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Alan,  even with the modifications you made the ESB is still very identifiable in the close-ups.  However in the fifth photo it does blend into your skyline as just another skyscraper in a city filled with them.  Did you sit the model atop an MTH bank or does it sit on another level just behind the bank?  The Lionel lift bridge in the fifth picture also puts into perspective how tall your buildings actually are?

Patrick, we've established that tall is a relative term for this thread and your apartment buildings qualify.

Our scratch built furniture manufacturing building is relatively tall.DSCN1009

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Sam's Furniture manufacturing building needs a few details.  Roof and dock at car unloading door, people door and a change of billboards.  I don't like the black and white one on the side.  Taller structure on the roof is a SPAM can with tubes to simulate chimneys. Exhaust vent on side of building is the top from a prescription drug bottle. Firestone building was scratch built using card stock, the grocery store was built using model size boards and plastic pieces from various kits and the clothing store is from a Pioneer Valley card stock kit.

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Pecos River boxcar spotted for perspective and to show the need for a dock and roof.  Dock may run the length of the building, not sure if the roof should run the length or cover only the center half of the dock.

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Dock and dock's roof in place, shot under new lights.      John in Lansing, ILL

 

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Last edited by rattler21
coach joe posted:

Alan,  even with the modifications you made the ESB is still very identifiable in the close-ups.  However in the fifth photo it does blend into your skyline as just another skyscraper in a city filled with them.  Did you sit the model atop an MTH bank or does it sit on another level just behind the bank?  The Lionel lift bridge in the fifth picture also puts into perspective how tall your buildings actually are?

Patrick, we've established that tall is a relative term for this thread and your apartment buildings qualify.

Joe....the model is sitting on top of the bank toward the rear of the roof.  I will be putting a sign near the front of the bank roof to help disguise what I have done and to make the new skyscraper appear to be rising from behind the bank building.  From the floor of the trainroom to the top of the tallest building, the distance is about 11 feet.

Okay… here's something tall. A scratch-built flare tower on my refinery. The LEDs are flashers. The cooling tower is also scratch-built from actual prototype. The rest is the Plastruct Petro-Chemical kit with all the parts repositioned to fit the site. I enhanced the load out rack too. The flare required additional units to support it.

Refinery Reverse View 3

 

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Last edited by Trainman2001
Trainman2001 posted:

Okay… here's something tall. A scratch-built flare tower on my refinery. The LEDs are flashers. The cooling tower is also scratch-built from actual prototype. The rest is the Plastruct Petro-Chemical kit with all the parts repositioned to fit the site. I enhanced the load out rack too. The flare required additional units to support it.

Refinery Reverse View 3

 

Beautiful!!!

Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:
OGR CEO-PUBLISHER posted:

OK....JD inspired me to acquire one of the Uberarc sets that has enough pieces to construct the Empire State Building.  I made a few modifications so as to not duplicate the ESB exactly because my city is not modeling any particular metropolis....so....we will pretend that the firm of Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon who designed the EMB also did this similar structure for the First National Bank in my city...  It now joins the skyline and here are a few pictures:

20190713_14140820190713_14152920190713_14183220190713_14175320190713_14450020190713_14462820190713_142405

Now that is cool. I guess the banks old building was small. With all the trains, commerce and such, no wonder they were able to get Speedy Construction Contractors to come through with all the right permits and get the building up in no time at all. @OGR CEO-PUBLISHER, I think you, me, and everyone else should stop in for a few withdraws, lol.

Dave...this only problem I have is when I go to the bank, they always seem to be the one that is doing the withdrawals...from my account!...LOL!

Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:
OGR CEO-PUBLISHER posted:

Here is one of a Walthers HO building separated into pieces and then used as a backdrop structure as part of the west wall backdrop on the layout....20190712_070120

That does come in there quite nicely. Are the others flats(the ones to the far left look like it), the one right next to it looks like a regular building.

Thanks Dave...  To answer your question, the whole idea was to "try" to have at least some depth here with some building appearing to be somewhat closer than others.  I will admit, I didn't completely succeed partly because I have about 1/2" of space to work with along that wall.  As time goes on I will add another layer over the top of these flats that will have floor spacing similar to the one immediately to the right of the Walthers building....  Hopefully that will make the others look a little further in the distance.

