Thirty minutes Some quick improvements to structures/Bob Walker I
confess: I watch TV. A lot of folks think it’s low-brow to sit in front of the “idiot-lantern” when you could be reading Shakespeare or working to- ward world peace. While I appreciate The Bard, he’s a pain to read (per- formed is a different matter). World peace is a pipe dream until you change human nature. TV takes you out of the day to day and lets you forget everyday life for a while. One of my very fa- vorites is CSI (the original one). Part of the lead-in video is a scene of Las Ve- gas housing, a sea of terra-cotta colored roofs, all the exact same color. Wow, I wouldn’t want my layout to look like that. Variety is what we need, and not a sea of sterile roofs, all the exact same color. We have to spice it up a bit. One of the things that separates the ordinary model railroads from the ex- ceptional ones is the attention paid to the small things. Very few (if any) slop- py people gravitate to this hobby. We can all construct structures that are plumb, square and true, be they from a kit or built from scratch. We can make the four walls and roof neatly mate, and can believably paint the model. It is those modelers that take it the extra mile that I like to emulate. Four walls, some plastic windows and doors, and a roof do not a very interesting building make. We have to carry the modeling a little further to take it out of the ordi- nary and more into the “wow” class. I used to do this kind of thing to show off. You know, impress our friends. Now that I’m a crusty old goat I do it for my- self. I have long ago come to the conclu- sion that I am the only one I need to impress. Often all it takes is thirty minutes or so to vastly improve on an otherwise bland model. Some time ago there was a scratch- building article in the model press (not RMC) that depicted a railroad building that will purposely remain nameless. It is not my intent to belittle, but to in- form and improve our skill sets. The builder did a wonderful job with this building, and the construction process was presented well. The building was made of Evergreen Scale Models styrene, Grandt Line windows and doors, and a Heljan shingled roof. It was a near perfect rendition of the pro- totype, for which a photo was present- ed. Here’s where the party gets rough. The model was kind of a sterile presen- tation of a structure on its first day of
72
Scratchbuilder’s Corner
existence. It was almost perfect. Unfor- tunately, the prototype photo showed the building as it actually was in real
life, and that was not quite so perfect. There were a few changes from the as-built version. The windows had shades, some of which were open. One window had an old air conditioner drooping out of it, held up by a 2″×4″. There was an exterior yard light on a pole attached to the side of the build- ing with iron straps, and there was a tarpaper patch over part of the shin-
To make a model more interesting and more realistic, add details. On this building (top) curtains and shades were added in the windows, along with drain pipes and barrels beside the wall. Even a pile of ties (above) can have buckets and barrels placed around it. Another way to build visual interest (opposite) is to place appropriate signs on roofs and walls.
JULY 2012
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116