Coffee Table Railroad - (Part 12) - Update for October 2023 - Scratch-built Buildings

Low-cost model-making. I used 1/4-inch styrofoam, 1/8-inch matte board, and some balsa-wood reinforcements here and there to make some buildings.
It started in the SE corner with a "backdrop" building that is protruding from the supporting background wall, (re: relief sculpture). In the SW corner, there is a control box and wire well to hide from view, so I printed out a scaled-down photo of a building, put it on matte board, and cut out some of the windows. I scratched up some cellophane packaging with sandpaper to make it "frosty" and glued a little piece inside all the windows. Made a roof, a cornice, and a little stairwell access building on the roof to hold a magnet on the back. Inside there are two 3V LED lights with an aluminum foil reflector. The magnet snaps on to the background and holds the building firmly in just the right place. I ended up painting the building too, except for the printed windows.
After they had the correct lighting, it really added a lot to the layout, and cleaned up those embarrassing, left-over, neglected areas. I also rewired the 12-volt circuits and installed on/off switches for the crossings, the electric signs, and the 12-volt lights. Essentially, I had to "sweep out the corners" and make things right.

[@jackieo8693]

Very well planned!