Sloping townscape and low-relief buildings, etc

[billtee]

Hi, guys and gals. If you've been perusing these forums you will have discovered I'm building a TMD, set in the period 2000-2011 or so, all DCC with sound, and all diesels/DMUs.

I've now begun the interesting bit - scenery, etc.

 

The baseboard is, of course, flat at the lowest level of my layout, because that's where the TMD is situated. However, at the rear of the TMD is a higher level (about 100mm higher at the moment). A lot of the retaining wall 'holding up' the upper level will be dark grey brick, the same as my road viaduct which crosses from front to rear at the right hand 'end' of my layout. The entire width of the SLOPE (not the entire baseboard), from left to right, is about 42 inches, so the slope of the road won't be extremely steep, but still quite a climb if the model people in my townscape had to walk up the hill!

 

Now comes the difficult bit, both to model and to describe:

I'd like to have the 'road' on the upper level gently slope down (from high on the right to low on the left) so that vehicles would be able to enter my TMD, but this is going to introduce a number of problems.

 

1) The sloping road isn't a difficult thing to model - just build the upper level on a slope! But even this introduces yet another problem - the brickwork of the retaining wall. This has to be kept level, of course, but the wall (and possibly iron fencing) beside the road to keep pedestrians from falling over the edge onto the TMD below is causing me a few problems. The fence posts would be kept vertical, but can I purchase tall iron fencing panels which can be distorted to give the fall of the road? What about a brick construction parapet? the brick courses would be horizontal, of course, but could the capping stones of the parapet wall slope downwards at the same angle as the road?

 

2) The backscene won't be full depth models because I don't have the space, so they will have to be low-relief buildings - a mix of shops, terrace houses, modern shops, even possibly modern housing, but how do I place them on a sloping baseboard (as described above)? Most of the ones I could purchase from Bachmann (who seem to have the widest range of low relief buildings) are quite wide - up to 175mm wide for the bank - and that would create problems where the right hand side would be below footpath level and the left hand side would be way up in the air.

 

3) Can anyone suggest a source of narrow, ie from left to right as you look at them straight on, buildings and/or shops? Bachmann do a bakery and bucher shop at 58mm wide, so the 'step' from one level down to the next level (think of stairs!) wouldn't be too great, but the wider the model building, the greater the step down to the next level, if you get my drift.

 

Hornby's Scaledale shops are 120mm wide, and the Bachmann railway hotel (which looks like a lovely. timeless, model) is 178mm wide according to their website. These wide model buildings would look peculiar on a sloping baseboard, even if I build each building on a 'step' so that they were level. Can anyone suggest another plan?

 

I had thought of making the back, higher baseboard just level and having another single carriageway access road down to the TMD, which cancels out the sloping baseboard problems but introduces problems in that I'm really, really pushed for space between the rearmost track of the TMD and the actual back edge of the baseboard - I've only got about 6 inches with nothing on it, and it's only about 2ft 6" wide before I come into conflict with one of my engine sheds which runs at an angle to the rear edge of the baseboard/rear retaining wall. Perhaps this might work, but I'd appreciate any suggestions, please.

 

All the best, and I'm sorry this has been a bit 'rambling', but I've tried to describe what I've got in mind to the best of my ability,

Bill

[Edwin_m]

A retaining wall will normally have the courses horizontal as you suggest. However if you have a brick or stone parapet wall at the top, the courses on that part sometimes (possibly always) run with the slope. There may also be a string course where the two meet - all reasonably easy to make with embossed Plastikard.

 

For buildings on a slope you could try finding some where the door is at the downhill side, and bury the uphill side. Take a look also at how the roofs work - often traditional terraces in the North have a continuous sloping roofline over a whole terrace, but to replicate this you'll need to heavily modify or scratchbuild. This may be less common in other parts of the country.

 

Worth taking a close look at prototypes in the area where your model is set!

[KevinWalsh]

For the retaining wall, normal practice is to step it down as seen in this model example http://www.hobbytown.com/uploadedImages/Products/Railroad/Scenery___Landscape/Tunnels,_Retaining_Walls/thumb_WOOC1254-450_Large.jpg

 

Any houses/shops would also have their rooflines step as per http://image83.webshots.com/172/1/56/61/2174156610014559453ItgsBq_ph.jpg but where you have a large footprint could you not have the footpath sloped with steps up the various height differences

 

Just a couple of quick thoughts for your consideration

[billtee]

Thank you, gents, for your thoughts.

Regarding the courses of bricks of an abutment on a slope, that's what I thought but I wasn't sure.

 

I may yet go with a level upper level, which would cancel any problems with buildings up there, and cantilever a sloping access road down to the TMD. This would be very similar to a large factory near where my model, which although freelance, is 'based'.

 

Now I just have to acquire the buildings or start making them!

 

Bill

[Jason T]

Whilst not having quite the same issue, the foreground of my model of Bacup will be built on a slope and I too have a requirement for terraced houses climbing the slope. I opted out of the continuously sloping roof (although future houses, of which there will be many, may have this feature if I can get my head around it) so as can be seen below, I stepped the houses whilst keeping the base of the structure level; the road, etc., will be added at a later stage and the whole street will be come modular.

 

I calculated the full length of the rise of the hill and then the part of this which these six houses would fill, luckily equating to a 4mm height difference between each house. To do the same with RTP structures, you could simply build a stepped base with each step being the width of the structures.

 

I opted to put the doors at the highest point of each house (if you see what I mean). For these, the sub-structure is mounting card covered with embossed Plastikard. It's time consuming, but pretty simple (although I have had to throw a few bits of card away) and very satisfying.

 

 

Edited to add: personally, I am of the opinion that you should never go for the easy option because at a later date, you will regret it and wish you'd made the extra effort. As such, I would go for the buildings option rather than the access road; the end result will be much more pleasing.

[Classsix T]

Have a sloping road, but a pavement level with the buildings, residential only I'd suggest and another retaining wall down to road level. Footpaths do not have to be alongside roads especially if there is no reason to cross. The road will have double yellow lines and possibly a no stopping sign.

You could step-down the houses and pavement in chunks to follow the topography suggested by the road.

You should end up with a view similar to that at many seaside towns.

 

C6T. Thinking along different lines.

[Coombe Barton]

Contrasting styles

 

Stippy Stappy, St Agnes - roof horizontal - http://www.visitcorn...t-agnes-p485173

 

Whitehead Street, Blackburn - roof sloping parallel to ground surface

 

[norseman]

Not sure if scratchbuilding is an option for you, but with ready to plant buildings you will always get a problem if you want the ground to slope, as most such buildings don't have a base. That is one of the reasons why I always scratchbuild, as I want my townscape to look as realistic as possible.

 

I am currently working on a backscene with low relief terraced houses. I tend to model just over half the depth, as I like to have the ridge a cm or two in front of the back board. Which means most of my low relief buildings have a depht of appr. 7-8 cm.

 

Here are a couple of pics of what I am currently working on