Has anyone ever tried to model a minor league baseball field in HO. If so how did you build the seats of benches. I am thinking this would be a fun project for the layout I am planning.
Some of the guys on here have done so.
They have “modeled” a baseball field. The big thing the do is opt for “selective compression” of the field itself, as a scale real field can take up some serious real estate to be an exact scale replica.
Keep in mind that according to the Webster’s New AMerican Dictionary a MODEL is a REPRESENTATION of something, not necessarily an EXACT scaled down version.
I would use scale lumber for row seats and use florists wire painted gray for the metal supposts of the bleachers. Or build the whole bleachers units with just the scale wood. You don’t have to have a “stadium” seating arrangement. If you want the whole stadium arrangement, you may need a whole lot of real estate to build such a thing and a lot of work to build individual row seats like a stadium has.
good luck in your endeavor.
I have a baseball field on my layout but it’s a kids field in a park. Certainly not something you’d be interested in. At this type field the spectators would stand nearby or sit on the ground or the playground equipment to watch.
If I were doing it I would have the infield and few seats next to a background painting that would include the outfield, bleachers, etc.
When I do the math, it appears that an accurately dimensioned field would consume 4’ X 4’ to make it in HO scale. If you add seating for spectators, concessions, clubhouses, and parking it goes up to about 6’ X 6’.
It would be a fun diorama but if you put it onto a model railroad layout, it will show just how compressed everything else is. A switch yard should be many times larger than a ballpark, but a true to scale ballpark adjacent to a model switchyard will probably make the yard look odd.
i have to agree, selective compression is the way to go. i am thinking of going 1foot by 1foot in a corner. with backdrop in the right size and perspective it can look right. with factories and other buildings around it could look as if it were shoehorned in ie McArthur stadium in Syracuse NY.
If you have a 200mm wide strip of bare ground along the fascia someplace, you could model just enough stands, the first (or third) base dugout, some of the net behind/beside home plate… Then add figures in appropriate baseball uniforms and fan attire. Viola, baseball field.
What baseball field, you ask. The (virtual) one in the aisleway, and you’re on the mound with one foot on home plate and the other on second base.
I get around this problem rather easily. My `playing field’ is about the size of a postage stamp. Of course the sport isn’t baseball. It’s sumo.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
one of the guys at the club built one for the layout out of foam and cardstock
You might also try a little league field. Could easily set up home and parts of 1st & 3rd base lines with backstop. Around here there are no stands behind home and the backstop is only 15 -20 feet back, which could be easily compressed to couple inches in HO. Just need a batter, catcher, 3rd baseman, runner on 3rd, bottom of 6th, score tied, 2 outs – you could tell a whole story, tension, excitement, etc in a few inches.
Just happened to think, could easily do the same thing on a soccer field – just set up the goal, keeper on her line, kicker getting ready for a penalty kick, waiting on the ref to blow his whistle. Best part, these are game situations where no one is moving yet, so they’re perfect for a static model.
Yeah, a little league field is only 60 feet between bases. In any measure, you can always make the diamond to scale and “cheat” on the outfield (make the outfield smaller, but put larger numbers on the OF walls to make people think it’s the actual scale distance!)
Rivereagle:
Thats exactly what i had in mind.
However made that at your club I take my hat off to.
I fudged on my baseball field in the park by making the whole thing smaller so as not to dwarf the rest of the park. The infield is smaller with the base lines at 43 feet instead of 60 and the area taken by the outfield pretty much conforms to this same measurement, so the field is about 1/3rd smaller than scale. But most people who look at the park aren’t looking at the ball field or the playground or the trees. No, most of them have their eyes fastened on the 4-6-2 Pennsy K4 on the east side of the park.
Check out the St. Paul Saints ball fiels in St. Paul, MN Beautiful park; maybe easy to model.
Jimmy
That’s a nice representation there, River Eagle. Captures the look of two I know (Reading Phillies and Coca-Cola Park for the Lehigh Vallkey Iron Pigs) quite nicely. Nice thing about the R-Phils stadium, there’s a siding (active) running right through the parking lot! The stadium features a stylized animated steam loco that emits steam and sparks when the home team hits a home run. The Pigs have an animated Coke bottle where the cap pops off and it sprays in the air for a homer. Some custom work for Miller (the animated sign people).
–Randy