OGR CEO-PUBLISHER posted:

Hey....surely there are more of you that have tall structures on your layout.  They don't have to be skyscrapers!  You may have a tall building like grain elevators, coaling facilities, factories...perhaps even tall smoke stacks.  Lets see them!

The tallest structure on my layout is the unfinished blast furnace. Roo.

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Last year the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas (one of TW TrainWorx Traintastic Customers) added a new sponsor to their annual Trains at NorthPark Layout and the Traingineers got to model his "Ryan" building in North Texas and added it to the TANP Display! Check it out... a twofer for this first Tall Buildings Tuesday post 47683641_1971077182928147_7330852289088847872_n47686073_1971077192928146_9051884300647006208_n48176012_1971077232928142_9012714435130687488_nIMG_7522IMG_7524IMG_7657IMG_7658P1000577

Happy Tracks!

TrainDame aka Dorcie Farkash
TW TrainWorx
Dallas, TX | Concord, NC | USA
(214) 634-2965
www.blog.traindame.com
www.twtrainworxstore.com 

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coach joe posted:

Alan, in the first picture you posted yesterday, the white and cream colored hi-rise on the left appears to be of Plasticville origin.  Is that several apartment buildings stacked atop each other or is it kitbashed from the parts?

Joe...that highrise is in fact the Plasticville building.  Years ago, King Distributing made available add-on floors for the Plasticville Apartment.  I bought several and just stacked them.  Before doing so, I painted each floor the colors you see...sort of an off white.

AlanRail posted:

Not fun playing this game with Alan . . . .he always wins!!  LOL

I would say everyone wins. While some still don't pop their tall buildings out, Alan is maintaining this topic. Hopefully in the coming weeks, those that have been very busy that have their tall buildings hiding because of their extreme busyness, will be able to post some so we all can enjoy theirs as well. I'd post if I had any buildings that were tall. Hope we see more sooner than way later.

Tall Building Tuesday is before us again!!...come on guys...how about finding some structures on your layout that are "tall" and posting them here.  Doesn't have to be a skyscraper...it may be a grain elevator, smoke stack,...heck anything that is multiple stories high!  I'll start out with a front view of OGR Headquarters where several of us are contemplating jumping off the railing and into the river below...especially when considering recent events!

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Well Alan, your plea sounds like a plea of despair!  In hopes you guys at OGR don't jump off the top of OGR World Headquarters, I'm offering this photo of Patsburg's Westend neighborhood whose only tall building are in backdrop form.  Sorry, but it's the best I can do.  Perhaps it will sufice until someone come along and posts a real tall building from their layout.   Don't jump just yet! IMG_6103

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Did somebody say "small tall building Tuesday"? There are actually two other structures on the Christmas Tree layout that are as tall as or taller than these two, but the tree obstructs the steeple on the church, and the TV repair shop I didn't have time last night to shoot. Here are the other two. I believe the first one is Federal House, and the other is Clement C Moore's Twas the Night Before Christmas house from Department 56. I hope I spelled Clement's name right.

How is that Alan? I said I'd get a round to it, took too long, eh?IMG_20190909_165355IMG_20190909_165445

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Apples55 posted:

Not the tallest building by far, but about as tall as I have... haven’t installed this yet (just found the perfect spot for it though) - I’ve got to add a Miller Engineering Scranton Electric City sign to the roof. The building is from Todds Architectural Models (the Cameron Apartments).

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That is a very nice building indeed. I was just up in Scranton Labor Day weekend. Nice place and that building will look excellent with that Miller Engineering sign.

Here's my custom HD building that I built from 3-Railking buildings. I applied mortar to bricks and details in lobby. It took me a long time but it is the only feasible and cost-effective way for me to make tall buildings. Mendards came out with the Hotel building that is reasonable but nothing ever since that fits my era. Last picture below shows them and others in my rendition of a Pennsylvania city.

HPIM1173HPIM1174HPIM1175HPIM0652

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Last edited by Paul Kallus

After seeing Alan's post on his Uber ARC building I bought the 1600 piece set. I am trying to build a 3-4' building. The foundation is 14" x 8" and I am not going to have enough to complete the building. I think I'll have to find another 1600 piece set. 

