When you look above you will see this website includes a multi building street-scape comprising 6 downloadable terraced shop model building kits each with two signs for above the store entrance way. You can decide which sign you prefer for each store, or you could make two models of the same shop each with a different sign. You don’t pay double the price. Download the PDF paper plans for these model building kits just once and you can print out and construct as many of each low relief terraced shops buildings as you need.

These low relief model building kits add incredible dimension, perspective, and reality to a railroad layout. The terraced shops are ‘3-sided’ structures each with a roof, that provide the illusion of being full-sized buildings just like the ones you would see on a busy retail street in the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, or Europe. The depth of each model building kit download is narrow so they don’t take up much space on a layout, but give the impression the miniaturized railroad scene goes much deeper than it actually does.

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If your space is extremely restricted, you can make these paper model building kits as “flats” by using just the shop frontages. Instead of constructing each printable building with the front, sides, and roof… you can just glue the front directly to the backdrop, or to a piece of core flute, which you then glue to the backdrop. This is how flats are made.

For incredible realism positioned these model railroad terraced shops as a street scene on the horizon, or against a background, or to the edge of your model railroad layout.

The huge advantage of using low relief model building kits is that they take up so little space on a railroad. These printable model kits look so authentic it is really difficult to believe they are actually scaled down replicas and not real-life shops and buildings.

This retail street scene is extremely inexpensive and very simple to put together, and can be scaled up or down to the size you need. These downloadable paper P.D.F plans come in O.O. gauge for easy resizing to H.O. Scale which is 87 percent the size. Or you can purchase and download N scale paper model building kits. Simply download the PDF paper plans to your computer, print them by using a home printer. Just alter the print settings on your printer if you want to scale them down in size:

Print the number of copies of the model building kits you require, because provided as they are solely for yourself, you won’t actually breach international copy-right laws. Ordinary photocopy paper (or photographic paper) can be used for printing. Personally I found regular photocopy paper (about one cent a sheet) is perfect when glued to cereal box card or corflute which is best for backdrop scenery.

For extra strength and stability you can stick the printed buildings onto some Foam Core (from DIY Hardware Stores) or Corflute. One sheet will make several model building kits. Both materials are very inexpensive to buy.

Glue the printed parts prior to adhering them to your pre-cut foam board (use a craft knife to cut the board). Each model terraced shop includes flaps for you to adhere each one directly onto your vertical backdrop.

Downloading one of these PDF printable plans takes only seconds unless you have a unusually slow internet speed. You will then be in a position to save your downloaded printable file(s) on to your computer. By keeping the masters of these model building kits you will be able to access each plan for future printing (if you need more buildings). You can even save them to a disk or USB stick. The copyright laws clearly state you can’t give them away, sell them, or trade them, or distribute them in any way.

Today there is a great discount offer (see above) so you can obtain all six shops in this amazing street scene for BELOW HALF PRICE at 58% off.

Building Your Own Model Railroad – 5 Point Guide for Beginners Planning a Layout, Scenery, or Constructing Downloaded Model Building Kits

By Guest Columnist Brian Miller

Model trains is a hobby that usually starts from playing with toy trains and transforms into making real looking train scenery. Model railroading is a hobby you can take up at any point in your life. You can even design layouts for your children because moving locomotives with lifelike scenic features with model building kits is very fascinating for children as well as adults.

If you are only just starting out in the hobby of railroading, then there are certain things that you should know about building your scale model railroad. Following are some of the basics you need to know before you start construction of your railway.

1. Scale

Having sufficient knowledge about different scales is very important when you start planning a railroad model. You may want to start constructing your railway layout on a large scale, but if you are working in limited space then choosing a large scale is not a feasible option. Look at the space that you are working in before you choose the scale that you want to work with.

There is a number of train scales to select from. There is a G scale (ideal for garden railroads) that is 1:24 of a real train size, HO scale is 1:87, N sale is 1:160, and Z scale is 1:220 of the real trains. HO (OO gauge in UK) and N scale are the most popular scales because the size is suitable for the situations and space many people have available to them. The model building kits on this website can be downloaded for OO gauge railways, HO scale railroads, or N scale model railroad layouts.

2. Gauge

People who are new at building railroads can get confused between scale and gauge. Scale is the ratio between your model and the actual trains in the real world, whereas gauge is the distance between rail tracks. Gauge and scale should be compatible to each other. When you buy your model trains make sure that the scale is compatible with the size of the track and gauge. Trains need to be to scale with their surroundings.

3. Model Trains

Make sure that you buy a strong locomotive. You do not want to end up buying a train that slows down or derails. In the days of steam a steam engine was often referred to as the “iron horse” because it worked hard. The same applies today even it is a diesel engine – it still needs to work hard and pull loaded wagons around the track or up gradients without derailing or stopping.

4. Accessories

The scenery that you build around your model trains will add life to your model train layout. You can add people, cars, buildings, billboards, mountains, and a lot more to your scenery to give it a realistic look. You can easily find accessories for different themes and even eras. Make sure that you have a picture in your mind about the final look of your model. Buying mismatched scenery will give a confused look to your total layout. The paper model building kits you can download here are in packs of multiple structures that go well together and would look good in the same railroad scene.

If you’re interested in making your scale railroad scenery more realistic then make your own accessories instead of buying ready made things. This is called scratch building and this will add life to your railway model. Scratch-building allows you to add weathering effects on your accessories and trains that will help you in building a scale model railroad that is more close to real life.

5. Wiring

Once you have all the necessary equipment and accessories, you would want your trains to run smoothly and reliably on the tracks. This is possible with a simple power pack that you will get with almost all train sets. As you grow in your experience and learn more about wiring, you can expand your layout and add more trains and features to it. It is often best not to try to incorporate a train set into a large layout, because the train sets are typically mass produced and the quality can be lacking. If you are serious about the hobby then purchasing good trains and track is essential.

These are some of the basic things that you should research and learn about before taking up the hobby of building your model railroads. This basic knowledge will give you a jump start in to this hobby and later you can add on to your knowledge and build complex scenery around your railroad to add life to the model train layout. Join a railway club locally or one that you can access online. Have a go at constructing the paper model building kits from this site.

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