Buildings needed?

I was curious if there is a list of specific types of buildings that would be the most beneficial? I've always played on maps with cardboard markers in the past but love the idea of a 3D field. I'm not sure if I'd be able to look at stuff laying around and say "ooo that would make a good...." but if I had an intention in mind already, had a chance to look online at some other examples online, I'd have a better feel for what kind of "greebies" (LOL, is that the word?) to keep an eye out for and would give me a better jump off point since i've never made anything like this.

It all looks like alot of fun to make and I'd love to be able to bring something usefull along other than another warm body.

Hey Ido, I do believe that the general structure of buildings are open as it is way into the future so this is open. Residential, commercial, etc. The word "Greeblie" I have no idea what it means for sure lol, It was passed onto me as well but I guess they could be anything from Bic pen parts to sticks or pop bottle lids to butter bowls. If I think here correctly I believe Residential buildings would be more beneficial right now but any will suffice. Just keep in mind the scale, I was given the rough scale of 1" = 25'. Having some mechs around to scale next to helps too. Pay close attention to the windows and doors as they can make or break the "scale" look. Hope this helps, Josh.0

Hey, if you guys need help with "scaling" go to Sarna on our links page, look at the menu bar on the left side of their screen and scroll down till you see "board game". click on that and that look for "cardstock", click that and you will have a load of printable papercraft buildings that you can print for free. My Son has shown interest in making buildings and I thought this would be a good jump off point...and may be a good place to start for "rookies".


As far as scratchbuiding you kind of have to "fudge" the scale slightly due to the size of an infrantryman. Technically B-tech is 1/285th scale so divide the "actual" measurement by 285 and you will get the "scale" dimension....the problem arises when "men" show up. You see an infrantry mini in this scale should only be about 6mm tall (from the bottom of his boots to the top of his head) but they are actually closer to 8.5mm, which in scale would make them close to 9 FEET TALL!! So I "fudge" by making the doors slightly taller then they should be. around 10-11mm ( a door in "perfect" scale would be less then 7mm). Anyway I will try and throw up some "scale" tips as soon as I can, but that probably wont happen until next week. I hope that helps for now fellas!

ps- The guys from ILM back in the seventies coined the term "greeblie" in reference to random sprues of model parts...and yes those are the same guys and gals that did Star Wars (the REAL DEAL, models and props..not all this CG crap).

Here are some others I ran across, there is a lighthouse at 1/300 scale and the other buildings from Chicago and a link on this page for New York buildings are in smaller and larger scales but with some editing software I am sure they can be adjusted to fit Battletech scale.

http://www.buildyourownchicago.com/free.html -Chicago
http://www.buildyourownnewyork.com/free.html -New York

3 files here that can be used in your structures, the tomb without the top looked pretty neat for some military base walls. http://www.stones-edges.com/freesamples

Hanger with several other buildings in 1/144 scale, should be able to print at 50% and be perfect.
http://www.tomtom-net.de/resources/cardmodel/hangar/hangar_f.htm

Several more 1/144 scale buildings, I will try the print at 50% thing and relay.
http://kampfgruppe144.com/downloads_All_00.htm

I think I have this one below scaled approximately. Right click> save as> print> enjoy

So I checked out printing 1:144 scale at 50% and it seems too small, I tried 75% and it looks almost perfectly scaled. I printed the Commercial Series building #2 from here: Heavy Gear and next to a Mech looks like a one story building. These are from Dream Pod 9's Heavy Gear game system and look pretty cool.

I started goofing around with this and am not completely sure if I'm on track or not. I cannot print these myself at the moment and am curious if these are correct or even close. If anyone can and wants too please feel free and let me know. These are standard residential houses(modular type) and 5 on one sheet as to create a "suburban" area.?.

These look pretty cool, but when I printed them they seemed a little big. I am going to try and print them at maybe 75-85% and see how that works. The doors appear to be the "scale killer" (a bit too large)...I will keep you posted. good start, +rep

OK 'J, scratch that last post of mine..I had my printer set wrong. The scale seems fine when printed at 100%, but the doors looked wrong so I compared them to some other buildings I have....the Height seems good but they are too wide for a "single" door so I would try narrowing the doors and I think they would be pretty darn good!! Once agian this is comparing them to stuff I have so really they are probably fine, I have already told you about scale "fudging" but the doors look a little fat and lean too close to 10mm IMHO. I think these would be very usefull for creating a residential area quickly and I cant wait to see what skins you come up with!

Cool, Thanks Spectre. Thats what I was most curious about. I had used a grid and "ruler" inside photoshop and drew at 100% so when I put the prototype I had drawn by hand and cut out to the screen it was a tad smaller, and "snap" was on so I could cheat a little on straight lines with a mouse, so the doors and windows snapped to approximately 1/4 in. wide. Crap, yeah those would be about 6 1/4 feet wide lol. O.K. well as they say, "back to the ol' drawing board"..well, umm..mouse and keyboard anyway. Thanks again for the rep and compliments, I had fun making these.

Here is one of the Office Buildings from Sarna and a Base applied (from Lords of the Battlefield) with some flock added for a little extra oomph.

Wow!! Isnt it amazing what a little flock and a bit of extra work can do for these paper buildings?! That looks great! Very nice, now can we blow it up??? ...or are we on one of those mamby-pamby "cant kill civilians" tree-huggin' trumpet monkey missions again!?

This guy makes a whole City, cars and all, at 1:300 scale and shares all his structures in this thread. Really cool even just to look at.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=926336

Edit: This entire forum is dedicated to making papercraft replica structures and is chock full of shared buildings.