More Work With Foamcore Buildings

I've been playing around some more with the possibilities of finding building images on the web that can be downloaded, sized to model railroad scales, and glued to foamcore building shapes.

One of the big obstacles to doing this is the effect of perspective and lens distortion on the images. Unless the subjects are very small or very distant, the images won't be the rectangles or right angles we expect to see on a model. There are ways around this, which include selecting smaller parts of the image, finding images that have had the distortion minimized, or using software to correct the image. In my experiments, I've found two productive directions. One is to find sites that specialize in ghost signs. The photographers often take care to record the signs head-on as much as possible, and the photos often include other parts of the building, like windows and doors. Here are some examples:

One of the best sites is drkenjones.com. This photographer takes great care to square up his images, I believe by taking multiple photos of small areas on each building and then stitching them together. As a result, he sometimes creates whole walls, like in the examples here:

I was able to download the Roberts Hardware immediately above, print it out, measure the height distance on the image between the windowsills on two floors, and determine how much to reduce the image to N scale, assuming the height between floors is 12 feet. Then I built a form to those dimensions, measuring from the image, from foamcore to attach the image to.

This gets me to a front wall. But finding and downloading other ghost sign images on the web, I can easily find and resize images that can be used for side walls. I did this with an N scale Joe's Pizza building that I did using a front wall image I found on Facebook. I was able to add to the effect by using ghost sign images that I resized to fit the area I needed:

The roof can be detailed using more conventional model railroad roof techniques.

This technique isn't perfect. One difficulty I've found is that using spray adhesive, you have to set the image in place perfectly the first time, there's no leeway to adjust it. As a result, I've tried various techniques with diluted white glue to attach it to the foamcore with a little time to adjust the position. The best way I've found so far is to use Elmer's School Glue to tack the image in place at two corners and make sure it fits properly. Then I use two other dabs of Elmer's School Glue to tack the other two corners down. Then I use a cotton swab with diluted Elmer's regular white glue to soak the paper. As it dries, this will shrink the image into palace flat onto the foamcore.

The problem with this approach is that it will cause the ink to run slightly and also fade the image slightly. So far, I can accept this, since these will be temporary and/or background buildings. The upside is that even factoring in the cost of foamcore, glue, paper, and ink, each building costs well under a dollar.