Working in scales smaller than 1/220

[bethelljohn]

The Model Builder set up screen offers scales down to !/220 (Z scale). However, a little known feature of the program is that it will scale down as small as 1/500, simply by checking the other box and keying this value into the 1: box. Naturally if you use small scales, there is a tendency to try to cram lots of buildings on one page. The system is unlikely to handle this satisfactorily, because handling the volume of data involved will slow down the computer considerably and may well exceed the amount of memory available on the computer. Older, or slower computers may well seize up completely.
I tend to work in smaller scales such as 1/900, 1/1200 and 1/1250. To achieve the first, I design the building at 1/450. I use Primopdf to 'print as a PDF file', save it, then load the PDF into PaintshopPro, and then resize the image to 50%, and then print the resized image. In the second instance I design at 1/400, save as a PDF, load into PaintshopPro and resize to 33.3%. For the final scale I design at 1/250, save as PDF and in PaintshopPro resize to 20%. It is a very simple method, that will work for any scale. The only work involved, other than designing your building is to decide on a scale that can be reduced easily to the output scale.
Model Builder is very versatile, so if you want to use something that has been uploaded on the site, remember you can set your scale that you want to work with, and then select open from the File menu on the design page. The system will tell you that you are working in a particular scale, that the file you are opening is in a different scale, and asks if you wish to proceed. For scales down to 1/500 you can do a direct conversion, with no other effort required.
I hope this will be helpful to folks working in smaller scales.

[DesertShadow]

Hi there,
Some good tips there, mate, especially since I think that I would have tended to "cram" a lot onto a sheet. Many thanks.
I model in T-Gauge, 1:450 scale, so once I have bought my software I will be creating in that scale. It will bwe SO much better than drawing in Paint, and then trying to get the scale right. Me? I always go for door height as a judgement basis on a building, but of course, this doesn't work on Churches or public buildings, Town Halls, Library/Museums, Country Mansions. This software will solve all those problems at once.
Gonna watch what you do, right

David

[bethelljohn]

Hello David. I find that many of the larger buildings, fire stations, town halls, railway stations, etc., can be googled, and accurate measurements picked up from scale drawings. Or the building is local enough to be photographed and any relevant features measured. If you can get one or more building surfaces face into your photo editing suite you can resize the wall or reshape it so that it can be loaded into MB. Most Major Paint programs such as GIMP. Paint Shop Pro and Photo shop, have facilities to resize shapes to return them to the original oblong, or remove the distortion caused by a rolled service. You can even recreate the building using the original 'textures', although you may have to make a logical decision for surfaces that can't be observed.
Hope this helps.
John.