Some of you guys out there are really talented to say the least. I can see it in the pictures that you post of your layouts and trains. Sometimes I have to look twice because your work is so realistic that it amazes me. The lumber is aged and weathered on your buildings, and on your locos and rolling stock also.
Not that I’ll ever be able to duplicate the kind of work you do, but would you mind sharing some of your methods and secrets ?.
Thanks
Tracklayer
Yeah, they don’t stay up 'til 2 in the morning like we do!!!
Ha Ha ha ha ha ah ROFLMAO
(Sorry, couldn’t resist… those weathering guys are WAY beyond any talent I have in that area…)
Darrell, smilingly quiet…for now
I hate to admit it, but he’s right. What are we doing up at 2 in the morning ?..
I’m hitting the sack.
Good night dgwinup.
Tracklayer
Practice, practice, and more practice. Observe the world around you. Read a lot of how to books, watch how to videos. And then practice some more.
It’s been said that model railroading when done right should be conisdered an art form, and I agree. Some people have or can develop an artistic talent, and use it in creating scenes and models. Some people can’t!
I have a shelf full of books on the hobby, quite a library of videos (now converted to DVDs), and magazines going back about 35 years. There is a lot of material in all of this, and seeing examples of others’ work is one of the best ways to help yourself.
I’m still amazed when I see layouts with green areas that are all one color green - they look like tops of pool tables. Observe nature - even a green lawn with have varying shades of green. Anywhere that people do not walk there will be greenery sprouting up, weeds, grass, shrubs, etc. And they are rarely all the same shade of green!
Look and learn, practice and learn is the best way to achieve great scenes. It can’t be learned overnight.
Good luck!
Bob Boudreau
I think the model press makes everything appear to be magical by not showing the really crappy stuff. My creek bed looks reasonably good in this picture.
I cover the various misadventures of making the creek in my web article:
http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/dry_creek/
The model press usually doesn’t show failure. It all seems mystical. I think everyone can make realistic scenery. The first rule as Bob pointed out is look at nature. DON’T duplicate what you see in magazines, look at nature and apply the techniques to the scene.
There are no secrets it is just ripping out an redoing until it looks right.
I have a web article about making my mudhole that details my ripping out and redoing to get it to look like a mudhole.
http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/4x8/pond/
And still not satisfied with the mudhole I found another technique and made the pond in another way
I used a cardboard party ballon to make a reflective pond
http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/scenery/ballon_pond/
Just a thought and thank you if you visit
Harold
I have agree with Bob here, but I would like to change the word “practice” in his reply to “mistakes”. Now, I’m not one of the must talented here, but I was held back for years because of the fear of making mistakes or thinking that I can’t do that. Having said this, I don’t mean to imply to try to weather a $5000 one of a kind steam engine, but try weathering some old rolling stock first. You may be surprised that some of that old toy-like rolling stock, once weathered, may look good enough to run with your more expensive, more to scale stuff. Most scenery, if it doesn’t suit you can be redone or torn out and redone. In my opinion, one of the biggest secrets is that the one you have to satisfy is yourself. Yes, we want our work to look good to others, but this is a hobby,
Just stick around here and the talent will some how rub off on you! This forum is full of talent and people who are more than willing to share it. I’ve learned a great deal this past year and a bit.
I don’t practice
I don’t make mistakes, just miscalculations and
I do a lot of “Redo’s”
The big thing is not to hurry! If you get stuck move onto another project and the brain will work out the hang up in due time.
Honest[:D]
Regards
Fergie
Ha, Ha, Ha, Hey Fergy, I too, quit making mistakes years ago, but I sure have a lot of "learning experiences now!!! [(-D][(-D][(-D] Ken
Any one who is up at two o’clock in the morning needs all the encouragement they can get. So first throw out the “I’ll never be capable of doing that” mentality, second there are no “stupid questions” except those you don’t ask. Third the results are in your hands, if you aren’t satisfied with the results, then you aren’t done. Fourth there are always going to be several “nit pickers” who will criticise even the best work anyone can do, learn two things from them 1) what are they adding to improve my work and 2) they are happiest when they are making others miserable. Ask to see their work so you can learn from them, or more likely it will not be as good as yours, so walk away.
I note that this General discussion area has much larger participation and larger replies than the prototype forum. My point is there needs to be more doing, trying, and openness to learning techniques that get the results that work for you. It is your world, only you can say that there isn’t a prototype for what you are doing.
Last and most important, work safely and carefully, you will achieve the results like those that you admire. This is a great hobby to be involved in, but remember that there are some materials that we are using that can be harmful. (No stupid Questions!!!)
Pick up some cheap cars or a building and have at some weathering, river making, remembering that Tom Edison had many duds before there were light bulbs in every house. Have fun and enjoy!
Will
I’ve found, as Ken mentioned, that the biggest roadblock is fear. A lot of people are afraid to pick up that x-acto knife and make that first cut…
My advice, for what it’s worth, is to start with some inexpensive building kits, like DPMs “Practice Building” or the Woodland scenics’ pewter buildings , these are great to build your skills with.
The Woodland Scenics’ kits are very simple, everything is cast in, the only tools you need are an x-acto knife, a couple of small files and some super glue, (I recommend the medium viscosity). The rest of the job is all paint. A lot of detail painting. Good practice. If you screw it up, so what, you’ve only spent about 8 bucks. Hit it with some grey (automotive) primer and start over.
