Skip to main content

Even though I consider myself a Hi Rail scale guy I used some Plasticville for a trailer park. Even made a swimming pool with light. I did modify the trailers with more detail and lit them. Love to see your layout and how you used Plasticville. Also I use a Plasticville coal tower that is highly modified. DonDSC_0041 3DSC_0285

Attachments

Images (2)
  • DSC_0041 3
  • DSC_0285
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

i will if i ever get back into o gauge but that seems unlikely because with the shutdown and a 12 grand tuition at East Carolina University i can't even pay for school so 2019 may be another trainless sucky year where i feel more frustrated heck with the shutdown i and countless others will lose health insurrence if it keeps going on like this

I have several Plasticville structures that I like a lot. They include the school house, the Firehouse, the Convenient Corner (milk, food ice cream)  and 3 houses that are in storage. Earlier today I put the church on my layout, and here it is:

20190112_195728

The cross on top is not the original, which broke off and got lost. The new cross is made of plastic flashing that holds the pieces of a model before its glued together.

The drawback of a long and narrow layout like mine is there's so little room for structures. If I had more room, I would have all my Plasticville on my layout.

Nice thread, Don. Arnold

Attachments

Images (1)
  • 20190112_195728
Last edited by Arnold D. Cribari

I was given by the wonderful older couple across the street on the mainland a Lionel space set of trains in almost perfect shape. There son wasn't into trains I guess because everything was in the box like new. With the set was a very hard to find Plasticville house under construction. Not the regular one but in a Lionel box. Lionel sold these building for a number of year and just printed up Lionel boxes for them. Don

Well, not "Plasticville" as a brand, but certainly "Plasticville" in approach.

Back when I lived (1986-1990) in the heart of the Ozarks (and modeled an Ozark theme, imagine that), I started with this HO AHM snap-together .99 cent building (well, .99 cents at the time!):

AHMFarmHouse

I wanted something more typical of us Ozark Hillbillies that lived among the Ozarks, and a very modest home (instead of a nice two story home) would be more in keeping with my 1960s time frame for my HO layout.

So, after some cuts here, and some distressing there, throwing on some paint/weathering to make it look like aged wood, adding a rusted tin roof, and what have you's, I had this...

house4

...sagging porch and all.

It was to be placed on field rock footing piers once placed on the layout.

From that model I wandered off into Sn3, traditional 3-rail, scale S, HO Colorado... and now I'm again back to modeling the good ol' Ozarks. Fortunately, I kept this model all those years. So, it looks like it will once again be set among an HO layout depicting the railroading, and life among, the Ozarks!

So, not "Plasticville" in brand, but does this count?

Andre

Attachments

Images (2)
  • AHMFarmHouse
  • house4
laming posted:

Well, not "Plasticville" as a brand, but certainly "Plasticville" in approach.

Back when I lived (1986-1990) in the heart of the Ozarks (and modeled an Ozark theme, imagine that), I started with this HO AHM snap-together .99 cent building (well, .99 cents at the time!):

AHMFarmHouse

I wanted something more typical of us Ozark Hillbillies that lived among the Ozarks, and a very modest home (instead of a nice two story home) would be more in keeping with my 1960s time frame for my HO layout.

So, after some cuts here, and some distressing there, throwing on some paint/weathering to make it look like aged wood, adding a rusted tin roof, and what have you's, I had this...

house4

...sagging porch and all.

It was to be placed on field rock footing piers once placed on the layout.

From that model I wandered off into Sn3, traditional 3-rail, scale S, HO Colorado... and now I'm again back to modeling the good ol' Ozarks. Fortunately, I kept this model all those years. So, it looks like it will once again be set among an HO layout depicting the railroading, and life among, the Ozarks!

So, not "Plasticville" in brand, but does this count?

Andre

Andre, IMO your homemade model of an Ozark hillbilly home with its rusted tin roof is superb.

Richard Cuozzo posted:
Arnold D. Cribari posted:

I forgot about the Plasticville barn on my layout:IMG_1427

And you forgot that switch tower, in the background.