Alan, just for grins, do you recall about how many pieces you used?20190927_142945

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Pickwick Hotel, 26" tall, next to Corrigan Station. Can be ordered by November 15 for pickup at Amherst/Big E in January 2020. We will now also custom create a sign for your building, no more than 14 characters. The sign is in the corner of the building and reads vertically. Corrigan Station can be built 8" or 12" deep. The picture shows the prototype. LED lighting in individual floors.

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JD very nice!  Still in the process?  Keep us posted.  I recognize the expanded Plasticville apartment buildings,love the penthouse balcony, Ameritown building, what I believe are some MTh buildings and the York Hotel.  Is the red building with cream accents an MTH?  What about the red building behind the York Hotel?  I find that one very interesting.

Doug the Pickwick is very nice.

Over the weekend I finished the newest and tallest building on my layout.  It is modeled after a 38 story structure in downtown Cincinnati, the Union Central Life building aka Central Trust Bank Tower, and now the PNC tower.  It is not an exact reproduction but an inspiration of the building from photos I took of it and historical photos. When built in 1913 it was the 5th tallest building in the world and the 2nd tallest outside NYC.   

The building has a lot of character and fits in well with my modeling of the late 1940s.  Even today this tower is a prominent part of the Cincinnati skyline. 

I kitbashed different pieces of buildings to construct it. The base of the model is a very used MTH bank building that I painted and modified by cutting two front door portals into the side of the building.  The exterior light fixtures were purchased from a local dollhouse store. The six stories above the MTH base are many window walls from OGR’s Ameri-towne buildings that were glued together.  I am contemplating on another level to the building with pillars and a pyramid roof to resemble the original building yet more thought and planning is required so there may be more to come.

 

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Last edited by The Cincinnatian
Guitarmike posted:

After seeing Alan's post on his Uber ARC building I bought the 1600 piece set. I am trying to build a 3-4' building. The foundation is 14" x 8" and I am not going to have enough to complete the building. I think I'll have to find another 1600 piece set. 

Alan, just for grins, do you recall about how many pieces you used?20190927_142945

Looking great so far!  I used well over 3,000 pieces....it takes a lot of pieces to build tall Uberarc structures!

Ok, I'll play   Most of my tall buildings are still a work in progress, but here's a look at the progress I have so far...

 

I recently finished a Union Station kitbash, knocking together this monster from 4 separate buildings.   It comes complete with zeppelin mooring mast at the top:

IMG_4582

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Tonight I started adding window shades to the interior of an 8-story Ameritowne-bashed building.  This building is a product of 1 1/3 Midtown Hotel kits.   Kids craft/scrapbooking scissors are great for making scalloped window shades in bulk:

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The front building is a 7 story Ameritowne bash, awaiting interior lighting/details and final touches.  It represents a building I bought used to rehab (lower portion) and about 2/3 of a Midtwon Hotel kit (top portion), plus a few other parts.  The building behind it (with the blue accents) is a completed bash of 8 Plasticville hospitals.  The one behind that (gold accents) started with a front I bought at York & expanded into a full building - it's also awaiting interior lighting and details:

IMG_4690

This one is a River Leaf flatiron kit... including a couple optional add-ons to make it suitably "tall".  It's almost ready for lighting and details and may be my new favorite building:

IMG_4693

Here's a couple shots of how the downtown is coming together as these buildings approach completion:

IMG_4688

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Traindame posted:

Real Building... Traingineer Skills

300_S_Tryon_OfficeIMG_1015IMG_1016IMG_1018

Happy Tracks!

TrainDame aka Dorcie
TW TrainWorx
(214) 634-2965
www.trainworxlayouts.com
www.blog.traindame.com

P.S. The 300 Express Holiday Layout will be opening to the public 11/28/19 and set up in the lobby of this very skyscraper: 300 South Tryon Street in Uptown Charlotte, NC !

Now the real question Dorcie, how is that big layout going to fit into that tiny building?

