N Scale Layout Modeling the Cleveland Flats Industrial DIstrict in the 1970s
The “Turret Apartments” structure was designed from scratch, 3D printed, painted, and assembled over the course of three evenings and a Saturday morning. I needed a medium relief structure to populate a street along an edge of my layout.
Model Rendered in Blender | Printed & Assembled |
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The structure next door is St. Rita’s. There is a brief article about designing and printing St. Rita’s.
I usually find inspiration from the structures I see around me. Sometimes, I fall into a Internet rabbit hole searching for architecture that suits my layout. This time, my search popped up the web site of a kindred spirit. The Railroad Connection sells 3D printed models in various scales. I was inspired by The Railroad Connection “Brownstone Building Brooklyn NY”
I create my own designs tailored for specific locations on my layout and the capabilities of my 3D printer. I use the free SketchUp Make 2017 program for most aspects of the design and use the free Blender program for final processing and export as a .STL file that can be printed.