Popular Post TechnicArrow Posted July 25, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 25, 2020 I came across the idea of a "Book Nook" by accident last night - you create a scene (usually an alleyway or corridor) to fit amongst the books on your shelf, with a carefully angled mirror at the back to double it's apparent depth. And so I immediately thought, could I do that with a railway... My first trial looked promising. 125mm is clearly too short for any rolling stock, so I plan to pose a set of Bachmann permanent way workers with a vehicle or two. Using an old poorly-built scalescenes bridge and some boxes as placeholders, I was pretty happy with this scene. However, it felt a bit too wide. My second attempt is narrower; it will take up less spaceon the shelf, but results in a more cramped scene and forces the mirror to be at less of an angle, making it easier to see "out" of the scene. I was hoping this could be a quick project, but the mirrors I have to hand are too small so I'll need to order some more. I'm also hoping to illuminate the scene with vehicle headlights and flashing beacons, and miniature portable floodlights. 12 3 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noctilux2 Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 Great idea, thanks for sharing. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Keith Addenbrooke Posted July 25, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 25, 2020 I have seen an example of a mirrored scene with a wagon cut in half - doesn’t work for a brightly painted Private Owner wagon, but a weathered bauxite or BR Grey open wagon might work, depending on how well you can mask the thickness of the glass of the mirror, which creates a gap measuring double the thickness of the glass. Great idea though - I liked the first example (the photo has a worker directly in front of the join so it’s not immediately obvious: at first glance I thought there were four real figures. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnicArrow Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 Thank you both! I did consider cutting some rolling stock in half, but it would just obscure the mirror making it pointless. I've mocked up a bridge with a smaller arch, which works better with this mirror but is still big enough for (theoretical) trains to pass. If only the mirror was a bit taller... 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff P Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 That's brilliant! Jeff 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium BR60103 Posted July 26, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 26, 2020 An old Amercan article on this recommended using mirrors with the reflective surface at the front. I don't know where you get them. Two mirrors at right angles will reflect an object back but on the other side -- a car will seem to be reflected in the other lane. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnicArrow Posted July 26, 2020 Author Share Posted July 26, 2020 Thank you both! I briefly considered using two mirrors, but I couldn't work out how to get it to make sense in the small space. In the mean time, the bridge has received a coating of brick-embossed plasticard (Wills I think), with extra care paid to ensuring it's square and true to match up to the mirror. I then painted it with Revell AquaColour 'reddish brown', and when that had dried a coat of diluted grey poster paint was applied and wiped off to leave it in the mortar courses. The overall colour is a lot darker and "smokier" than I intended, but I think it makes a lot of sense for the setting. Nothing in the scene is fixed down yet, so these photos take a lot of balancing to set up! Further additions include the replacement of the right-hand wall with some conifer bark to represent a more natural rock cutting, and the beginnings of the portable work lights. These are cut-down sections of those white marker posts you get with Hornby uncoupling ramps, which I seem to have plenty of. Cool-white LEDs will be mounted on the beams, wired in from behind the retaining wall. It's beginning to come together! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnicArrow Posted July 27, 2020 Author Share Posted July 27, 2020 A change that makes little difference to the scene, but is nonetheless crucial: there diorama now has a proper box! Made of the usual corrugated card, the base has received a skin of cereal card top and bottom, as will the walls in due course. The scene is also raised up on a small plinth, in order to accommodate batteries, switch and wiring for the lighting. I made the box a little wider than the original area, to allow the landie to fit properly and provide space for the surveyor with his tripod-mounted level. Unfortunately there will be no progress over the next week, but I look forward to returning to this project next weekend! 9 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnicArrow Posted August 4, 2020 Author Share Posted August 4, 2020 And I'm back! The past two days have seen some time spent on building a proper high arched retaining wall, inspired by those around Birmingham New Street. I tried to paint it in subtly different colours to the bridge, but it came out looking the same anyway! The wall is fixed in place; there are cut-outs in the diorama wall to accommodate the recesses. Now I need to start fixing the rest of the scene, which means I need to wait for delivery of a 60mm square mirror that will fill the bridge opening properly. But it's coming together! 10 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Sweet pea Posted August 5, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 5, 2020 This is a great idea using a corner of a book shelf. Great modelling throughout, I like how the curve disappears under the bridge. Look forward to seeing more. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold simon b Posted August 5, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 5, 2020 I like that a lot, very effective. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnicArrow Posted August 7, 2020 Author Share Posted August 7, 2020 Cheers @Kevin Johnson & @simon bfor the encouragement, and to everyone else who's 'liked' my posts! Yesterday, a package containing 6cm square mirrors arrived... It makes a surprising difference now it fills the opening. At this point the mirror, bridge, bark 'rock' face and track have been PVA glued to the scene. Next I made a start on the ground cover - finely sieved garden soil, because it works well and I don't actually have any suitable 'proper' ballast! Whilst it was still soft I drove the landie through it a bit to create some ruts. Green flock was also added to various corners and ledges. Finally, the backscene was painted a dark bluey-black, since the scene will be set at night. Next I need to trim the track and clean up the ballast, and make a start on the lighting... 