The Cincinnatian posted:

Over the weekend I finished the newest and tallest building on my layout.  It is modeled after a 38 story structure in downtown Cincinnati, the Union Central Life building aka Central Trust Bank Tower, and now the PNC tower.  It is not an exact reproduction but an inspiration of the building from photos I took of it and historical photos. When built in 1913 it was the 5th tallest building in the world and the 2nd tallest outside NYC.   

The building has a lot of character and fits in well with my modeling of the late 1940s.  Even today this tower is a prominent part of the Cincinnati skyline. 

I kitbashed different pieces of buildings to construct it. The base of the model is a very used MTH bank building that I painted and modified by cutting two front door portals into the side of the building.  The exterior light fixtures were purchased from a local dollhouse store. The six stories above the MTH base are many window walls from OGR’s Ameri-towne buildings that were glued together.  I am contemplating on another level to the building with pillars and a pyramid roof to resemble the original building yet more thought and planning is required so there may be more to come.

 

1591AAAB-1168-4D53-92D9-2756030075F634042770-7D7E-4E36-9F57-282EE49371AD1831372E-FC42-4CF8-B262-DD75AF47DDB8

The modeling of this building is superb! The MTH bank building seems to be a superb base for an O scale skyscraper. I just got an MTH bank building from Ebay VERY inexpensively. Your photo  in this post show 3 sides of the bank building. Can you post a photo of what you did with the side of the building that was meant to be the main entrance with the columns? Actually, photos of all four sides of the bank building after modification would be helpful. I am not planning to copy your work, only get ideas.

Thank you.

frizzinbee posted:

Ok, I'll play   Most of my tall buildings are still a work in progress, but here's a look at the progress I have so far...

 

I recently finished a Union Station kitbash, knocking together this monster from 4 separate buildings.   It comes complete with zeppelin mooring mast at the top:

IMG_4582

IMG_4594

Tonight I started adding window shades to the interior of an 8-story Ameritowne-bashed building.  This building is a product of 1 1/3 Midtown Hotel kits.   Kids craft/scrapbooking scissors are great for making scalloped window shades in bulk:

IMG_4685

IMG_4686

The front building is a 7 story Ameritowne bash, awaiting interior lighting/details and final touches.  It represents a building I bought used to rehab (lower portion) and about 2/3 of a Midtwon Hotel kit (top portion), plus a few other parts.  The building behind it (with the blue accents) is a completed bash of 8 Plasticville hospitals.  The one behind that (gold accents) started with a front I bought at York & expanded into a full building - it's also awaiting interior lighting and details:

IMG_4690

This one is a River Leaf flatiron kit... including a couple optional add-ons to make it suitably "tall".  It's almost ready for lighting and details and may be my new favorite building:

IMG_4693

Here's a couple shots of how the downtown is coming together as these buildings approach completion:

IMG_4688

IMG_4598

Wonderful....!  I don't feel alone now with all of these pictures of big city modeling!! 

DETROIT posted:

Math/Scale double check

Min 14' per floor

Ten Stories approx 140'

O Scale 10 stories 1/48 would be about 35" tall?

That math checks out for me.   For reference, the Menards York Hotel (perhaps the most quintessential "O scale" tall building these days) is ~24" tall and sports 8 stories... making it slightly underscale on the 7 upper floors but reasonably close.

Randy Harrison posted:
The Cincinnatian posted:

Over the weekend I finished the newest and tallest building on my layout.  It is modeled after a 38 story structure in downtown Cincinnati, the Union Central Life building aka Central Trust Bank Tower, and now the PNC tower.  It is not an exact reproduction but an inspiration of the building from photos I took of it and historical photos. When built in 1913 it was the 5th tallest building in the world and the 2nd tallest outside NYC.   

The building has a lot of character and fits in well with my modeling of the late 1940s.  Even today this tower is a prominent part of the Cincinnati skyline. 

I kitbashed different pieces of buildings to construct it. The base of the model is a very used MTH bank building that I painted and modified by cutting two front door portals into the side of the building.  The exterior light fixtures were purchased from a local dollhouse store. The six stories above the MTH base are many window walls from OGR’s Ameri-towne buildings that were glued together.  I am contemplating on another level to the building with pillars and a pyramid roof to resemble the original building yet more thought and planning is required so there may be more to come.

