Be honest: are Plasticville structures okay?

Plasticville can be made to look very good with some paint and weathering as other here have posted. Here is a PV switch tower ...on my layout.

Wow.Now, here, folks, we have some expert weathering by a master. Al even crafted the marks where a man's hard-sole workboots have hit the stair risers as he ascended the steps, countless times, to the upper level tower room. I mean, I'm tellin' ya', ya' see things on this forum you may have just never thought of before; at least, I didn't, but I sure will remember this li'l fantastic detail!

My hat's off to you, Al, and my cup is in the air - a-salute!

Frank-the-amazed

I combined 4 coaling towers and added some Walthers lights. Still have to build 3 more Grandt Line Chute Gates.

Cesar

Cesar I've never really been a fan of Plasticvilles O gauge coaling tower, I prefer the look of the HO version but yours look great the way you've done them.

Jerry

Thanks Jerry! I didn't like them either, in fact I had these 4 laying around for years until I saw some custom model builder in the orange hall at York with one. I kind of stole a page out of his book

Cesar

Ed, I like that old billboard, I wonder who made it?

Dongan Hills? Could only be you!

Cesar

I have always been reluctant to use Plastic ville except for maybe the trailer park...

However FatBoy's posting of how He combined the towers to make a bigger building gives me pause for further thoughts.

Maybe I am the one with lack of imagination I don't know.

The tower with the steps, I see nothing wrong with that work, maybe the lower door step boards might sag a little in the middle from those muddy boots the signal men having to come and go as they maintained the plant.

I'm glad you asked the question on the scenery forum.  I am a firm believer in that the layout is your layout and should reflect what YOU want and not what a bunch on knit pickers tell you MUST be done.  I love plasticville for a couple of reasons.  The first is of course the bang for the buck, they are certainly inexpensive when purchased new and at train shows you can get a box of them for a few dollars.  The second reason is that this is the scenery forum and we all love to make our model worlds look like the real world within reason.  The Plasticville pieces are great learning tools that can be kitbashed, super detailed or whatever.  The posts above attest to some of what can be done.  Additionaly if you look at detail parts for scratch building you will quickly notice that things like windows and doors can get expensive.  Pick up a couple of basket case PV buildings and walla you have a bunch of detail parts to play with.  I think that the PV models are just terrific.  My 2c!   Russ

You guys are scenery wizards!

I nearly fainted when I saw the pics of some of the stunning detailing, painting and weathering effects done to some of the Plasticville structures. That quadruple multiplex of coal towers is jawdropping! The water tank and signal and switch towers are the absolutely beautiful! 

I am inspired to go out to the LHS tomorrow to search for some P-ville goodies! It is truly incredible what can be achieved when applying one's imagination.

To everyone: great photos and comments!

Thanks,

Terrence

Long Island, NY

I also took this Plasticville crossing gate shanty, added a light, bum and detail parts. Thanks Lee and Terrence!

Cesar

Terrence

Here is one more example:  A modifed Plasticville Large Gas Station

Frank, thank you for the kind words,

most all of my buildings are plasticville or older lionel. painting and weather brings the models to life.

dkdkrd Now that is what I was talking about! Well done, you and your wife have done a great job, PV never looked so good.  Nice use of the airport hangers very clever.  Russ

Wow...I thought I was alone in the world and feeling a lttle bit guilty for kitbashing

PV, with all the emphasis on "keeping it original" in train collecting, and here I was surrounded by a creative and imaginative army!  I now wonder what people have done with some of the rolling stock?  For one, since I favor side door, combine, and

drover cabooses, I completely moved all the walls around on an MTH caboose, to

get a different configuration....(it's in a box somewhere and I can't find it  or its original box, either, to identify it) but I think I turned it into a side door caboose.  It might have been an MTH Civil War one (not a recent project).  (there are old O scale kits on eBay, so you don't have to do this to get different cabooses) but this series of posts make me bet other people have wild creations.  For engines, I converted a Marx 1829 4-6-4 into a 2-8-2 and built a Vanderbilt tender for it utilizing oneof the old Marx tank cars...engine looks and surprise (to me), runs, great..would like to redo the tender body(I made the rear tender truck revolving, so one direction has a Marx tilt fork coupler, and the other a Lionel type operating knuckle so it

can run with either brand of trains, with the out of use coupler under the car

body)  I used O scale brass engine parts for Elesco browmounted water heater and flying pumps.  Have not got around to kitbashing a Marx 2-4-4-2 articulated...keep hoping a commercial one appears, but I suspect somebody has been there and done that.

As you can see Terrence Plasticville Buildings can look prototypical if you are willing to do some painting and weathering. I have a lot of Plasticville Buildings on my layout and everyone has been painted to more realistic colors. 

The newer buildings from Lionel, MTH, and even OGR are usually painted very well and can be used as is but even my higher cost building sometimes get repainted or customized if I don't quite like the look of them.

The short answer to your question is yes, Plasticville Buildings will suit you well as you build your layout and look good on the carpet central too.

Steve Tapper

We have the Plasticville TV station and signal bridge.  They look good just not next to one of the MTH sized buildings that we have. 

Curious if anyone has any good ideas for how to improve the look of the tv station?

This is a great thread, just goes to show what a bit of imagination can do.

The Plasticville cathedral makes a pretty good country church, the tower next door is freestanding from the Town Hall kit.

The Town Hall reversed makes a good Ale house.

And, don't forget OGR's Ameritowne kits and kitbash parts, they are inexpensive and they look great. Here's a couple of shopfronts.