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold simon b Posted August 7, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 7, 2020 (edited) Not my picture, but the more I look at those pics the more it reminds me of this: Edited August 7, 2020 by simon b 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnicArrow Posted August 7, 2020 Author Share Posted August 7, 2020 Good find! The sharp curve of single track in a damp cutting... I tried (briefly) to find a prototype to base my scene off, but it seems you've found one instead. Do you know where it is? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold simon b Posted August 7, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 7, 2020 1 hour ago, TechnicArrow said: Good find! The sharp curve of single track in a damp cutting... I tried (briefly) to find a prototype to base my scene off, but it seems you've found one instead. Do you know where it is? That is the open air section of York road tunnel, hidden round the back of kings cross. Taken in the very late 70's after it was closed to traffic, the pic is looking southwards downgrade. It is still used as an access route for network rail and you can see their vans crawling through sometimes, it currently looks like this: 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold simon b Posted August 7, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 7, 2020 And a video, the part you want is around 3.30 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Sweet pea Posted August 8, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 8, 2020 Great use of the mirrors as it gives you the effect of the curve going further. The garden soil works a treat. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnicArrow Posted August 10, 2020 Author Share Posted August 10, 2020 Thank you @simon b for your information. A very interesting location, and if I'd known about it earlier I probably would have properly tried to model it! Oh well. And thank you for your words @Kevin Johnson - I'm pretty pleased with the mirror effect too, it works really well in person. Not a lot of progress to report today, but I've tidied the ballast around the sleepers and added some rubberised horsehair foliage around the walls. I've also added a fascia - yet another layer of cereal box card applied to the front and sides, and painted black. It's looking much smarter now. The darkish blob in the bottom-right is a small on/off switch - not that it's wired to anything yet. I have yet to experiment with locations for the LEDs, so that'll be next! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TechnicArrow Posted August 10, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 10, 2020 I didn't think I'd be posting again today, but I couldn't resist experimenting a bit... I've placed the diorama on the bookshelf. It's illuminated by a small torch wedged against the next shelf up, and the sharp beam diffused into "daylight" by a receipt! Clearly a more permanent solution is needed, but wow am I happy with that effect! I'm now considering making it a daytime scene rather than a night one, since mounting a few overall lights will be much easier than making a working miniature site floodlight or two. But that means the backscene is the wrong colour, and the corners are very visible. Any thoughts? 20 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spotlc Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 This is very imaginative modelling, and the mirror is inspired, well done! As for overall lighting, you might consider a short length of self adhesive LED's. They are available online, can be cut in multiples of three, are either white or warm white, and although they are nominally 12V, they will run quite happily at 9V from a PP3 battery, easily hidden. Something like this, which is A4 paper size: Good Luck, Mike 2 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Sweet pea Posted August 12, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 12, 2020 Hi TechnicArrow the overall affect with the light shining through is just right. A lovely little diorama you can look at while chilling have a drink. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasG Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 Hi TechnicArrow! Very nice idea to built something like this! I like it! I could imagine building something like that for the bookshelf - if I didn't have more books than space for it... Best regards & stay healthy, ThomasG 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnicArrow Posted August 30, 2020 Author Share Posted August 30, 2020 Finally, just over one month since it started - 'tis done! I eventually got around to fishing out some LEDs, a 3V 3mm yellow with integrated flashing circuit, and an unidentified 5mm cool white one - it came off a toy alarm kit powered by 2 AA batteries, in fact I've nicked the battery holder from the same toy. So either it's got a resistor built in, or it was just badly designed! We'll see. They're both wired and soldered up to the switch and the battery pack in the ample space provided beneath the scene. And the effect works! (Not so well on camera, it has to be said.) Unsurprisingly, it's quite difficult to take a picture of a flashing light... I'm not 100% convinced the large, round 5mm LED looks right, even after I've added a shroud. And if I'd realised how obvious it would be, I would've gone to find the black insulation tape rather than using the white one lying around for the wires poking out under the landie... But overall the light and shadows are just what I was after - it shows up the relief detail in the brickwork and rockface beautifully. I may still experiment with a permanent "daytime" lighting setup before I go back to Uni in 3 weeks, so watch this space! 7 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Sweet pea Posted August 31, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 31, 2020 Hi TechnicArrow it looks great with the LEDs, nice modelling in such a small space. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mikkel Posted September 2, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 2, 2020 This is great, very creative thinking and nicely executed. I like that it's 100% railway, yet there isn't a single item of rolling stock (which would have ruined the realism anyway). 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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