From a carriage window

[Stubby47]

Link to original build thread here.

 

I've no idea why I started this, with two other dioramas in progress.

 

The idea of making a 20" long street scene look longer by the use of forced perspective is, quite frankly, bizarre.

 

I'm a big fan of the Robert Louis Stephenson poem, 'From a Railway Carriage' and the concept of looking out from a window at the passing scene was really the spark for this. However, looking at a simple single scale street didn't seem to be that exciting, so the challenge became more could I fool the camera, and thus the viewer, into believing the view was 'natural', even though it was actually quite contrived.

 

From the first test piece, it seemed as if it might be possible, but the difficulties of making everything line up to the same imaginary vanishing point soon became apparent. Every line, needed to be at the correct angle or (as was often pointed out) it just looked wrong.

 

 

I also realised that I could not use any pre-printed paper or embossed plasticard, as none of the sightlines would be parallel.

 

The first set of buildings was the terrace houses. I deliberated for ages over how to add a skin of bricks, so instead opted for a smooth rendered finish.

 

The next building started as a single shop, but I made it into two to add some more vareity. I had intended to make one into an 'Open All Hours' general store, but time and ability prevented that. Instead I cheated and made it an empty shop with a 'For Sale' sign.

 

 

Whilst pondering how to render the fourth building, it occured to me that a mock tudor (or as it ended up a real Tudor) facade would allow the transition of sizes between the two ends of the building to be disguised. I added an overhanging upper floor and leaded diamond paned windows (as I'd not done them before and it seemd a nice touch). For some reason I thought a dormer window would be a good addition.... The final, third version still isn't completely correct and the open window just makes it look worse in some photos, but I'm pleased with the pantile roof.

 

 

The far end of the street would disappear through an arched bridge, under a high level railway line. This would be using standard 4mm size stock. The major decision was whether to have the 'train', from which the viewer is looking, at ground level or on an embankment. The former would mean using level crossing gates, but I wasn't sure how much these would hide the view of the main street, plus they would have had to have been quite large and possible would not fit in the perspective. By putting the line on another embankment, would mean the viewer would be looking down in to the street, but the roofs and possibly the scene beyond would then become more visible.It would mean the top of the window would be higher than the maximum 11".

In the end I sort of faked it. The embankment is not the correct height (for what is a scale of 8mm/1Ft), but by careful use of the camera this is not too apparent.

 

I've had lots of encouragement for this challenge, probably far more than it deserved, but it seems I've sparked intered in others to at least consider the use of perspective.

 

 

 

Thanks to everyone who commented on the build thread

[Trainshed Terry]

That is such a clever bit of modelling.

[mobi323]

That's great modelling but the people who live in the houses between the two railway lines would have to like the sounds of the odd 4-6-2 zooming past the end of the street. (I note one of the residents has had enough and has the "For Sale" sign up). Listening to the telly would be a bit of a problem at times.