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Bill Webb posted:

Doug, don’t know of replicas from the movie but Dept 56 has a North Pole series of buildings and people that offers quality and a large selection. Lots of people use it with trains.

 

I do have a few of them, but I want to build building just like the ones in the movie for my Christmas layout...If I was rich I could have Traworks build them.....LOL

I know Lionel makes the "Hero Boy's" home. That's all I've seen. I wish they would expand the Polar Express buildings too. Lots of potential with Billy's "wrong side of tracks" home, Herpolsheimer's  Department Store, etc. as well as, some of the North Pole buildings. I'm sure if Lionel didn't have the rights to Polar Express someone like Department 56 would be able to make something too.

Well... i am building an O scale 1:48 replica of the workshop santa walks out of when he first appears... its a building that was inspired from the pullman clocktower building.  This is my attempt at Polex - 3 rail scale.  I would be more than happy to discuss building with you.

here is an unpainted portion of the left side, it's also dry fit...so not fully glued together yet.  This is over 100 seperate pieces glued together.  this is just a proof of concept... as its missing a lot of the trim features (as you'll see in the screenshot from the movie below).  i just want to first get the bones, then add the detail.

unpainted

here is screenshot of the actual building

screenshot

 

here are some pieces...for reference.  It's a fair bit of work but the size allows for extreme customization.

i have a signature Polar express train that was just released... waiting on the cars.  i contacted the pullman historical society and they straight up sent me schematics which i have used to make an extremely accurate 3d model on sketchup as a reference.  I am using Hirst arts molds to cast portions of brick in resin and then fitting them together like legos.  Hirst Arts molds are extremely versitile and i highly reccomend them if you are crafty.  these are from his recent "ruined brick" and "above ground" brick molds.  he has other brick molds coming in the future but it can take months before he releases new sets.  that being said, i believe the clocktower workshop is completely buildable with just those two molds.  it will however take considerable amount of time.  i am using resin but you can also use dental stone (kind of like very hard porcelain) and its considerably cheaper especially if you can pick it up from a dental supply company so you dont have to pay shipping.  Resin takes finesse so you don't ruin the molds but i have proven that you can pull resin from a mold a 100 times with my approach (dont spare the mold release!). 

after i finish this one, i am going to do the large mansion across from the workshop, and then a bunch of smaller buildings and the arcade of arches that go around the large tree... 

to my knowledge this will be the most ambitious and true to scale model of the north pole buildings ever attempted.  once i finish i could make up some speed molds (make my own molds of already assembled faces of the building) so i could replicate a couple.  keep in mind that i am only doing this in 1:48 scale.  that means this building is just shy of 3 feet tall at the clock tower and it will be 15 lbs probably because its cast resin.  

its such a large project that i'm also having it double as a dollhouse for my daughter... and casting christmas themed furniture to go with it... the furniture is a little larger than true o scale however, its something more akin to warhammer tabletop scale (if you're familiar with that)  humanoid figures usually stand 30mm tall in that scale.  

I would love to talk about this with anyone who is interested.  i have thought about altering the model so it could be 3d printed at smaller scales, but thats a lot of work for something im not interested in myself... my models are only meant to keep very accurate measurement reference and ratios, the walls have no thickness and couldnt be printed out as i  have created it... as well as the fact that the whole model would have to be broken into seperate parts because its so tall and large.

here is the model i made, only half of the front... 

 

and just to give you an idea of the 2nd building im doing... which will be easier than this **** clock tower

circled in green

It will have interior LED lighting.  I am still brainstorming ideas on how to accurately add the christmas lights.  a lot of other folks use some very small string LED lights that are just too big... i think im going to drill a lot of small holes and back light from the inside.  should give the most accurate effect for the trim christmas lights.  i am trying to have the workshop done by christmas, and the mansion done by july 2019...

