Easy Realistic Building Interiors

[jdl56]

I admire people who create intricate interiors for their models of buildings. That's way beyond my skill level. But even if I could do it, most of the 50 or so buildings on the CP Rail Manitoba & Minnesota Sub. are flats--I couldn't add interiors, even if I wanted to. But I did want some of the buildings to have realistic looking insides, as seen through the windows.

But how? One day, while driving downtown, I noticed that you can't actually see very far inside a building in the daytime--two to three feet, at best. So I decided to follow the prototype by taking photos of windows and putting them in my flats; see results below. More photos and information about how I did it can be found on my blog at http://cprailmmsub.blogspot.com/

John Longhurst, Winnipeg

[DKS]

Excellent effect.

[GaryHinshaw]

The effect looks great in the photos.  Does it look as convincing in person?

(Not trying to be critical, just curious.)

-Gary

[tom mann]

Awesome idea.

[jdl56]

Does it look convincing in person? Yes--probably better than in photos, which force you to stare at a single scene vs. letting your eye wander over a layout while following a train.

But beyond that, it's the ease of use that makes this method suitable for people like me, who aren't up to modelling interiors to the Nth degree, as well as for when you need to give flat models a sense of depth.

John Longhurst, Winnipeg

[habersack]

I've used this before too, and a photo gives way more realistic results than a model. The Diet Rite sign is a photo as are the window inserts. I find a lot of material on the photo sites where the owner does not stop you from using the material.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Wow, that's really slick.

Ever get hassled taking the photos?

[DKS]

IIRC, MR had an article about this back in the 60s? 70s? The difference is that the MR article described using slide transparencies and making small light boxes to illuminate the film, thus creating a photo interior complete with lighting.

[jdl56]

No, never been hassled. It's just normal photography, downtown, or elsewhere in the city. If you spent a long time taking photos of someone's house on a suburban street, that might prompt second-looks. But otherwise, it's just taking public photos in public places.

When I took my photos, I went downtown on a Sunday morning when there was little in the way of traffic--you have to watch out for cars so you don't get them in the frame. (No Sunday morning shopping in Manitoba--yet.)

Habersack: Your interiors look good, too!

John Longhurst, Winnipeg

[habersack]

Thank you. Some of my stuff came from royalty free pics on the web. Easy to find and don't have to leave home to get them!

m

[sirenwerks]

So, John, do you shoot the windows straight on (and you appear reflected in every window) or shoot from the side and correct the keystoning electronically? Or some other way?

Bryan B.

[Subwayaz]

Quite nice and easy enough to do.  Thanks for sharing

[AlkemScaleModels]

So, John, do you shoot the windows straight on (and you appear reflected in every window) or shoot from the side and correct the keystoning electronically? Or some other way?

Bryan B.

Good question.