Model Railway Forum

Looking Towards Shankly


Busy Day in Shankly


The Little Black Locomotive

Building Bridges


Ghost Worker


Rapid Transportation


Apologises to those who like in-focus photos. I wanted to take a few pictures to showcase (and checkout) some changes and additions that I've been doing to the backscenes. I hadn't run any trains for over a week on account of this fiddling about, and I couldn't resist giving the locomotives a run at the same time.

Close observation will reveal my painting additions, and the ghost worker caused by overly-long exposure time. I'm pleased with the painting effects in the first and third photos, but not at all with the second. I want a tree covered hill on the right, but haven't pulled off the effect I aspire to. I'll rework it over the next week.

Final Fuzzy Photo


Working as Dusk Falls


The Flying Scotsman


The second photo was taken 30 seconds before the Ghost Worker photo in the previous post. The third photo is also similar to one in the previous post, but I thought I would upload it because it's a sharp image (and I like it).

The Flying Scotsman and Old Faithful


The Little Black Locomotive Passing the Bay of Gydansk


Bird's-eye View


I thought that the forth side of the backscene would take me a week to (more or less) finish, but it's taken me three weeks to get it to that point. There's still some tweaking to do on this side, but it's mostly in it's final form. Phew.

Really looks great, smashing job. If you could ever post a video, I'd rather enjoy that.
An additional hallmark of your layout is its cohesion. There are a lot of things going
on in trains, in architecture, population, vehicles, line side structures, but it all hangs
into one visual theme.

Thank you Chops for your always supportive comments. I do rather fancy making a video or two, but I'd have to work out where to upload it to (Flickr, YouTube or whatever), so it's not something that I'm likely to do in the near future. I'm not exactly on the cutting edge of the digital world.

I should just say, Chops, that I've enjoyed your videos very much.

Regarding your comments about its cohesion, I think that there are several reasons for this (assuming that you are correct, which I hope you are). Firstly, I think that my modelling has neither a really high level of finish nor a really low level. It's consistent. Secondly, the baseboard surface, the raised part with the tunnel and the backscenes are painted with only four acrylic colours. These are white, cobalt blue, burnt sienna brown and a warm yellow. Artists call this using a limited pallette and it helps the colours hang together. No great clashes of colour. Finally, I had a clear vision of what I wanted right from the start. Of course, this has evolved as I've worked on it, but I've kept to the fundamental plan that was in my head.

And here are a few more photos.

A busy looking layout, IanAlan.
I like it.

Glencairn

I agree with Glencairn - it is a busy layout with lots going on - every time I look I spot something else...... great that you have managed to incorporate changes along the way but still roughly stuck to your original plan....... I think most start out with grand and overly complicated plans and then compromise along the way, or is that only me - LOL

Thank you Glencairn and Hound Dog. It's always nice to receive constructive feedback, especially if it's positive.

I must say, Hound Dog, that I don't think it's a compromise to change your plans as you go along. You may simply have had a better idea than the original, so it makes sense to do it the better way. We all learn as we go along, hopefully. If you are (mostly) happy with the final result, that's all that matters.

As you both say, it's a busy layout. I wanted to get a lot in and to have a sense of movement.

I've been thinking about my comment in yesterday's post regarding my modelling not having a really low level of finish. Actually, it's dawned on me that in places the level of finish is extremely primitive. Two examples of this that stick out like sore thumbs are (1) the cardboard 'road surface' over the road bridges (and the road between them), and (2) the cable that snakes across the baseboard and over the two footbridges ( held in place by wrapped around food bag closers). Photos to illustrate.





There are some reasons (excuses?) for this. Until it's wired up properly, I've no choice but have the wires go over the surface. Before I rewire, I plan to re-lay a lot of the track with brand new track. Until I've done that, there is no point building up the surface features. Hopefully, it'll all get sorted out in the fullness of time (famous last words).

One more photo for luck.

100th Post in the Thread