Philosophy Friday -- Hue and Me

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
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“Hue and Me”

With the fall season upon us-- indeed it is practically over for many of us-- I have been reveling in the marvelous assortment colors and variations in hue on display around the region. This year has been particularly resplendent, I think, and I’ve especially noticed the red maple trees which seem to stand out more this year than in other years in recent memory. And since my chosen season to model on my layout is early fall, I have been taking particular mental note of the variety and subtlety of the colors which make up the autumn palette.

My wife and family and I took a drive through the mountains here recently and for once I didn’t have to do the driving, which left me lots of time to look out the window and really look at and see the foliage of the various trees and plants and the various types of grasses growing clumped together along the highway-- looking for all the world like the Silflor grass you see in the magazines and catalog ads!

And as I sat looking out the window watching the late fall / early winter colors and vegetation my thoughts began to wander off thinking about colors in general. In particular the various hues and shades which are found in everything everywhere, anywhere you look and in all that you can see. Trees, leaves, rocks, bricks, sky, houses-- you name it, it’s got variation. And of course texture-- we’ve discussed that before. But, seemingly, no two things have the exact same colors-- and certainly no two things which have sat in the weather for any amount of time are alike in that respect, as anything which is exposed to the elements is changed in the process. Colors shift and fade, stuff gets dirty and accumulates dust, things are hit and banged together which chips, damages, scratches or otherwise mars their surfaces.

So as I sat looking out the window, thinking my though

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One quick thought before I hit the easel…The way I personally am reading your question, I think you’re asking this question: “What’s the difference between a really good layout and a great layout?”

In my opinion, really good layouts are well-done in all aspects as you list.

To me, great layouts have an overall, unique, guiding theme that dictates all the well-done details. I think of Victor Smith’s city edge, Proell’s oceanside layout, Sellios’ depression city layout.

I don’t have a great overall theme yet and it drives me nuts because I really want one for my own personal satisfaction and sense of accomplishment.

Right now I have a snow and ice theme!!

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This is a Mathew Hicks Photo. It has been posted on the forum before and is in Railpictures. I look at it often as I spend time every year in the Rockies and I would like to capture this look on my through the Rockies trip that my layout is suppose to represent.

Colour is so important in what we do. The sheer numbers of colour/shades we see in nature would be hard to duplicate on a layout. When painting some rock work, I Googled “how to paint the Rocky Mountains”. I found one site that gave a list of thirty colours minimum you would need. I bought about twenty of them at Walmart and ended up with this. It is good enough for now. It will never be nature perfect.

One thing I don’t like is roads and rivers that go off the layout edge. Sometimes it is unavoidable though. People that see roads and rivers that go off the edge of a layout just see them ending or going off the edge. If the same disappear behind something they wonder where it is going. It’s the “I wonder what’s around the next bend effect”. I am going to try to have my rivers and roads disappear into a forest or behind a hill or into a tunnel. We will see.

Where I live, when you drive from the coast to the Prairies, the landscape goes from rainforest to rugged canyons scoured into the granite over the eons. Then through a area of dry desert terrain and into the Rockies, out through the foothills and onto a two day drive across the prairies. Every change in landscape and environment blends into its neighbour.

As I go along on the layout, everything must look as if it belongs to whatever is next to it. This is accomplished by using as many colours/shades as possible. You can never use too many colours, the more the better. Just look at nature.

Old sn

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Brent, your rock formations are beautifully done and remarkably well colored. Congratulations!

This tip about ending roads and rivers is going to stick with me forever. I, too, will see if I can make it happen well.

Thanks.

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Of course, if you really want to have some fun, why not let some of the “instant water” (or whatever) drip over the side and make a small puddle on the floor. Then glue a small fish or two with their tails sticking up and you’ll confuse the heck out of some folks!

[(-D]

John

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Yes. W&N Branch of the P&R (Reading, PA to Wilmington, DE), 1900-1905, summer.

Yes. Completely different cars, engines, dress, buildings, transportation, signage, fonts, advertising, building details, etc. Oh, couplers are the same.

Research, research, research. Look at pictures, read books, read forums.

Patina is really universal and independent of era. Dirt is dirt.

Actually in my era, many things will have LESS weathering than a typical layout. That “old brick building” is only about 5-10 years old in 1900, but 105 years old in 2000.

The real trick is that most stuff is made of

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– Have you selected a location, era and season for your layout?

On my previous now dismantled layout, the location was the piney woods of East Texas, approximately 50 miles north of Houston. My own version of a scene based on elements from Conroe, Cleveland, Silsbee, and a little MC&SA/ T&SE logging shortline.

Era and season: the summer before Sputnik (1957).

Summer because I enjoyed summer vacation as a kid, and in my adulthood, that was when I usually took some time off to do train chasing.

Summer meant that Johnston High School in my fictitious town was out for summer, school buses parked.

I could model kids elsewhere. A relatively static scene of kids standing in front of the moviehouse waiting for mom to pick them up seems more realistic than a frozen-action playground game.

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John - excellent topic again!

– Have you selected a location, era and season for your layout?