If that switch tower is Plasticville, I didn't know it. I got it for very little money at a LHS, and I thought it was HO. It's beat up with broken windows, but that makes it so realistic:

20190112_211755

Something else I forgot is this diner (which I believe is Plasticville) on my layout:

20190112_211852

Attachments

Images (2)
  • 20190112_211755
  • 20190112_211852
Last edited by Arnold D. Cribari

memories: Plasticville boxes on shelves at Woolworth's 5&10 define much of my 1950's /60's  shopping trips with my mom. They were even sold at drugstores in my neighborhood, and various mom and pop toy stores. Today I even like the empty boxes on shelves at home once the structures are fit together. It's a real time machine entry in my head. I remember price tags of 69 cents for many items. Still so much joy packed  in a little box. When the slot car table top racers era became the in thing in the 60's  there were Plasticville Train items price reductions to even 39 cents!  I remember two for 98 cents reductions. The switch tower and hospital and suburban station were my favorites, then and now. I also remember all the plasticville Racing set items always being sold out. Many of my friends had them on their racing  tracks, mostly in HO. I had the larger aurora O scale racers slotcars and could never find the size compatible O scale plasticville race track structures anywhere in my neighborhood. I was told that Polks hobby store (NYC) had them. So they did, but much to my dismay On a trip there they were sold out too! So the fire station and hospital and small service station were up proudly during slot car races in my home.  But really,   I preferred trains.

 

jay jay posted:

My "thing" is recreating the 1950's layout I had as a kid (in the photo), but much larger than 4 x 8, so I have about 70 PVille buildings. I love the stuff, unmodified.

old layout 4

 

 

 

i'm just getting started on a 1950ish Marx layout like I wanted when I was a kid. It, too, was a 4' x 8' and came apart into two 4' x 4' sections for storage.

I'm collecting and bashing a lot of Plasticville structures.  They are the base for all sorts of modifications, some large, some small, some simply stock with new paint and scenery.

FrankfordJunction posted:

When you use Plasticville on a layout, do you paint the inside black to block out light shining  through the plastic?  Do you also paint the outside for a more realistic look?  I have LOTS of Plasticville from a former life.  Considering using it in the future.  Great pics, guys.

Yes and yes.  If they aren't painted inside they "bleed" a lot of light (don't forget to caulk the seams) and if they aren't painted outside they look too toy-like.  I usually add something to camouflage  the insides, like blinds and curtains, "frosted" glazing, or something else.  I've experimented with printed or photo interiors and some real interiors (a lot of trouble for the results and only on close-up buildings).

I have the water tower (Minus spout as I bought it used.) and the rural station.  Both will be included on my layout.  I just glued them together and placed them.  I haven't painted the inside of the station black, but will probably have to do something if I light it up.  Most everything else will be MTH buildings, plus the Lionel log loader and Atlas ice house.

FrankfordJunction posted:

When you use Plasticville on a layout, do you paint the inside black to block out light shining  through the plastic?  Do you also paint the outside for a more realistic look?  I have LOTS of Plasticville from a former life.  Considering using it in the future.  Great pics, guys.

  I painted a few Plasticville interiors with a metal flake silver base coat, followed by a flat black topcoat, on good forum advice. The metal chips do block most of the light, but runs easily, even if you’re careful.  

 I did however find the tedium of masking, and sealing joints took a lot of time.  On further forum advice, I found metalized tape to be extremely easy.  For the amount of masking required to paint, taping the inside blocks the walls and joints from all bleeding light, and it only requires the same amount of time you’d spend prepping for paint. An added benefit is the structure becomes sturdy without having to glue it together, which is nice for the “rare boxed collector” items you may own.  I simply taped tracing paper over all the windows, and moved on to the next building. 

 I had a few rolls of 3M tape that’s used when stripping & painting large commercial aircraft.  It’s probably expensive, but sticks tenaciously, and leaves no residue. I’ve read that the local LowesDepot type of stores sell metal tape for HVAC use that’s cheap, and cons in various widths.  

Hope this helps

Tom58AF4664-C5D7-4FCF-B5C3-2BE50389E7BF9E7E9A3C-88A2-4A16-BA5A-63B1BB834CF0

  

 

Attachments

Images (2)
  • 58AF4664-C5D7-4FCF-B5C3-2BE50389E7BF
  • 9E7E9A3C-88A2-4A16-BA5A-63B1BB834CF0

Add Reply

Post

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

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×