HO Scale Decorah, Iowa, Combination Depot Press-Fit Kit

An HO scale (1:87) flat-print press-together kit of the Milwaukee and St. Paul Combination Depot in Decorah, Iowa. This was designed for the "Flat-Pack Fun" challenge run in June, 2025 -- https://www.thingiverse.com/blog?p=design-challenge-flat-pack-fun -- and was intended to see if the press-fit techniques I developed for another entry would work on a larger model.

The depot was built in 1869 and still stands at 203 Railroad Avenue. The model's windows and doors are based on historical photos and are a little different from what's seen on the building now. The model is compressed so that the long walls will fit on a typical FDM printer bed. The long walls are about 60% actual scale length, and the short walls are compressed by an amount that looks good in proportion with the long walls.

All parts print flat on the print bed. While this was entered in a "kit-card" design contest, I did not include card-kit frames and runners -- they are not needed to make the parts work and would just be a waste of filament in this model. But this model still keeps to the spirit of the kit-card and flat-pack challenge! The parts are easy flat prints and the model press-fits together without special tools. The roof sheathing does need to be glued or double-sided-taped to the main roof, or you can omit the printed sheathing and use your own favourite roofing material.

Model goes together without tabs or slots visible after assembly. The parts are a press fit and hold together with friction and interference fits. The model holds together and will do fine on your HO scale layout without glue, other than glue for the roof sheathing.

Print at 0.1mm layers with 0.4mm extruder. Parts will look even better at 0.1mm layers with 0.2mm extruder.