Seems rather costly for some

Seems rather costly for some card stock and LED lights

Over-simplification

You're over-simplifying it, Az.  It's like saying that paying a laundry service is awfully expensive, given that they just give you your own clothes back a day later.  But addressing this will give me a chance to reveal what goes into the design and production of a Roomettes kit.

First of all, to make a comparable item yourself, you'll need CAD software and graphic design software, as well as the skills necessary to use them.  You'll also need to have experience using them together, because sizes change when you import one file into another program, and then export another file for printing.  Ask me how I know.

So you've measured the building and designed the basic room shapes, and you've printed out a test blank and cut and folded it, and you find out all the ways it doesn't fit the building, and that the window opening is .5 mm off horizontally, and now you can make changes to your CAD drawing and do it all over again. 

Now you are probably ready to paint the room.  You will need to find appropriate images, at an appropriate angle, with the appropriate lighting for the era that you are recreating.  The last room I designed was a bedroom with over 70 separate elements in it.  Go into a retail store with your camera and take pictures of everything.  Get permission first or be ready to be asked to leave the store.

Don't forget to design other details like shelves and counters.  They add to the 3D effect.

Next you'll need a decent printer or else you'll have to run down to your local print shop to have it printed on stock heavy enough that it won't warp when you glue it.  That will cost you about four bucks.

When you get that home you'll have to cut and score it to fold it into a room with tabs for gluing.  As I have to hand-cut each prototype model at least once - and often twice after making revisions - I can tell you that it's more than tedious.  It's my least favourite part of the job.  Don't cut in the spot where you meant to score it, or you'll be going back to the print shop.  It sure would be nice to have an elaborate and expensive tool that would do the job for you quickly and accurately...

If you have a laser in your workshop you can get it to cut the room for you.  It will do a perfect job.  It will cauterize the paper at the fold lines and give you a really nice bend. The edges will be straight and the corners will be square.  But the set-up and testing for this takes 10 times longer than cutting it by hand, so unless you're cutting out a few dozen of the same pattern it's not worth it.  Also, you have to figure out a way to tell the laser where the image is on the paper.  That's a whole other process that only works for mass production.

So now you're ready for LEDs.  I'll assume you're comparing apples to apples here, so your interior lighting will need to be compatible with Woodland Scenics' Just Plug system.  You can buy a package of two Just Plug LEDs with JST plugs on them for $10.99.  That's an LED, wire, resistor, and plug.  Considering that a Roomettes kit with two rooms and a similar LED harness is $9 to $11, I think most people can see the relative value.  Compare the two products below.

So yeah, if I just threw a piece of cardboard and an LED in a plastic bag that product might seem costly.  But to be fair there's far more to it than that.

I won't even get into how many hours I spend building the display models to help inspire people to try lighting some of their structures.  Luckily that's one of the most satisfying parts of my job.

HO... again

I've seen a structure recently that had one of these inside and it really looked good.

But as with most of the hobby, it's an HO scale product only. I dearly wish they'd make them in O scale as well, as most structures in that scale don't come with interior stuff (especially for the three rail crowd). I have a house on the back end of my layout I'd buy one of these for if they made a 'living room' style background.

Barry, I understand the startup and production costs for something like this 'basic' (at least how some would see it) product. I have no issues over the cost, having seen the finished product and I agree it looks really nice.

Planning on using some

I'm in the market for a bank lobby as that is what I'm working on at the moment. I haven't looked to see if one is available yet.

Didn't Ron use an N scale Roomette for his building?

A while back I checked in with SSLTD to check out their interior detail parts. Once I got done swearing about the cost now as when I was last buying these a whole lot of years ago I had just about decided I was going to be doing a lot of micro detail building work. The Roomettes are a bargain in comparison.

Jack

Other Scales

There are a few N scale kits available (I have two of them, one installed, one yet to install) and I'm quite happy with the cost.  I have a number of the HO kits, too.  They fit perfectly and literally take me 20 minutes or less to fold them and glue them in place.  The time is in adding 3D details, like counters, furniture, etc. 

There is one O kit that says it is coming soon, but I suspect the limitation for O scale is the size of the print it would take for many buildings.  Taken with the much more limited sales in O compared to HO, and it may be tough to justify the cost of development/printing there.  But Barry would be more able to speak to that, that's just my guess.

Size

Uh, it's just paper!

Besides, if you really look at structures in any scale, you'll find that generally, they all take up around the same amount of real-world real estate. In other words, a N scale factory will often take up the same footprint as one in HO, and maybe even the same type of structure in O. But when you see how that looks for scale, they get more comical looking the larger your scale. It gets to where you have G scale structures that look like outhouses but are supposed to be businesses. O scale has a great deal of that, too. You only have to see the 'old west' structures that are so common which would look laughable even in the set of a B Western if they'd been built full size looking like that.

