There's a recent forum thread on the topic of how to dimension a structure from photos, so what follows is a brain dump of how I designed my kitbashed structure. Given I'm not trying for an exact copy -- more like "as close as I can get with Pikestuff parts" -- just how do I decide how big to make this thing, and all the individual bits of it?

I recently purchased a new micro cut paper shredder and after shredding tons of old paper clutter, I realized that the shredded paper was so fine that it could be used to build model scenery, rocks and landscape.

Most of us own some kind of paper shredder but the stuff from the "cross cut" type really works, since it cuts it very fine. Micro-cut shredders produce much finer particles, so they can be used in scenic modeling requiring smoother surfaces..

Here is a small tower, some kind of a -free- blend between Tuckanoe and Nova tower. 

This is my first full scratched wood building, and i hope not the last. Not intended to be fully realistic, but done just as a trial...US Railroad see through French eyes...

Built using only wood, pieces by pieces.

Here are some photo interpretation basics for converting a photo into usable dimensions for scratch building. This technique was used when I was working in Naval Intelligence and interpreting U-2 aerial photography of Cuban missile sites. Stereoscopic imagery was normally used, but for our use, single photos are sufficient.