The more you do, the less fearful you will become.
Go to your local hobbyshop pick up some of the how-to books, there’s lot of good info in them. For scenery, check out Military Modeler magazines - those guys do some really great mini scenes and their techniques can be used in our hobby as well.
Those of us that have gotten any good at modeling are basically sponges, we absorb info and ideas from anywhere we can and thru patience, perseverence, and lots of trial and error, we got better and better.
The first step though,is to get out of that armchair, swallow the fear and dive in. Come on in, the water’s great!
BTW: I do a lot of my best work from 9pm to 4am. [:D][8D]
I get most of my ideas from observation. I weathered an engine house based on the observation of paint oxidation patterens on the roof of my Jeep. I modeled ivy based on the way it climbed an apartment next to where I work.
Then it is do and redo until I get it right. Like Bob said, nothing is one color. I use artist acrylic paints and mix colors. I determine the base color then work on getting highlights. I paint everything. I have been known to paint models of buildings almost the same color they came. It takes a little longer, but they always look better.
Personal, critical, observation of the real world is one key to outstanding modeling. For a while I took up landscape painting and in doing so got a far more preceptive eye for color variations in my surroundings. Lacking that acquired talent, most modelers will drastically over weather their locomotives, rolling stock, and structures, to the degree that they become caricaturish, rather than representative of reality. Therefore, try to model from photographs whenever possible. Always paint your models under the same type of and intensity of lighting as exists in your layout room. When you think you haven’t quite weathered your engines and rolling stock enough - STOP! It’s probably perfect or even slightly over weathered! Also note that, except at the very end of the steam era, steam locomotives were generally kept clean and well maintained, showing mainly light road dust/dirt on the running gear and a little sooting on upper surfaces. Many of today’s diesels look in far, far worse condition than road steamers ever did.
Similarly, in the real world one rarely encounters many structures that are filthy or rotting away. Any thriving industry does not allow its buildings and surroundings to look like they are in a state of decay. And…structural weathering generally becomes LESS obvious to the observer with increasing distance, not more dramatic. Further, the Depression Era (1930’s) was definitely not a time of universal dirt, filth and decay, as so often depicted, except in very isolated locations. Yes, most cities have/had their Skid Rows but they are generally very limited in area, with much of the rest of the city almost pristine in appearance.
Ground texture and slope are key in creating believable rural scenes. Few areas in nature are a solid color. No uncultivated field is a solid mass of the of one type of plant. The more “structure” or texture a wild area shows, the more believable it becomes. The edge of a forest is always a jumble of plants and trees of different sizes and types
I didn’t do much for a long time because I wasn’t sure I could get it right.
Then I figured NATURE IS RANDOM and INFINITE. No matter how it turns out, it either exists somewhere on the planet or it COULD exist. And it’s my railroad; don’t care anymore what others think.
So I started throwing plaster around and randomly painting/repainting until it looked OK. Leftover paint - just brush it on anywhere. Sometimes I get a shaker bottle of mixed grass and just randomly toss it around & let stuff dry. I took some scenery material from my vacuum and glued it down. Guess what? It looks good!
I can’t think of an easier way to do scenery. Not always; sometimes I am very careful and precise (around track details). However, I cannot duplicate the same scene twice.
This is a bit off topic, but i think one thing everyone can do, if you want true realism, is buy “target” switches.
Alec
As every one has said getting started can be the biggest hurdle. Don’t be afraid of what your first projects look like. Nobody but you will see them unless you want them to. Here is a shot of my first mock up of a grain elevator.
This should be proof that you can do better. I am getting a kit for the finished layout but I redid this any way.
It is still terrible but just a little rework did improve it. If the spectacular work other people discourages people from starting maybe this drec will encourage someone. Just get started, it’s not brain surgery, you get as many redo’s as you want.
As far as wooden structures go, the techniques of George Sellios are unbeatable. If you can even get a copy of the instructions to one of his kits, your wooden buildings will improve 500%!!! Since building my first FSM kit, I follow these steps to age all my wooden buildings…
Use a pounce wheel (Micro-Mark sells a nice set) to create rows of nail holes in the siding
Use the corner of a razor blade to lift up individual clapboards to create a random and aged look to the walls
Use the same razor blade to remove sections of clapboard to represent termite or other damage
Use an India Ink wa***o bring out all of these details.
In fact, where would we be without good ole’ India ink? That innnovation has had more impact on state-of-the-art weathering than any other technique. Again, we can thank George Sellios for this!
Practice on scrap pieces of stripwood or wood siding to get the hang of things then go for it! My only suggestion would be to always use a yellow carpenter’s glue like TiteBond or Elmer’s when assembling wood structures. They seem very resistant to washes and stains.
Best of luck with your modeling efforts!!
Don’t forget the other realism, operations. I find myself abosrbed in operating the layout.
See what I mean. Talent, talent, talent…
Tracklayer
I have enjoyed this thread, and would like to compliment all of yo for both your own work, and for your willingness to share your enthusiasm and techniques. I initially said I’d never do another layout, but the truth is that I have thought about it a great deal. I am really interested in box benchwork, spline and cookie-cutter methods, and trying, most of all, some of the more advanced techniques with which many of you are familiar.
It will be a challenge, but no more so than the first.
Thanks, all.
I realy like questions like this one - it gets a lot of great ideas and websites posted ( most which I put in my favorites file), and I get to see some of the ideas that will work on my layout.
[:D] ennout