Large Scale Central

What material to use for outdoor buildings?

Modeling
#1

I am about to start building a few scatch built facades. They will be about 3 inches deep built against a fence. I am unsure as to what materials would be best for these buildings. I was toying with 1/4 inch plywood that would be painted, but then thought about styrene. I am in So California, so snow is out of the question, rain occasionally (like today) but sun and heat are for sure. I may try to make them removable so they can come inside during our nasty winters.

I have the plans drawn, but not really sure what would be the best material.

Looking for advice

#2

Hands down plastic is better the wood. But PVC or ABS is better then styrene (polystyrene). Some types of polystyrene will deform out in the sunshine.

#3

I have heard of guys building facades on pieces of glass and building up the fronts with wood but you could use plastic wood or styrene. The glass piece would then be the store front window.

Wood is very easy to work with and is cheaper compared to the plastic alternatives but will not last as long outdoors. It all depends on how fancy and detailed you want to build these facades. Most of my buildings stay out year round and are subjected to temps from 0 to 100 so they are built tough painted and sealed. Water and moisture are your enemies so you need to build these tight and use a water proof glue like Tightbond 3.

I do have a few buildings that come in for the Winter due to their details.

You could check out a company called Colorado structures. They make affordable buildings from plastic and you could kit bash one or 2 to get what you want.

If I was building these I would use a combination of wood and plastic materials.

Happy RRing

#4

I used exterior grade plywood to build a structure in 2004.

In 2015 it looked like;

#5

I really like the Sintra PVC foam board. It’s easy to work with and made for outdoor use.

http://www.foamboardsource.com/sintra-pvc-foam–sintra-pvc-board.html

#6

For outdoor structures my first choice is Medex. It’s a waterproof version of MDF. Believe me when i say that it’s waterproof. We put a piece in a bucket of water once and left it there for months. Absolutely nothing happened to it. It cuts easily, paints nicely and even if you want to score it to mimic siding or corrugated metal, it still maintains it’s waterproof property.

If you plan on leaving your buildings out all year, I would use 3/4" Medex. It may sound like overkill but it’s thickness will allow you to eliminate most bracing you would otherwise have to install with thinner materials.

There is also Azek. It’s a PVC product. It comes in white and in nominal board sizes like 1" x 3", 4", 6", 8", 10"and 12". I see that Home Depot has 4’ x 8’ sheets in 1/2" thickness. It’s not cheap but as it’s PVC will probably hold up longer than us. It is much lighter than MDF and in some ways cuts easier.

#7

Since we have some pretty wild winters here in the Northeast, I use a combination of PVC, Coroplast and plastic veneers. I’ve also used Plexiglass and Lexan as a base to add veneers to. This one uses a combination of Precision Products and Plastruct veneers.

#8

The climate in a modellers location will be a deciding factor I guess. Lumber and plastics are freely available most places. My first structure - a wayside depot - was made from polystyrene foam. It has lasted many years.

However all other structures, grain elevator, barn, freight depot and covered bridge have all been made in wood. Excepting the covered bridge all the others were built from treated lumber decking. The decking here in the UK seems to be of two styles but the same dimensions. One side is finely ribbed which from the 10ft. view looks a little like siding the other side is rebated which gives a concrete or similar styled structure.

The advantage of using heavy decking is that it will outlive me most likely and some of the storms we get here - often gusting to 100 mph. - means that the buildings do not blow over or move.

#9

I used exterior grade plywood for one of my first buildings…it didn’t last.

Now I use acrylic or Sintra/whateveritscalled covered with Precision Products sheets. Those building have been out a lot longer and still look great.