Hi Graham,

Its all about perspective at the end of the day and how far back will it sit on the layout, in can get complex when dealing with the hieght of buildings and were they sit on the layout and to retain proportion to the reat of the layout.

Your measurements seem fine to me, its allways a good idea to make a mock up of the building first so you can get an idea of how it will look with the reat of the layout/diorama.

As for foamboard, it may be possible but once all the window apertures a cut out there won't be much left of the foamboard.

Have thought about using perspex/ heavy grade clear plastic sheet, say 100htou + and to laminate the releif of that but baring in mind you brace it on the inside, the best way would be to fit dummy floors to keep it square.

cheers

Peter

Hi Grahame, I'm building tall buildings for my DLR challenge layout, though the tallest on mine will be about 16 inches. I think as far as height goes, it depends on the proportions of the rest of the layout - is the building by far taller than any other, its position along the length of the layout, and the height of the backscene etc.

Given the scale of what you are modelling, I would say 20 inches sounds just about right, as it will provide a focal point to the layout. It does mean you will need a hefty backscene though!

David

Hi Graham

To me the visual aspect of tall buildings is not so much the overall height but more that the roof should be above the viewers eyeline.

Looking at your picture I would build the building as a perpsex box overlaid with detail rather than foamboard.

HTH

Jim

Looking at your picture I would build the building as a perpsex box overlaid with detail rather than foamboard.

Thanks for the comments. I had thought about a persex or a clear plastic box overlaid with detail, but presumably that means having to put in every floor and internal wall to prevent seeing through and up and down inside. And wouldn't the thickness of the perspex mean a gap between the outer side of the glazing and the inside floors that would be fairly obvious in N gauge?

My plan was to overlay the foam board with a thin clear plastic layer to represent the glazing as the first level of the details cladding. I'd also paint the foambaord grey to represent the interior/and or tint the inner side of the glazing plus sandwiching printed blinds between the board and glazing on some windows/floors. I wasn't planning on cutting the windows in the foam board.

G.

Hi Graham

I wouldn't have thought so, After all the floor is usually behind proper panels.

If you are using clear windows of any sort wont you need an interior? Another option is to cover the back of the perspex or spray it a dark colour. If you could cover it in something mirrored it might look really cool - You could do that the foamboard way too of course.

Cheers

Jim

From memory there is a model of an American prototype with full height skyscrapers in it. Effectively it dwarfs the trains which is an effect I love but it does almost make the railway a secondary element to the city scape diorama.

At the risk of stating the obvious could a couple of cereal boxes make do as place holders to see? One of the key elements has to be the way the trains duck in and out of visibility between the towers?

Damian

A quick trip to your local car spares place will get you window tint film in various shades. Applied to the inside of the perspex it should make the interior less obvious unless you are having some of the interiors lit. It is called ECLIPSE Quality Window Film marketed by Castle Promotions,

Norwich, NR3 2BS

Ironically there is a clear tube in our office that has baubles in - its not far off the right size for an N gauge rotunda!

Cheers

Jim

A quick trip to your local car spares place will get you window tint film in various shades.

I've got an aerosol can of Tamiya 'smoke' colour which is specifically for tinting those clear polycarbonare car model bodies and have used that for tinting clear plastic before. It seems to work okay.

G.

Hello

I must agree with Damian. The idea of the trains being dwarfed by the scenery is very compelling. I personally think that if you start compromising too much the overall impression and feel of the layout wont look as good.

My pennies worth.

Missy

Hiya

While I am inclined to agree (i would though wouldn't I?) the dwarfing principle only works if the large building is in proportion to those around it. I would say that a single very large building would look a bit wierd on a layout if the surrounding buildings are small. Remember that the footprint of a real building is generally massive compared to what most modellers are used to.

If anyone were to 'go large' it would need to be as a whole not just a bit.

Cheers

Jim

Hi Graham,

My comments would be that the way you view and frame the layout is a key thing, i.e. if it is an exhibition layout, then creating a proscenium - narrowing the field of vision -might help to improve the illusion of depth, by controlling the perspective, focusing the eye on the trains, whilst at the same time making best use of the vertical skyscrapers but not actually needing to model the tops!

I hope that makes sense! Can anyone tell I'm an architect?!

See Catcott Burtle and Much Meddling for egs, albeit in a rural setting.

Regards,

Matt

Yes Jim, i agree and the reason being.

A high building on a layout will no doubt dwarf the layout's perspective even if it is correct to what your are modelling and that is because we are compromised by space, in other words we can't see the bigger picture or enough of the environment around it to make sense of it.

That is why when we read articles on layout design in many books published, it allways enfasizes 'balance' the key words. Perspective and proportion.

cheers.