it might not be hugely accurate to start with, but you could always trace the building then export it to SU and resize it to improve the accuracy. would be a lot faster for doign very complex models.
always got the limitation of finding videos of the buildings though 
3eighty, thats the geekiest thing i've heard in a long time! and congrats on the kid, years of fun to look forward to 
just give us a shout if you want a hand with modelling anything. plenty of people here who are happy to help.
cheers guys, that ruby looks like it should do the job.
is there a easy way to remove the textures form a model?
you can use this: http://www.mapzoneeditor.com/index.php?PAGE=HOME to create seamless textures, i havent used it before but i believe a few other users tihnk its pretty good.
to use an imae as a texture, all you have to do is click file->import->select the 'use image as texture option->'select the image you want to use for your texture' SU willthen give oyu a coiple of handls to stretch the image over the face you want to texture, when youve placed it, it will then tile across the entire face. to paint it onto other faces, ismply go to the paint bucket, and select 'in model' textures.
oooh, good site, im going to have to do a few more renders so i can use those as backdrops.
indeed, your model is very good, did you make plans from the model, or was it purely for visualisation purposes?
well petrol and beer are both pretty expensive in the UK (im talking about a proper pub bought pint, not tescos finest) so i suppose we're going to have to fall back on to the fact that its generally pretty good quality.
i suppose its got a lot to do with the way google 'sell' it. i mean its marketed more as a tool for easy design rather than as a planning application. i would have thought that because of this people tend to get into it with a view to designing things, so by the time they work out that it's good for loads of other things they've already got a more than adequate knowledge of basic concepts like moving and rotating components.
i havent had any lag, but then i don't remeber it being very bad on the old server. pretty sure there is a speed increase of some magnitude though.
really nice, especially like the smoke. one small thing though, whats goingon with the lamp? it looks a bit weird
just a small thing really, but it would make it a lot easier for people to customise their toolbars. It would also make it simpler for people to make buttons for their rubies.
somerset, im not really sure what the situations like here, pubs wise, as i dont got ot he pub very often. I only commented because all the good pubs in my favourite holiday spots are beign taken over by the big breweries. Its very sad, all those good memories disappearing in a flurry of white paint and smoke free pubs 
sadly the local pubs are starting to decline. A lot of them get bought out by big breweries who obviously aren't very keen on selling other peoples alcohol for them.
As a quick aside, I can't remember exacttly where the photo was taken, but im reasonably sure its in Devon (uk) and however wet and lonely it might look, it wsnt really that bad, I just didnt have a proper coat (won't make that mistake again.)
sketchy, what your saying seems prety similar to the sort of thing we have in the UK I.e. most peole just drink large branded beers, although enthusiasts tend to go for beer from the smaller breweries.
a wicked script indeed! this will be very useful for a lot of things, your hard work is much appreciated.
a fair point utiler, i think a lot of the older genertion feel the same way as you, i.e. beer is beer, no chillies etc.
younger people don't seem to have much of an appreciation for good old fashioned (simple) beer.