 

1591AAAB-1168-4D53-92D9-2756030075F634042770-7D7E-4E36-9F57-282EE49371AD1831372E-FC42-4CF8-B262-DD75AF47DDB8

The modeling of this building is superb! The MTH bank building seems to be a superb base for an O scale skyscraper. I just got an MTH bank building from Ebay VERY inexpensively. Your photo  in this post show 3 sides of the bank building. Can you post a photo of what you did with the side of the building that was meant to be the main entrance with the columns? Actually, photos of all four sides of the bank building after modification would be helpful. I am not planning to copy your work, only get ideas.

Thank you.

Randy,

I have not done anything with the entrance yet as cannot be seen on my layout.  My thought is to put another building up against it to hide it.  I have also thought about using some styrene to square it off to hide it.

Randy Harrison posted:

Cincinnatian:

Thanks for you reply. Your main entrance is really great. I will have to be a bit creative and decide what to with the side with the columns. What did you use to cut the bank building's walls to add your entrance doors?


Thanks again.

Randy,

I used my dremel with a cutting wheel.  It was very easy. I then glued a piece of plastic glass behind the opening. I then spray painted a piece of cardboard with bright gold spray paint and then glued those to the plastic. The cardboard came out like gold leaf paper.

Thank you,

Before the reveal. About 54" tall. Will be available as a flat at Springfield in January.

Nominally HO Scale floor-to-floor, but can be scaled up or down to fit a need. 

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Start of the reveal. About 2,100 panes to peal....

 

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The final reveal. 9" wide by 54" tall. Laser scored grey tinted acrylic with styrene strip overlay.

IMG_5097IMG_5098IMG_5099

 

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Last edited by Todds Architectural Models
The Cincinnatian posted:

Over the weekend I finished the newest and tallest building on my layout.  It is modeled after a 38 story structure in downtown Cincinnati, the Union Central Life building aka Central Trust Bank Tower, and now the PNC tower.  It is not an exact reproduction but an inspiration of the building from photos I took of it and historical photos. When built in 1913 it was the 5th tallest building in the world and the 2nd tallest outside NYC.   

The building has a lot of character and fits in well with my modeling of the late 1940s.  Even today this tower is a prominent part of the Cincinnati skyline. 

I kitbashed different pieces of buildings to construct it. The base of the model is a very used MTH bank building that I painted and modified by cutting two front door portals into the side of the building.  The exterior light fixtures were purchased from a local dollhouse store. The six stories above the MTH base are many window walls from OGR’s Ameri-towne buildings that were glued together.  I am contemplating on another level to the building with pillars and a pyramid roof to resemble the original building yet more thought and planning is required so there may be more to come.

 

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There are many great posts here. I enjoy them all. This post had me thinking about it ever since I saw it. Most every other one I saw had turned the MTH bank into a train station. This mod looks great! I think MTH should have given an award when they were asking for submissions on scratch builds using their buildings.

Very nice!

It been too long since someone posted in this great thread!  So...while we are all stuck at home...how about some photos of your tall structures!!  I will start this off again with one of the newest skyscrapers on the layout...didn't quite get the top of the structure in this picture but the next one shows it better.  Click on each picture for a more detail view.

20200314_14320420200314_143258

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redjimmy1955 posted:

20200118_113750Ok...I'll play. Courtesy of those Top Shelf NJ HiRailers. My photo from the last Trainstock.....sorry I also cannot pass along the smell of the chicken marsella (sp?)....but I had seconds!

Yeah, I was at the 50th Anniversary when Alan, myself and a host of other saw them for the first time. I think I took about 5 or 6 photos of these from various spots. It is a great tribute to see in person, and I say tribute because what else could you call it? The work they did to get these up was fantastic, I believe it was said that they hadn't gotten to doing the lighting for the 50th in October.

Needless to say as Alan said, "come on guys(and gals if popping in here)" as there are others out there that should pop up. I know I gave a slight elbow to Dorcie, aka Traindame and she was happy to oblige without any further coaxing from me. If I had tall buildings, you would see them regularly, but since I don't(yet), we'll have to wait.

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