Last edited by ZenGardenRails
ZenGardenRails posted:

well... i am building an O scale 1:48 replica of the workshop santa walks out of when he first appears... its a building that was inspired from the pullman clocktower building.  This is my attempt at Polex - 3 rail scale.

here is an unpainted portion of the left side, its also dry fit...so not fully glued together yet.  this is over 100 seperate pieces glued together.  this is just a proof of concept...as its missing a lot of the trim features as youll see in the screenshot from the movie.  i just want to first get the bones, then add the detail.

unpainted

here is screenshot of the actual building

screenshot

 

here are some pieces...for reference.  It's a fair bit of work but the size allows for extreme customization.

i have a signature Polar express train that was just released... waiting on the cars.  i contacted the pullman historical society and they straight up sent me schematics which i have used to make an extremely accurate 3d model on sketchup as a reference.  I am using Hirst arts molds to cast portions of brick in resin and then fitting them together like legos.

after i finish this one, i am going to do the large mansion across from the workshop, and then a bunch of smaller buildings and the arcade of arches that go around the large tree... 

to my knowledge this will be the most ambitious and true to scale model of the north pole buildings ever attempted.  once i finish i could make up some speed molds so i could replicate a couple.  keep in mind that i am only doing this in 1:48 scale.  that means this building is just shy of 3 feet tall at the clock tower and it will be 15 lbs probably because its cast resin.  

its such a large project that im also having it double as a dollhouse for my daughter... and casting christmas themed furniture to go with it... the furniture is a little larger than true o scale however, its something more akin to warhammer tabletop scale (if you familiar with that)  humanoid figures usually stand 30mm tall in this scale.

I would love to talk about this with anyone who is interested.  i have thought about altering the model so it could be 3d printed at smaller scales, but thats a lot of work for something im not interested in myself... my models are only meant to keep very accurate measurement reference and ratios, the walls have no thickness and couldnt be printed out as i  have created it... as well as the fact that the whole model would have to be broken into seperate parts because its so tall and large.

here is the model i made, only half of the front... 

 

and just to give you an idea of the 2nd building im doing... which will be easier than this **** clock tower

circled in green

It will have interior LED lighting.  I am still brainstorming ideas on how to accurately add the christmas lights.  a lot of other folks use some very small string LED lights that are just too big... i think im going to drill a lot of small holes and back light from the inside.  should give the most accurate effect for the trim christmas lights.  i am trying to have the workshop done by christmas, and the mansion done by july 2019...

This is a project for you...and your train room is ALOT bigger than most.  Keep us all posted with pictures and up dates....

what size were you looking to build?  with hirst arts upcoming brick molds to be released, there will be assorted sized arches and windows that might allow for an HO scale.  it would stand under a foot and a half high at that scale.  the bricks design itself wouldnt be to scale but it would still look great.  most christmas village pieces i see dont have scale bricks on the walls anyway.

Last edited by ZenGardenRails
ZenGardenRails posted:

Well... i am building an O scale 1:48 replica of the workshop santa walks out of when he first appears... its a building that was inspired from the pullman clocktower building.  This is my attempt at Polex - 3 rail scale.  I would be more than happy to discuss building with you.

here is an unpainted portion of the left side, it's also dry fit...so not fully glued together yet.  This is over 100 seperate pieces glued together.  this is just a proof of concept... as its missing a lot of the trim features (as you'll see in the screenshot from the movie below).  i just want to first get the bones, then add the detail.

unpainted

here is screenshot of the actual building

screenshot

 

here are some pieces...for reference.  It's a fair bit of work but the size allows for extreme customization.

i have a signature Polar express train that was just released... waiting on the cars.  i contacted the pullman historical society and they straight up sent me schematics which i have used to make an extremely accurate 3d model on sketchup as a reference.  I am using Hirst arts molds to cast portions of brick in resin and then fitting them together like legos.  Hirst Arts molds are extremely versitile and i highly reccomend them if you are crafty.  these are from his recent "ruined brick" and "above ground" brick molds.  he has other brick molds coming in the future but it can take months before he releases new sets.  that being said, i believe the clocktower workshop is completely buildable with just those two molds.  it will however take considerable amount of time.  i am using resin but you can also use dental stone (kind of like very hard porcelain) and its considerably cheaper especially if you can pick it up from a dental supply company so you dont have to pay shipping.  Resin takes finesse so you don't ruin the molds but i have proven that you can pull resin from a mold a 100 times with my approach (dont spare the mold release!). 

