first photo on new layout

[tom mann]

painted the backdrop today and tested my blue light technique on a partially complete model:



man, it feels good to have a layout... ;D

[Chris333]

Cardstock?

BTW we first saw the layout in the wall brackets with foam thread 

[tom mann]

Cardstock?

BTW we first saw the layout in the wall brackets with foam thread 

yep...

that was the first photo of the layout...this is the first photo of something on the layout... ;D

[Philip H]

As a recently converted cardstock enthusiast - well done.  ME, I'd go get a cast metal power meter to replace the one on there - it's obaviously not 3-D if you actually look at it.  But the first glance was VERY impressive.

[AlkemScaleModels]

painted the backdrop today and tested my blue light technique on a partially complete model:



man, it feels good to have a layout... ;D

Looks interesting.  Is that a 2 D or 3D building?  Can you show a photo of a wider view?

[tom mann]

Looks interesting.  Is that a 2 D or 3D building?  Can you show a photo of a wider view?

It's actually the Jefferson Ice House kit from CleverModels.net:  

It is a cardstock model, and the designer cleverly (you see what I did there?) extruded key pieces to give a better 3D illusion.  Really ingenious, I think.

Philip is right about the meter - IMO, it is the only feature of the building that is a dead giveaway.

[Philip H]

Looks interesting.  Is that a 2 D or 3D building?  Can you show a photo of a wider view?

It's actually the Jefferson Ice House kit from CleverModels.net:  

It is a cardstock model, and the designer cleverly (you see what I did there?) extruded key pieces to give a better 3D illusion.  Really ingenious, I think.

Philip is right about the meter - IMO, it is the only feature of the building that is a dead giveaway.

And I know Period Miniatures makes an N scale meter, so I'm sure there are HO scale meters out there.

[AlkemScaleModels]

Looks interesting.  Is that a 2 D or 3D building?  Can you show a photo of a wider view?

It's actually the Jefferson Ice House kit from CleverModels.net:  

It is a cardstock model, and the designer cleverly (you see what I did there?) extruded key pieces to give a better 3D illusion.  Really ingenious, I think.

Philip is right about the meter - IMO, it is the only feature of the building that is a dead giveaway.

I guess what confused me was if this was painted or glued to the back drop or built up in 3D. Now I see what you did, I think.  

I for one never really "got" paper kits. For example, I recall a paper kit that required the builder to roll paper to make a ship's mast. Why not just use a dowel or styrene tube?  I do acknowledge that some of the textures are quite convincing, especially in photos. In real life I find them less convincing. Is there something that I am missing?

[asciibaron]

Is there something that I am missing?

cost to build a background scene goes way down with card stock - foreground stuff for me needs to be 3d

[AlkemScaleModels]

Is there something that I am missing?

cost to build a background scene goes way down with card stock - foreground stuff for me needs to be 3d

The costs of those clevermodels don't look insignificant to me, but probably less than a 3D kit, so I see your point.

[Philip H]

Is there something that I am missing?

cost to build a background scene goes way down with card stock - foreground stuff for me needs to be 3d

The costs of those clevermodels don't look insignificant to me, but probably less than a 3D kit, so I see your point.

I would also add that, in N scale, paper/card models (including the various texture sheets) do allow you to capture the look of surfaces that just don't scale well.  I'm using Scalescenes.com asphalt (called Tarmac by our British cousins) for some parkin glots I'm working on because it reproduces the look of asphalt better then any  other method I've seen.  Ditto some of their concrete products.  Does it feel like asphalt?  No, but I am not at all sure what asphalt WOULD feel like at 1:160.

[Sokramiketes]

Up until I saw Lance Mindheim's current stuff and the european group with the modular HO switching district, I didn't think anyone was using photo-textures properly.

With photo papers, your level of perceived detail on, for instance a brick wall, just shot up exponentially.  How do you balance that with the rest of the scene on a layout?  How do you park a DPM brick building next to one of these Clever Models structures and not have it look like half your painting is watercolor impressionistic and the other half is photorealistic oils? 

Here's a shot from Lance that is pretty dang good:



Lance is coming about the closest to blending the technique with traditional methods but may not quite be there yet either.  He's using styrene for corrugated metal buildings because the photo textures don't quite work for them, but he hasn't yet put enough weathering or detail into the corrugated metal to match the concrete it's parked next to. 

Here's an example where the pilasters stick out a bit because they're too perfect compared to all the subtle photo-texture of the rest of the walls:



And here's that perfect metal siding next to lots of concrete walls with subtle photo-texture:



Now, maybe it's still in progress.  But if you're thinking about photo-texture, then it's a completely new medium to be using for a layout and will have to transfer into all aspects of your layout to be able to pull it off right.  All the patches and spills and oil splutters that Lance is incorporating into his streets is a step toward that goal.  And it needs to happen on *every* surface.

[tom mann]

In both examples you pointed out, there is little or no weathering on the styrene parts.  But, note that the roads and sidewalks blend in fine, despite being styrene.  Why?  Because they are weathered in a manner consistent with the printed textures.

[Sokramiketes]

Bingo, you're right.  (Even if you didn't make it all the way to the end of my post above

[tom mann]

Bingo, you're right.  (Even if you didn't make it all the way to the end of my post above

too busy...at work ;D