Lisa Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Hi What is the Difference Between a Micro Layout and a Working Diorama ? I have asked several people the above question, and so far nobody has given me a explanation, that holds water. Lisa Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Hi What is the Difference Between a Micro Layout and a Working Diorama ? I have asked several people the above question, and so far nobody has given me a explanation, that holds water. Lisa Then there's no difference, water or not. If it does also hold water, that's a Dockside Micro Layout or a Harbour Working Diorama. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 If there has to be a distinction (and I'm not sure there really needs to be) then I'd say it comes down to intent. A working diorama (I'd say) is something modelled where the scene is important - whether a building or a bit of scenery, or a "set piece" - and incorporates some movement or mechanisation (e.g. something by Dave and Shirley Rowe); a micro-layout is built with the intention of operation, however limited that might be. And the two meet in the middle and overlap quite a lot, perhaps to the point where there's no point worrying about what it is you're building...! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Russ (mines a pint) Posted November 12, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 12, 2012 I would agree with above a working diorama, well diorama to me says scenic. Micro layouts can be scenic or not - in many cases they are simply small layouts. Many of the original micro layouts where non scenic shunting challenges, but of course there are many micros, inglenooks and timesavers that have been given scenery too? And of course other types of micros. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted November 13, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 13, 2012 The answer is probably the viewpoint of the builder. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 Thanks for the explanations. Lisa Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyA Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 For me, it depends how long it holds my interest when operating it. If I can operate it for more than ten minutes (or all day at an exhibition) without getting bored, then it is a layout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 For me there is a blurred vision. A diorama - simply a static model, scenery and maybe some stock in scene - no movement. A moving diorama ? one - a diorama (as above) but something moves (might not be the stock) A micro layout is where the movement of stock is controlled to be on and off scene usually to a FY (that might be simple stick) or goes round and round (as in a pizza micro, But as indicated above the principle is the movement of trains through (or in/out) of the scene. For me it is not about operation - it could be as simple as a roundy roundy pizza or it could be a single track shuttle. For me a micro layout is not a real layout .. simply a moving diorama .. but then it all depends on what you define as micro. For me anything over 3ft in 4mm becomes a layout - as long as thee is a controller and some purpose. It is pretty clear in my mind - but the demarcations are pretty unclear - fuzzy - blurred. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjcampbell Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Micro layouts can be all sorts of things - and another thread has attempted to define them. Not completely successfully! Since so far as I know there is no definition for a "working diorama" either, this is an impossible question! I would also suggest that the terms are not exclusive. To my mind a diorama is a model of a particular scene, generally well detailed and whether of a real place or imaginary it will be built with an aim for realism or accuracy. Perhaps a common use of dioramas (outside model railways) is for military modelling, museum historical scenes, or architectural models - which suggests that they can be of any size. "Working" means to me that a train would have to move, but does not suggest any level of involved operation (such as shunting) - indeed it may well be automated. Without trying to be too bound by definition, a micro layout is simply a very small model railway layout, under 4 to 6 square feet in the usual indoor scales, intended to be operable in some way. Perhaps a working diorama is a micro layout, assuming it is small enough? If a micro layout has significant operational interest (such as a shunting puzzle) it probably isn't appropriate to call it a diorama, but a pizza layout, or one with a very basic track plan (1 point or less), and particularly if automated, could perhaps be described as a working diorama? So I don't think the terms represent different classes of model, more a different perspective on why the model is built and how it is to be viewed - or to put it another way, which term is used to describe the model probably tells you more about the philosophy of the builder than about the model itself! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 47137 Posted November 15, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 15, 2012 What is the Difference Between a Micro Layout and a Working Diorama ? Hi Lisa and everyone, I have always thought of a "diorama" as a static display. In particular I think of the work of Jack Nelson: a relatively large display (at least, rather more than the 4 square feet limit offered for a micro), designed to be viewed from one direction, and probably with a forced perspective. Once there are moving trains on it, it becomes a "model railway [layout]". Pondering the idea of false perspective, if this was applied to the track gauge as consistently as to the rest of the model, then it would clearly be a static display, unless movement was incorporated elsewhere e.g. (say) working pit head gear for a mine. Conversely, a single baseboard taken from a layout and displayed in isolation could aptly be called a diorama, false perspective or not. So for me the difference between a layout and a diorama is whether the trains move; even the simplest pizza is a "layout" (if it works) but unfortunately "working diorama" would then be a contradiction in terms, at least from the point of view of a railway model. And a "micro layout" is a construction where the trains run (a layout), with maybe some other characteristics as we have pondered in another thread. Richard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
switcher 1 Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 My take on these two :- Diorama - scenic model Micro Layout - a small model railway I know 4sqft is oft quoted but that originated from an HO perspective; 3.5mm to 1ft; therefore 8sqft in 7mm to 1ft, or maybe even 16sqft if you take it in both dimensions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.