, David has used card or MDF sheets which have been clad in our Photo Realistic texture sheets.

David has added other details including flood lights, loading bay dock shelters, vents, and extractor fans to name a few details. In front of the loading bays, David has also made the trailer bays for each loading bay. Perfect for displaying diecast trucks.

Here's one we did earlier…

In the words of Blue Peter, here's one I made earlier. In my own example of using the LX308 blanks, I've scratch-built a small Royal Mail depot for my own layout. For this, I used the two smaller blank end units from the LX308 kit, & cut some MDF sheets to form the roof as well as the other two side walls. This I then clad in greyboard card & our photo-realistic texture sheets featuring corrugated weathered cladding. Other details were then added, such as loading bay dock shelters, windows, doors & roller shutter doors. Other details including flood lights, a canopy & signage were also added.

So to recap…

We hope that this brief look at using the LX308-OO / LX308-N blanks kit will help inspire you to possibly have a go at your scratch-building projects. Use the blank end units as a starting point & let your imagination, create ideas for using them to make your own bespoke scratch build for your layout.

Can you show me more?

Over on our community website, we have a series of articles that covers how the LX308-OO was used to create my Royal Mail depot. Starting at LX308 (Part 1) Low Relief Warehouse Scratch Build in the link here.

What other items in your range do you do for scratch building?

All sorts of bits & pieces from texture sheets to laser-cut items.

• For OO scale click here.
• For N scale click here.
• For O gauge click here.
• For HO scale click here.

HAPPY MODELLING