Depends when. the early days was balsa and paper siding/roofing. I did many with balsa and ready made plastic windows and doors. Many changed to plastic when project pieces became available. And we always had Plasticville to modify.

@Jim 1939 posted:

Depends when. the early days was balsa and paper siding/roofing. I did many with balsa and ready made plastic windows and doors. Many changed to plastic when project pieces became available. And we always had Plasticville to modify.

Had?  As in past tense?

In the last year or so I have accumulated three or four dozen complete Plasticville structures and enough odds and ends parts to fill a 1:1 scale box car.  I don't think I'll live long enough to complete all the possible kit bashes I see every time I go out to my shop.

The first product that Plasticville offered was a white picket fence, for under the Christmas tree, in 1947 (I was 5 at the time). Technically the buildings were 1:64, with 1:48 windows and doors. This was designed to bridge the gap between Lionel O and Flyer S. 

This wall was made using floor tiles cut, bent and painted. They already had the right texture and easy to install, the trim is wood strips.

Some of us never changed much. With the exception of pink foam insulation, foam core and super glue, there is almost nothing I use that wasn't available when my Postwar Lionel trains were new.

I do have a few shakers of ground foam, because it makes nice trees. Even there, I sometimes make my own in an old blender.

@sidehack posted:

This wall was made using floor tiles cut, bent and painted. They already had the right texture and easy to install, the trim is wood strips.

NICE!

D.

I just made a posting (vanished?) this morning whining about nonavailable sources for Plasttruct, Evergreen, Tichy, and Grandtline ., which l use a lot of.  Also l just discovered my source for inexpensive rattle-can paint has vanished.  I want a one stop source for this material (some of which appears to no longer be offered), without having to shop 99 convoluted websites. A lo-o-ng drive to Chicago won't get me much of this anymore, as those shops have downsized or no longer carry it.  I managed to scrounge enough windows and doors for ONE of four planned cabeese,  but...?

Dennis,

Old school items that I've used, and still use in some cases:  sawdust (died and otherwise), paper mache, ceiling tiles, weeds, dirt, coffee (and other) cans, signs cut from the Yellow Pages (remember them?) newspapers and magazines, popsicle sticks, plain old plaster (at times mixed with sawdust for texture) cotter pins (for wire fence posts), plastic model spews, screening, pipe cleaners, straws and whatever looked useful, and was available, at the time

@colorado hirailer posted:

I just made a posting (vanished?) this morning whining about nonavailable sources for Plasttruct, Evergreen, Tichy, and Grandtline ., which l use a lot of. 

Nope - search for "Sources with shops closed?"  It's right where it was....

Also l just discovered my source for inexpensive rattle-can paint has vanished.  I want a one stop source for this material (some of which appears to no longer be offered), without having to shop 99 convoluted websites.

I'd like to win the lottery for a few million, but that's not happening either. I'l have ot settle for the ham, onion, and mushroom risotto on the stove.....

A lo-o-ng drive to Chicago won't get me much of this anymore, as those shops have downsized or no longer carry it.  I managed to scrounge enough windows and doors for ONE of four planned cabeese,  but...?

Maybe if you'd list specifically what you are looking for someone might offer it up to you?  Strangely enough, folks here used to be decently generous and share stuff.

@mwb posted:

Maybe if you'd list specifically what you are looking for someone might offer it up to you?  Strangely enough, folks here used to be decently generous and share stuff.

True. Since I finished my layout 13 years ago, I'm left with drawers of "stuff". Some of it used for interiors in building. I'm not looking toward making any $ on it. I also have buildings from my modular days, but those would have to be picked up from my house in Media, PA (near Phila. airport). I've already given my drive-in movie module to a fellow forum member.

My imagination!

Simon

@colorado hirailer posted:

 cabeese

Per Merriam-Webster:

“cabeese”

The word you've entered isn't in the dictionary.

The word is cabooses........or Cabin Cars!

Simon

@Simon Winter posted:

Per Merriam-Webster:

“cabeese”

The word you've entered isn't in (that) dictionary.

 

The word is cabooses........or Cabin Cars!

Simon

https://www.yourdictionary.com/cabeese

But, I digress.  To the OP's question.....if you have a chance to review old magazines for this hobby....say Model Railroader or Railroad Model Craftsman....back  in the 1950's and earlier....you'd find lots of articles on making things....scenery, structures, rolling stock, even locomotives....using common materials.  There were 'Dollar Model' articles.  Authors like Jack Work made incredible structures and rolling stock using card stock as a primary medium, scribed to look like wood sheathing,   

I have a book published in 1948 and 1953 that has plans for Santa Fe Railroad cars and locomotives in which there are notes to help those who'd like to build a model.   For example, the note in the heavyweight passenger car section sez, "Bodies can be made of sheet metal, Bristol board stock, or wood.  Paper strips embossed with rivets can be cemented to the sides".  By the photo of EMD's E6 diesel passenger locomotive regarding the superstructure, it reads, "Other possible materials include tin (five gallon automotive oil cans are fine when cut up), wood, fiber board, or cardboard."  

It wasn't just the model's materials that were simpler back then.  The tools were often less sophisticatd.  For instance noted brass locomotive scratch builder and author, Mel Thornburg, made beautiful steam locomotives with components turned from brass bar stock chucked into a manual-crank hand drill clamped to a kitchen table.  A flat file was the cutting tool for the turning.

The product advertisements and new, revolutionary features therein are fun to read through, too.

A different era for the hobby, for sure.

FWIW....

KD

@colorado hirailer posted:

I just made a posting (vanished?) this morning whining about nonavailable sources for Plasttruct, Evergreen, Tichy, and Grandtline ., which l use a lot of.  Also l just discovered my source for inexpensive rattle-can paint has vanished.  I want a one stop source for this material (some of which appears to no longer be offered), without having to shop 99 convoluted websites. A lo-o-ng drive to Chicago won't get me much of this anymore, as those shops have downsized or no longer carry it.  I managed to scrounge enough windows and doors for ONE of four planned cabeese,  but...?

You post did not "vanish"!  You must have forgotten in which topic your posted this.  Go to your profile and take a look and you will find it in the discussion about shops closing....  Regardless, your post above really should be in the want to buy since you are seaking a place to purchase the items for which you are looking.