I have painted the base, worked on the crossing on Hiway 47. Next will be the pump island, pumps, fence, main sign.
Part 1 link
http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/151361/1675411.aspx#1675411
Part 2 link
http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/151731/1679194.aspx#1679194
Part 3
http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/159670/1759686.aspx#1759686
Not be a downer but the road looks completely unreal. Its a distraction from what you’re trying to present. Everytime I try to look at the building I’m pulled away by the road and how bad it looks. Downplay the patching on the road so it is not the center of attention in the scene.
I like the patching in the street. Being from the midwest, I have seen and driven on plenty of roads that look exactly like this.
—mmmmm----
I like the way the service station looks there.
As for the road—meh—you should see some of the dang county roads up here!! [:(]There are some roads that have that black rubber epoxy used so much that the stuff looks like some giant spider took a drug trip on the road!! And that is besides the patchwork. I have a few old photographs that I’ve got to scan into my computer that illustrates this----it does look bad in real life as well though-----[xx(]-
Hi!
I agree that the road is a visual distraction rather than a plus to the structure. May I suggest that you take a gray/black WASH and wipe it over the entire highway. This will darken the “concrete” and bring it closer to the patch color. Typically, patchwork like that blends in very quickly on a well traveled roadway.
I assume this is a “cash strapped county”, for typically if a road required that much patching they would tear it up and redo the whole thing. Of course there is no set rule for road repairs, and from what I’ve seen they vary greatly from one area to another.
Hey, keep up the good work and innovative ideas!!!
Mobilman44
Typically patches in the road don’t contrast that much with the main surface. To bigger point is that the viewer’s attention is drawn to the road and not to the building, which should be the focus.
Correct to say “don’t contrast”
For focal point, the distraction that the patchwork provides is a challenge. If I was doing a scene from an area that has that for a visual issue one COULD selectively reduce the number of patches in/on that space but then again----some viewers attention would be drawn to the road and others to the building. My wife is in Interior Design–as well as being an artist—focal points are always an issue in her line of work — so we end up constantly talking about it.There was at one point a movement in landscape painting that would erase out what ever was man-made to achieve “visual purity”. Reason? Same issue—a visual distraction was apparent in the painting.
As for me, I see the service center as part of the overall scene----then that’s just me.
On some county roads up here we’ve come across even contrastier things like concrete road with asphalt patches of varying wear patterns. Or, just to really muck things up—Highway 401 between Woodstock ON and the Putnam turnoff both West and East bound. Patches of asphalt with mixed in buff/peach stone that , in certain lighting, comes across as a pale to mid-tone pink colour. That section was one of the first sections of the 401 built in the 1950’s----
Agree, the patchwork is a little too pronounced and detracts from the building
Thank you for your imput. Here are some links to roads that we have arround here.
http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&cp=qdd3pp7f6t8v&scene=9371058&lvl=2&sty=o
http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&cp=qd9kn17g03xt&scene=41940873&lvl=2&sty=o
http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&cp=qdw1t57fgr7j&scene=20457887&lvl=2&sty=o
The roads in this area of the midwest take a yearly beating. Almost any major State & local Hiway have some sections that have patch work.
The road that I am working on is FAR from done. I have to stripe, weather, & blend the scenery up to the shoulders. After I add more detail to the station it will have no problem being distracted by the road work.
From back away I think it looks somewhat better.
Since everyone else has thrown their two cents in, so will I.
You are right that many roads are prone to pot holing and will get patched and repatched over time. What I think makes your road a little artificial is that it looks like all the patches were done yesterday. They are too uniform in shade as well as size. Blacktop fades over time. When it is first put down, it is black, but then fades to a ever lighter shades of gray until it is almost a diry white. If you varied the shades of the patches as well as the size, I think the effect would be more convincing.
My other observation is that I drive on very few concrete roadways with expansion joints which seems to be the effect you are going for. Even if concrete was the original surface, by now most roads have been blacktopped over so many times that if concrete ever was there, it was covered up a long time ago. Almost all surfaces I drive on now are asphalt, and again asphalt fades over time.
Overall, I think you have a very nice scene but I have to agree with those who say the roadway is what attracts the eye.
Since the road has been critiqued to death, I’m going to complain about the Service Station garage doors - they look rather narrow (especially for the 1940s and later), and should be widened maybe 50% if possible (I’m trying to picture a hefty service monkey trying to squeeze past the (not yet installed) door jamb so he can get to that yellow car’s engine.
