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model scale railroad houses to construct ho scale n scale oo gauge

How To Scale Model Buildings To Provide Realistic Perspective

house plans scale models for railroadsFor scale model buildings that are seen as up-close or positioned in the foreground they need to be seen at 100% size. If the model buildings are 100 – 500 yards (90 – 450 meters) away then the model building plans be reduced to 90% to 100% of the downloaded size to give real illusion of distance. If the model railroad buildings are supposed to be ¼ or up to ½ mile away then the models could be reduced to approx. 80% to 90% of the full size of the PDF. Buildings that need to appear to be a mile or two away could be 30% – 50% of the full PDF size. Understandably these sizes are a guide only.

So if for example; if an N gauge building is 5 inches (13 cm) tall close-up, it would need to be 4 inches to 4½ inches (10cm to 11.5cm) tall if it was positioned ¼ – ½ mile away.

That’s one of the huge advantages of downloading PDF plans of structures – they can easily be scaled down to a smaller size. Download a free catalog at https://www.modelbuildings.org

One Response to How To Scale Model Buildings To Provide Realistic Perspective

  • David Stokes says:

    Thanks for the tip. I have rather narrow baseboards, and I am trying to model real places so your ratios will come in really handy.

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