As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve always wanted to model an urban setting. Still, building kits have traditionally been prohibitively expensive with limited styles. The Outland Scale Models urban collection of buildings has many affordable options that offer a great deal of utility and versatility. As my layout design incorporates a large city as a backdrop, I do not need to model all four sides of a structure, meaning I’ve roughly converted 19 kits into 32 unique designs. I didn’t purchase the kits solely based on their front facades’ but also their side and rear walls as they were uninspired, plane, and did an excellent job of representing monotonous structures.
I’m building the city on a raised platform above the tracks to elevate the railroad’s skyline. The kids I purchased didn’t align with any design; I bought multiples of buildings I thought had utility, so the city’s arrangement was very haphazard, like putting together a puzzle without a plan.
I numbered every kit and removed the front and rear faces, and mounted them to blocks of Styrofoam with a few dabs of glue gun. I pushed a few nails into each structure’s base for weight as the styrofoam buildings are quite unsteady. Based on the track plan’s design, I spent weeks rearranging and modifying buildings to create a visually intriguing city with lots of different structures in random Heights arranged in a semi-plausible fashion. Select structures will be elevated several stories beyond their base, but it won’t matter as their bases will be hidden. Finalizing the baseboard levels will allow me to install the fascia and complete the railroad’s footprint.
There will be many hours dedicated to building and detailing the city platform itself. I will need to establish roadways retaining walls, and barriers before adding the completed highrises.