I like it all in all for being a not finished work in progress it looks pretty good, not used to seeing concrete roads period but bad roads are common place here at least in this poor excuse for a state. I think once the whole scene gets dulled down with weathering it will be a lot more subtle then it is right now. A little trick I’ve seen done is take some black tempra (powdered paint) and streak it down the centers of each lane and then hit it with a mist of water after it dries it looks just like oil streaks. Nice job
I must agree with the croud. If you reduce the contrast between the patches and the concrete, it would look a lot better. It should be okay after that, it is really not that bad.
MadSinger
tomkat,
Having looked at each of the map links you posted, my first reaction still applies. In the examples you provided the repairs to the roadway are not as frequent or as pronounced as what you have modeled. Most the time when people model worn, cracked or repaired roads they seem to over due it and end with a road that looks like a smashed eggshell with black tar filled cracks everywhere or with some many patches that it looks like a quilt. The end result is that it becomes a distraction to what would otherwise be a nice looking scene. It’s like the person weathering a car for the first time and they completely obliviate every bit of lettering on it. A little goes a long way. The other problem that is more evident from the far away high shot is that the road patching looks like it is only within 6-9 inches on each side of the grade crossing and not along the entire length of the road.
IIRC there was a thread recently about is MRRing a form of art. This is where it becomes art. The blending of elements in a scene so that no one element overpowers a scene; so the all the elements mesh together; and using the elements in a scene to draw the viewer into it and help them focus on what you want them to see. In your scene you want the viewer, either online or in person, to focus on the cafe so the elements around need to be less detailed and more subdued than the cafe so, while the viewer sees them as part of the scene, they are not the primary element in the scene. The road should lead the viewer along it to the cafe, not distract from the cafe. Tone it down, lessen the contrast of the patches so even they look old and as is often the case remember that sometimes less is more.
Well, Wordless Workshop, I guess. It took a while to see you added the gas pumps and some vents to the roof, but apparently did not widen those garage doors (image the guy in the green jacket trying to get past the red car via that garage door - not easy!). Those garage doors images you included in the sign section look like extra-high truck doors, so the width may be off.
OTOH, you could submit the sign images to the “Yes! More signs for you layout” thread in the Layout forum (if they’re not there already…[:P]
ETA: Aha, I did a google search to try and figure out the ‘rest of the story’, and found your posting in Oct 2009 Trainboard about the origin of this project (a California Models Modern Station made into a ‘low-relief’ background model - hence the narrow service bay doors! (Why yes, I am procrastinating going out to finish trimming the hedges - why do you ask?)
The pumps are temporary, I’m working on some from Walthers Victory Station. I did widen the doors some, but remember this is an old station built in the early 1930’s when autos were smaller. I just wanted the feel of one of these old gas-cafe stations like I remember seeing along the highways when I was young. This is before the Interstate System. Since I had the old “yellow box” kit I could come close to making it into this type of station. As with my signs, I do not mind including my ideas in sharing with others. I do not consider myself as a master model builder but just an average hobbyist.
I know you like to share signage, that’s why I mentioned your “Yes! More signs for your layout” thread, which is very cool to peruse. The only reason I mention the narrowness of the service bay doors is that it gives a sort of ‘Matchbox’ toy service center feel to an otherwise nice, realistic model.
To me doors look just fine. Keep in mind the distance from the camera shot to the doors and they would look smaller than if you were right in front of them.
Also in HO modeling much of the scenery we do is an illusion any way.
Just my 2cts worth.
Happy Railroading
Bob
I think the problem with the appearance of the road is a case of perceived reality and actual reality. We usually view a roadway and all its multi-colored patchwork at ground level - either on it or beside it. Our real world view-point of a road is seldom like that how we view our layouts - from a low flying aircraft !
As shown in the OP’s links to the overhead air views, roads are a surprisingly multicolored patchwork covered in black tar spiderwebs. While the modeled roads probably do closely match a road (somewhere) rather accurately, they do not translate well to a model.
This is where perceived reality must take over for the viewer to accept it as plausable. Standing beside a road, we do not see that many variations in a single viewpoint. In order to pull it off more acceptably, the color variations / contrasts should be much more muted.
Scenery is for the most part, an illusion. Create a scene or object to appear as how we “think” it looks … not necessarily how it really is ! Ever take something you painted “concrete” - and thought it looked great - outside and actually sat it on a piece of concrete ? … wasn’t even close, was it ? What about the color of your grass, or those telephone poles or even that brick building ! It’s actually amazing how different our perceived reality and actual reality really are !
… think about it. …
Mark.