I used to use corrugated card from boxes, but I have moved on to Daler board for more substantial structures and foam board for the basic carcasses of buildings. You do have to pay for some things.
You can make your own self adhesive paper and card by using a product called 'banner tape'.
This is a very thin double sided tape used by the people who make those vinyl signs and banners, they use it to stick the folded over edges together before stitching or welding.
The tape itself has a very thin tissue core with extremely strong adhesive on both sides. It sticks firmly to almost anything and is very inexpensive - Don't buy the stuff stationary stores sell, search Amazon for tissue tape or banner tape. A fiver or so buys a 50metre roll, maybe if there is a company near you who makes vinyl signs, they can be persuaded to part with a roll or two even cheaper - they use it by the furlong.
The only material I have found it doesn't stick well to is it's own backing paper and certain soapy plastics, which is handy as I use a cheap (pound shop) chopping board as a cutting board for slicing up the tape for very thin strips. You can stick a strip of tape down to the board, slice off a narrow sliver, then peel the sliver off the board easily leaving the rest of the tape for another day.
A good investment is a colour laser printer, there are some really good deals to be found where you buy two sets of toner and get the printer for free. Inkjets are just too expensive to run. Most laser printers will handle card up to 240 gsm easily. You can also print onto thin plasticard including transparent. Overhead projector film is a good source of transparent material which can be printed upon.
The photo shows some narrow gauge coach sides laser printed onto 200gsm cardstock with the banner tape already applied to the rear of one side ready to be stuck down onto the thin balsa sheet (which could easily be card or styrene sheet). Once it's stuck down, I`ll nip out the window openings with a scalpel then cut around the outside.
Notice the hairdresser's scissors, they are great for fine work with card and paper and not expensive.
This is an old photo of part of our club layout under construction. The coaches are constructed in the same manner as the bogie coach above, flat sides and ends, but from normal viewing distance they are fairly convincing.
The loco is a Smallbrook Studios 'Iris'
The signal box is an early effort of mine and is made almost entirely from laminated card.
The photo shows some narrow gauge coach sides laser printed onto 200gsm cardstock with the banner tape already applied to the rear of one side ready to be stuck down onto the thin balsa sheet (which could easily be card or styrene sheet). Once it's stuck down, I`ll nip out the window openings with a scalpel then cut around the outside.
Notice the hairdresser's scissors, they are great for fine work with card and paper and not expensive.
This is an old photo of part of our club layout under construction. The coaches are constructed in the same manner as the bogie coach above, flat sides and ends, but from normal viewing distance they are fairly convincing.
The loco is a Smallbrook Studios 'Iris'
The signal box is an early effort of mine and is made almost entirely from laminated card.
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