I can't tell you why that is, but I guess it has to do with dealers wanting to sell the smallest stuff they can because they would likely sell more than a massive structure. Most layouts don't have that much room in any scale.

Seriously, go to a HO layout and take actual measurements of types of structures, then do the same of the same types on a N scale and then an O scale layout. The only difference you'll generally find is that the N scale stuff looks more correct for it's scale size, but they all take up around the same real life footprint.

"Just paper"

I have two identical buildings (the hotel kits in both HO and N), I compared the size.  The width of the HO building is 60% larger than the N (5" wide in N scale, 8" wide in HO).  If the O scale building was 60% larger again, that would be roughly 13" but say its slightly less at 12".  The height of the N scale interior is slightly over one inch and about 1.75 inches in HO, so let's say O pops that height up to even 2.5" (which I think would be very conservative).  The interior depth in N and HO are about the same as the height. 

There are two separate interiors included, each roughly 2.5" in N, 4" in HO (and conservatively 6" in O if it existed).  So, if my math serves me correctly, the N scale interior will be 2.5" width + 1" for each side, plus the two attachment flaps which may equate to, conservatively 1/4", so total width in N is 4.75" roughly when printed.  The height would be 1" depth + 1" height, plus 1" depth, plus 1 flap, or 3.25", so roughly the N print would be 4.75" x 3.25".  Both interiors fit nicely on one regular 8.5" x 11" or A4 cardstock sheet.

Using similar math, each HO interior would be 7.75" wide x 5.5" high.  Again, it will fit nicely on a regular 8.5x11/A4 cardstock sheet.

Making the leap to O scale now, that same interior would be 11.25" wide x 7.75" (conservatively).  Suddenly not so nice to fit on the single sheet of cardstock.  Just go to a bigger sheet you say.  Well, depending on the printer and laser cutter you have, that might be a slight stretch too far.  This is also just one interior kit comparison that I have.  I'm sure others are bigger.

Again, not saying this is a limitation for Barry with his equipment (cause I have no idea what he has), my point is just that it is a possibility that some kits may not be possible or the extra tweaking for O scale it would take may not be worth the time for what might be limited sales.  

O-scale Roomettes

Dave is correct.  The biggest challenge is designing an O-scale Roomette that will fit in a package and envelope small enough to be mailed.  Consider that the area of an O-scale wall is four times the size of the same one in HO.  I have experimented with sheets that fold to go into the package for large rooms in HO, and the practice can be adapted to O.  I can also design sections that glue together before folding, but I'd rather not make them that complicated.

The fact that the walls are four times larger means that a kit requires more cardstock sheets, and of course more laser cutting which is where much of the expense is incurred.  The only Roomettes kit I've designed so far in O is for the Atlas 6913 - Ace Feed & Supply.  It doesn't have a lot of artifacts in the rooms because many O-scalers add their own details.  I suspect that the cost would be about $60 because of the limited demand for O.  That's a lot for an accessory item for a plastic kit that costs 75 bucks.  So I'm hesitant to put it into production right now.

Regarding Lee's comments about scales and sizes of structures, a lot of it comes down to considerations around how much space a typical layout has for buildings, and more importantly how much money modelers have to spend on a structure.  I think one of the reasons Woodland Scenics doesn't make large, actual-scale-sized trees is that they'd cost over 20 bucks a piece.

Roomettes Lighting

Barry,

Have you considered offering the Roomettes without the W/S Just Plug lights?  

I have used the W/S system for street lights, and know how they work, but I prefer to light my structures with individual LEDs.  I would be very interested in purchasing some Roomette kits without the W/S lights.

BTW, I think you are on to a great idea with Roomettes and hope that you continue to expand  your offerings.

Thanks,

Al Carter, Mount Vernon, WA

Have you considered offering

Yes, I have considered it.  But this would require a second set of packaging for each item in the catalog.  Also it would double the number of products on the shelves here, and increase packaging costs.   Apart from the packaging itself, the LEDs make up the least amount of cost in the kits.  Eliminating them wouldn't change the price enough to justify the additional costs in setting up a second line of products.  And when there are too many different versions of the same product it can get confusing.

For many users the attraction of Roomettes is the reduction in time involved in getting an interior into a building.  Part of that is getting the lights operating and dimmed quickly.  Plug'n'play.  The plugs used on the LEDs are also compatible with NCE and Model Train Technology products, so they are universal for many users.

I can suggest that you would be able to sell the LED harnesses to others who are using these systems.  Since Woodland Scenics' price is $10.99 a pair you could easily get two or three bucks a piece, which is what you might save if you could purchase a Roomettes kit without them.

Barry

Good point, thanks for the idea, and I think I know someone that might want the W/S LEDs.

Al Carter, Mount Vernon, WA