July 7, 2026
Description
HO scale model based on a 19th century industrial building located in St Mary's, Ontario.
Originally built in the 1890s as a millwork shop, the building was a dairy and creamery by 1919 and until the 1970s. The building is now a restaurant. The model is selectively compressed to fit on a typical FDM printer, omitting one of the bays on the long side of the building and adjusted the width proportionally. The windows and doors and roofline are based on early photos showing the original woodworking business. The building was heavily damaged by a wind storm in 1933 and window and roof details changed significantly at that time.
My interior details are pure guesswork. Photos of the 1933 storm damage show very shallow roof trusses centered on the brick pilasters, suggesting that the trusses were wrought iron. The interior beams and columns are a simplified caricature of wrought iron framing, designed to look more-or-less right and for easy printing and assembly. The addition is based on murky photos and guesswork and is assumed to have housed a boiler, steam engine, and coal bunker - I might add those details in the future.
The model features interior wall, door, window, and framing details and removeable roofs. Parts are separated for printing in different colours or for easy painting.
glazing.zip contains an SVG file for the door and window glass. Print the file on overhead projector sheet and cut out the door and window glass manually, or send the SVG to a Cricut machine for easy cutting.
The parts are designed for a close fit, so some light sanding will be needed to get parts to go together.
walls.stl - print 1
floor_addition.stl - print 1
floor_main.stl - print 3. One of these becomes the ground floor ceiling plank detail; print one of these in a suitable ceiling colour.
roof_addition_frame.stl - print 1
roof_addition_interior.stl - print 1
roof_addition_sheathing.stl - print 1
roof_addition_subroof.stl - print 1
roof_beam_one_column.stl - print 3
roof_beam_two_column.stl - print 1
roof_gable_frame.stl - print 2
roof_gable_sheathing.stl - print 2
roof_main_cap.stl - print 1
roof_main_fascia.stl - print 2
roof_main_interior.stl - print 1
roof_main_sheathing.stl - print 2
roof_main_subroof.stl - print 1
window_addition.stl - print 2
window_office.stl - print 1
window_sill.stl - print 1
window_typical.stl - print 23
walls.stl - In your slicer, manually paint supports on the underside of the door and window openings.
column.stl - I print these with supports to help ensure bed adhesion and vertical stability.
No other parts require supports.
glazing.svg contains outlines of the door and window glazing. I get excellent results cutting these parts out of overhead projector sheet on a Cricut. The SVG file readily imports into Cricut Design Studio and the parts cut cleanly.
You can also print this file onto overhead projector sheet and carefully cut out the glazing material with a sharp hobby knife.
The door and window sets include the sill part for each door and window. window_sill.stl is a single sill intended for the second floor window within the addition.
Glue the door and window sill parts into the openings, with the flat side of the sills facing up and the face of the sills pressed into the recesses under each opening. Press the sills down firmly on the opening bottoms.
Glue the frame parts into the door and window openings from the inside of the walls. The second floor window within the addition does not have a frame.
door_entrance.stl, door_freight.stl, and door_freight_narrow.stl do not have any glazing. Glue the door halves together back-to-back.
door_freight_with_light.stl and door_office.stl have glazing. Assemble the door halves back-to-back, sandwiching the glazing between the halves.
Press the doors into the openings from the outside of the walls, locating the assembled doors against the frames. The doors should hold in place without glue.
Assemble the window halves back-to-back, sandwiching the glazing between the halves.
Press the windows into the openings from the outside of the walls, locating the assembled windows against the frames. The windows should hold in place without glue.
Glue floor_addition.stl into walls.stl.
Glue one of floor_main.stl into walls.stl.
Fit columns_and_beams.stl into walls.stl, fitting the ends of the beams into the recesses in walls.stl. Work carefully to flex the beams into place.
Fit one of floor_main.stl, with the plank detail facing down, into walls.stl so that it sits flat on top of columns_and_beams.stl. This provides the ground floor ceiling detail.
Fit one of floor_main.stl, with the plank detail facing up, into walls.stl so that it sits flat on top of the ceiling part. This provides the second floor floor detail.
Fit the column.stl parts into the recesses in roof_beam_one_column.stl and roof_beam_two_column.stl. Work carefully as the brackets on the columns are fragile. You may need to sand the inside of the columns with sandpaper to get the columns to slip onto the beams.
Fit the assembled beams into the recesses in walls.stl.
Orient roof_addition_frame.stl so that the slight angle in part matches the addition roof slope and fit roof_addition_frame.stl into walls.stl.
Fit roof_addition_interior.stl into roof_addition_subroof.stl.
Glue roof_addition_sheathing.stl to the roof assembly, with the notched edge of the sheathing overhanging the roof edge and with the sheathing centered left-to-right on the roof.
Fit the roof to the addition. The roof is designed to be removeable and does not need to be glued in place.
Glue roof_gable_frame.stl to roof_gable_sheathing.stl so that the top of the framing is flush with the top of the sheathing. The bottom of the sheathing should overhang the frame.
Glue the assmebled gable to walls.stl.
Lightly score the fold line in the middle of roof_main_subroof.stl and fold the part.
The angle of the subroof is determined by the fascia parts. Fit each tab and slot one at a time.
Place roof_main_subroof.stl flat side down on a flat surface.
Fit one roof_main_fascia.stl, tab side down, into the slot on roof_main_subroof.stl and glue in place. The top edge of the fascia should be flush with the top side of the subroof.
Press the fascia tight against the subroof for a tight and clean joint. After the glue sets, fold the roof and fit and glue the other tab on the fascia.
Repeat the process on the other end.
Lightly score the fold line in the middle of roof_main_interior.stl and fold the part.
Fit the roof_main_interior.stl into the subroof and fascia assembly.
Fit the assembled roof onto walls.stl.
The roof is designed to be removeable; do not glue the roof to the walls.
Center roof_main_cap.stl on the roof assembly and glue in place. roof_main_cap.stl is slightly over length to allow for trimming flush with the roof sheathing.
Glue roof_main_sheathing.stl to the roof assembly, with the notched edge of the sheathing overhanging the roof edge, top top edge of the sheathing pressed up against roof_main_cap.stl, and with the sheathing centered left-to-right on the roof.
License:
Creative Commons — Attribution — Noncommercial — Share Alike
Jonathan Piasecki
