Jump to content
 
  • entries
    63
  • comments
    218
  • views
    49,160

Iceberg wrangling

Will Vale

Entry posted by Will Vale

562 views

 Share

6168578030_1db264be34_z.jpg

Falkenstein Tunnel by Will Vale, on Flickr

 

I'm afraid these entries are a little dull, but it's nice to have a record of things as they happen. I've been piecing together the landscape at the left-hand end of the layout, which is a pastiche of two real locations - the Falkenstein tunnel (see the gallery at the lower right here) and the bridge over the Engenbachdobel. In real life they're the other way around.

 

I'm trying to use cheaper, lighter expanded polystyrene for the smoothly-contoured bits and Styrofoam for the rocks areas which need carving. The polystyrene is a bit of a pain though - very messy, and it takes more care to get a clean cut that Styrofoam. It's all glued with PVA, which doesn't set in the middle of a lamination, but usually sets enough around the edges that it won't come apart. I need to wait a few days before rock carving starts though.

 

Here's an overview of what I've done over the past couple of days:

 

6168041485_16d07a6ec6_z.jpg

 

The top of the blue bit is probably too high and will get trimmed off, then I need to do plenty of carving and join everything up with filler. I'm tempted to lay some PVA-dipped kitchen paper over the smooth bits to unify them a bit more and try and avoid any cracking if the layout flexes before I get the profile board on the front.

 

I must say this is all a lot more difficult than I expected - I've done scenery before and I thought I knew what was what, but copying prototype scenery on a large scale is quite different. The process of trying to integrate all the still photos and video I can find into an impression of what the 3D scene is like is more difficult than for buildings and mechanical things, because it's all so lumpy and hard to read! It doesn't help that it looks very different in different seasons, although winter pictures are good for understanding the flow of the 'bones' of the landscape.

 

One thing which will look very different when finished - when the trees are planted, all the 45' slopes at the lineside will become effectively vertical, and raise the height of the whole thing by two or three inches.

  • Like 5
 Share

6 Comments

Recommended Comments

  • RMweb Gold
Mikkel
  • RMweb Gold

Not dull at all, Will ! It's only with this entry that I fully realize the task that you've taken on. One thing is modelling real locations when the landscape is mostly flat, but in a mountanious terrain like this it's quite something.

 

So far it looks really good. I like the shot from below. Is the intention to add trees along the slope at the front as well? If so, perhaps you could add some natural see-throughs (eg where a storm has knocked over some trees) to allow glimpses of the train at the sides and not only the center?

Link to comment
backofanenvelope

Yes not boring at all Will and you are making a very convincing terrain. It is interesting how difficult modelling reailty is. But then I think this then makes for more realistic and pleasing to the eye. I would agree with Mikkel that some gaps in the trees would be a good thing for view possibilities.

 

Enjoying your progress

Tom

Link to comment
Will Vale

Thanks for the kinds words! I maybe didn't explain the trees thing very well - the slopes below track level to the road are mostly bare barring a few shrubs and saplings. It depends on the period though - it was pretty bushy in 1970s and 1990s images. This means there's usually good line of sight to the trains. The slopes above are heavily wooded, which makes them look steeper than they are - you just see the line of tree trunks and foliage.

 

The fallen tree idea is a good one though, and could work on the other side of the valley which starts climbing up towards the front of the layout. I want to encourage people to look into the scene from the ends (hence the river and road providing a good leading line) so maybe thinning or felling the foreground trees away from the middle will help. That'd be the bit on the right here:

 

 

6151733488_5e97e9dd4d.jpg

 

Mikkel, you're absolutely right, this is a much bigger undertaking than I thought. I was subconsciously comparing the ~six square feet of layout with Whitemarsh's eight, and thinking that was all that mattered. But the cubage is so much bigger for this one - East Anglia is relatively free of sticking-up bits, the Höllental by definition isn't...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
  • RMweb Gold
bcnPete
  • RMweb Gold

This really is 'train in the landscape stuff'...it's going to be breathtaking seeing a train snake through that scenery.

 

Watching with interest, Will...

Link to comment
Taigatrommel

Seeing this really makes me consider a multi-scale approach to modelling- small scale scenic grandeur, and larger scale for shunting. The challenges of replicating a landscape rather than just buildings is something I had assumed to be tricky, you're 100% reliant on your own interpretation of photographs and perhaps some basic dimensional data. Good luck with it!

Link to comment
Will Vale

Cheers chaps! On the integrating photos thing, I actually tried feeding them into Photosynth to see what happened, but there wasn't enough consistency in the data. I think it really needs pictures taken on the same day, and ideally with the same camera. Having to make do with the Mk. 1 Noggin.

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...