Yes, I have. I am building an N scale mini-modular layout, loosely based on the Eizan Dentetsu KK, a line running from the outskirts of Kyoto to Kurama. On my layout, time is set on August 2009, just to capture the (still) lush green scenery prevailing in that period. Rolling stock, figures, vehicles and buildings match that period.

– Have you considered how those choices will affect the look and appearance of your layout? And by that I mean more than just the livery on the trains, the type of hats and skirts the ladies wear, and the vintage of signs on the door-- have you considered how those choices will affect the coloration of your buildings, trees & foliage, and so forth?

In N scale, even if detail is there, it is much less apparent than in HO scale, just because it is so tiny. Therefore, the overall effect may be even a little more important than in bigger scales. I try to carefully match all aspects of my layout to capture the atmosphere of the layout´s setting.

– Do you have specific techniques you could share for achieving holistic (in-total) integration? So that your buildings and structures and people and all the things on your layout share a common “look-and-feel”. An “atmosphere” might be another way of saying it-- or a “patina”, if referring only to the surface aspects.

To start with, I think it is quite helpful to have a good overall plan*.* Match all your purchases against this plan to make sure they´ll fit to what you are trying to achieve. Avoid impulsive buys, just because they look “good” or are a bargain. Use the same set of scenic materials all over your layout, as well as the same set of paints and colors.Be careful when mixing brands. Avoid abrupt changes in color and texture.

– I’m especially interested in whatever “formulas” people might have for making “rust” or “dirt”

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  • Have you selected a location, era and season for your layout?

Yes. Appalachia, early 1970’s, summer

– Have you considered how those choices will affect the look and appearance of your layout? And by that I mean more than just the livery on the trains, the type of hats and skirts the ladies wear, and the vintage of signs on the door-- have you considered how those choices will affect the coloration of your buildings, trees & foliage, and so forth?

To some extent. I try to keep the vehicles and other details “in era”… I’ve added era-appropriate billboards and businesses. That sort of thing.

– Do you have specific techniques you could share for achieving holistic (in-total) integration? So that your buildings and structures and people and all the things on your layout share a common “look-and-feel”. An “atmosphere” might be another way of saying it-- or a “patina”, if referring only to the surface aspects.

Yup. Undulating scenery, steep valleys, fast moving streams, deciduous trees in full leaf… that sort of thing…

also, lots of decrepit brick industrial buildings, with grime and dust to spare…

– I’m especially interested in whatever “formulas” people might have for making “rust” or “dirt” or

“bricks” (& mortar), or any of the other subtle effects that folks might use in working to achieve a comprehensive effect. By “formula”, I’m thinking more of the combinations of this or that and th

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Yes, Yes and Yes.

Location is northern New England, partly 'cause I love the area, and since I live up here I can visit and photograph prototype locations. For instance I scratch built the Lisbon NH station from photo’s I took of it. And it’s a B&M served location and the B&M was The Railroad when I was growing up. Used to wait for the steam pulled wooden commuter train bringing my father home from work, and I used to ride it into Boston.

Era is the ever popular transition era, 'cause I like steamers and I like diesels and I can run them together without anachronisms in the transition era. Matter of fact, I have some locomotives and rolling stock from well AFTER the the transition era that I love to run too. So the layout is mostly set in the 1950’s, but GP40-2’s from the 1970’s occasionally put in an appearance. T’other reason for the transition era is short forty foot cars. You can get more of 'em onto the layout, and they ain’t fussy about my 22 inch main line curves.

Season is summer, for two reasons, the green leaf look is prototypical for maybe 9 months of the year, and it’s easier to do well. The fall foliage is tough to do right, either it

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Regarding era, season, and location I’ve taken the “blender” approach. The era is everything from about 1922 to 1937, minus the Depression and racial issues. I put that time-frame in a “blender” and whipped it all together. This way I can enjoy my favorite automobiles and I have some flexibility in terms of when some bit of technology became part of day-to-day life. It was not a particularly conscious decision, but more of an evolution. The railroad itself operates on a shoestring, so all of the locos were purchased second-hand; for that reason, the slide-valve era exists on my layout right next to a back-shopped railbus that was built from a 1937 Ford bus.

The location is supposedly southern Oregon, but I must admit that it’s looking more like northern Utah (my current local scenic frame of reference). You could say that it’s a blend of the two regions.

Seasonally, it looks like July or August. I like tall yellowish grass and green trees - it’s an aesthetics thing.

As far as getting a unified look, most of my structures are made from old Campbell kits and I think that helps it to look like a real place and not a hodge-podge of structures. I’m careful to avoid anything too contemporary, and there is a lot of wood construction. Virtually everything on my layout is coated with dullcoat, too. I think that helps add a “lived-in” appearance. Finally, I use minwax dark walnut stain as my basic ground color and bare-wood weathering. I think that helps tie it together:

I admire the people who have the self discipline to choose a time and place and model it faithfully. I admire them in the same way I admired car restorers when I was a hot rodder. They are sticklers for getting it right - an admirable quality. Me, I’m sort a free spirit when it comes to my hobbies and being a