after i finish this one, i am going to do the large mansion across from the workshop, and then a bunch of smaller buildings and the arcade of arches that go around the large tree... 

to my knowledge this will be the most ambitious and true to scale model of the north pole buildings ever attempted.  once i finish i could make up some speed molds (make my own molds of already assembled faces of the building) so i could replicate a couple.  keep in mind that i am only doing this in 1:48 scale.  that means this building is just shy of 3 feet tall at the clock tower and it will be 15 lbs probably because its cast resin.  

its such a large project that i'm also having it double as a dollhouse for my daughter... and casting christmas themed furniture to go with it... the furniture is a little larger than true o scale however, its something more akin to warhammer tabletop scale (if you're familiar with that)  humanoid figures usually stand 30mm tall in that scale.  

I would love to talk about this with anyone who is interested.  i have thought about altering the model so it could be 3d printed at smaller scales, but thats a lot of work for something im not interested in myself... my models are only meant to keep very accurate measurement reference and ratios, the walls have no thickness and couldnt be printed out as i  have created it... as well as the fact that the whole model would have to be broken into seperate parts because its so tall and large.

here is the model i made, only half of the front... 

 

and just to give you an idea of the 2nd building im doing... which will be easier than this **** clock tower

circled in green

It will have interior LED lighting.  I am still brainstorming ideas on how to accurately add the christmas lights.  a lot of other folks use some very small string LED lights that are just too big... i think im going to drill a lot of small holes and back light from the inside.  should give the most accurate effect for the trim christmas lights.  i am trying to have the workshop done by christmas, and the mansion done by july 2019...

How did these turn out? I'd love to see some pictures. I just picked up my first train since I was a kid and I'm looking for some inspiration. Never too early to start planning for next year!

@paulexpress posted:

How did these turn out? I'd love to see some pictures. I just picked up my first train since I was a kid and I'm looking for some inspiration. Never too early to start planning for next year!

Well.  i completed the buildings but it wasnt good enough!  they were great for what they were but i sold the Resin cast building for 500 bucks on etsy(a lot of that was shipping plus i gave them the molds i made to speed up casting it as well as detailed instructions on how i did it).  it weighed 25 lbs! now im 3d xdprinting out an even more accurate and detailed model... which i can resize to any scale with a touch of a button.  My original 3d model was much more useful as a file to print from.  Hirst arts blocks was fun but 3d printing will yield a much better model.

Attached is the 3d printed portion of the same pieces i posted earlier... But in S scale instead of O to give you an idea of the detail difference.  This is with an FDM printer. I have recently acquired a Resin printer (MUCH more detailed printing)and will give even more detail to the bricks... Just havnt printed it with the new printer yet.  the bricks are now nearly the exact proportions in the movie.   the brick size was off with the resin cast version.  When i get it all printed out in resin and painted up ill post some photos.  I have a buddy who likes S scale so im printing out this one for him in that size in FDM (cheaper to print than resin).  I also printed a test piece in H scale with a resin printer and its very nice.  with a resin printer i may be able to go even smaller.  ive become rather obsessed.  

I also 3d scanned hero boys house and printed it out in S scale.  added icicles and made the wreath on the door embossed.  I have seriously considered modeling the interior of it... using "the art of the polar express" book as a refference as it has a detailed layout of the house.

Attachments

Images (1)
  • PXL_20200929_235109060: Left Wing S Scale
Last edited by ZenGardenRails

This whole project is very nice IMHO.  Not planning on doing this myself; I'm thinking of using a vinyl cutter to mock up something like North Pole City for my garden railroads' Christmas-themed open railroad.  At the moment, I'm just learning how to best use the resources that I would need to product such a project. 

https://familygardentrains.com..._a_building_font.htm

The article includes some .svg files for a building front similar to this if anyone wants to resize them and try them for their O gauge RR.  Just let me know how it works out for you!

red_vinyl_building_268

Attachments

Images (1)
  • red_vinyl_building_268
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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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