smjsome Posted June 8, 2019 Share Posted June 8, 2019 My husband is building an N scale mode train scene, new hobby for him, so we hit all the stores in KC over the last few weeks. For my 144 scale, 1/4 scale, and 1/2 scale I’ve found all kinds of details, windows, fences, etc. apparently all the old wood stuff is not the in thing any more so they’ve been basically clearance pricing them for me, but today was the best, the man who owned the shop told me his train store used to belong to a woman named carol and was a dollhouse store, he pulled out a bunch of old molding - I said price? He said I got it for free, you can have it for free! Yay! We were there for hours, and it was a very chaotic shop, being as I was a librarian in a previous life I was sorting and pricing his piles for him, he said thank you for not charging me for working! Funny thing, in St. Louis at a dollhouse garage sale at the museum, the ladies sold my husband a huge box of train stuff for $2. I guess one or the other they are getting rid of stuff it was a fun day, because today we also went to the Kc dollhouse show! Trains and dollhouses all day! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted June 9, 2019 Share Posted June 9, 2019 Hobby shops are great sources! I have used the paper "grass" sheets in landscaping and there's a polystyrene channel molding that makes nice banister railing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smjsome Posted June 9, 2019 Author Share Posted June 9, 2019 Oh yes, flower foam and roofing materials too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kells Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 Dang, too bad you're doing N scale. The base of my Queen Anne was filled with HO scale train buildings when I bought it. The owners just left it in and hoped there was something I could use. Nope, nada, that's all still in boxes . . . somewhere. I could build an entire Bavarian mountain village were I so inclined, which I am not. I need to dig that stuff out and sell it. Speaking of train stuff, I am intermittently on the hunt for a G scale water tower. They're about 17" tall so should be perfect for a water tower on top of a 1/12 apartment building. That's what I want to do with my Barstow Belle. I keep getting outbid for them on Ebay but that's because it's not that important to me and I'll only do it if I can get a bargain! Below is a pic of what I'm looking for, although there are many different models from various manufacturers. I'm not a model railroad expert so I'm flying a bit blind on this one. Also, some of that G scale stuff works for 1/12, as others have pointed out. Here's a 1/24 G Scale window from Grandt Line that I used on an old farmhouse. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Grandt-Line-G-3919-Plastic-Parts-Window-Diamond-Patterned-1-24-Scale/391125279880?epid=1134144261&hash=item5b10e22488:g:W8QAAOSwEeFVO6uH:sc:USPSFirstClass!85013!US!-1 I've since colored in the mullioned sections with various mixed colors of stained glass medium. That house is buried behind a mountain of my mother's miniatures or I'd take current photos of it. Below are a couple "In Progress" pics from quite a long time ago. You can see the G Scale window in them and how well it works with the scale. The house is finished (mostly) and is no longer quite so bare and ill-fitted as it appears in these pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smjsome Posted June 11, 2019 Author Share Posted June 11, 2019 Oh, I saw one of those this weekend and pondered it. I didn't get it because I’m mostly working smaller scales, and there was only one. When we go back I may have to get it! I never thought of doing a special one window i will keep my eye out for a water tower, I confess I’m unsure of at scale, I don’t know that I’ve seen that scale, but since I usually go straight to smaller scales, maybe I missed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Morning Glory Posted July 17, 2019 Share Posted July 17, 2019 I have been working in quarter scale lately. I chose the scale because the houses don't take up so much space in my house, and because the scale overlapped well with the train hobbyists. I can go to dollhouse shows AND train shows to hunt for supplies! 1:48 Quarter Scale is about the same scale as O scale in the model train world. In some locations O scale is 1:43, but they both blend well. O scale is the scale that the big, older model trains used in the 1930s, and it is having a bit of a revival lately. HO stands for half of O scale, and is about 1:87. The O scale train houses often lack quality, and are made from cheap plastic. The real treasures can be found in the landscaping supplies. Ground powdered greenery and moss is cheap, and great for filling in a few bare spots around shrubbery, in the base of flower pots, or as shrubbery and vines in the smaller scales. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debsrand56 Posted July 17, 2019 Share Posted July 17, 2019 I never knew that's what HO stands for, although it makes sense. There's something similar for half-scale and G scale. (Check out Debora's fabulous garden railroad set-up, with good quality half scale buildings.) I sometimes can find what I need by searching G scale, when searching half-scale or 1:24 turns up nothing. Our closest local store is Dollhouses, Trains and More, and I am in heaven every time we go there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smjsome Posted July 17, 2019 Author Share Posted July 17, 2019 And if you are very lucky you can find some older fencing, house bits, etc, they are usually in wood. I’ve also bought street lights! and small scale tunnel entrances and used them for larger scale house fireplaces.! Just never know what what you’ll find. I found some N scale animals to use in my 1:144 houses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted July 17, 2019 Share Posted July 17, 2019 5 hours ago, smjsome said: ...small scale tunnel entrances and used them for larger scale house fireplaces... I used culvert surrounds for some of the chimneybreasts in my Faifields. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smjsome Posted August 5, 2019 Author Share Posted August 5, 2019 That is great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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