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railman28
Fireman
   

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Posted - 09/26/2018 : 8:13:48 PM
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quote: Originally posted by deemery
when I have something I like :-) dave
Cheater!
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It's only make-believe
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Country: USA
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deemery
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 09/27/2018 : 7:55:19 PM
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A work-in-progess shot. The cloth over the styrofoam helps me visualize the final landform. The close-in styrofoam is there mostly for the landscape outside the tunnel, but I'll also recut that to set the elevation on top of the tunnel.
 I'll do hardshell (plaster cloth on top of newspaper balls) to fill in between the layers of styrofoam. But I want to preserve those layers, so I can dig down and get to a level substrate to set the structures upon.
dave
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Modeling 1890s (because the voices in my head told me to) |
Edited by - deemery on 09/27/2018 7:56:19 PM |
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Country: USA
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railman28
Fireman
   

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Posted - 09/27/2018 : 10:06:32 PM
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I'm so envious of that 2" foam. be careful not to be too uniform in your layers.
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It's only make-believe
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Country: USA
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deemery
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 09/28/2018 : 09:03:22 AM
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The pink foam came from Lowes. (I had a $10 off $50 coupon :-) )
All that pink area will be covered by structures, it's the city location.
Mark Dalrymple, if you're reading this: Any thoughts on how to plan to fill it? James Van Bokkelen suggested figuring out the roads first, and that makes sense to me. I'm thinking the road will come from the middle flats towards the bottom of the street and climb uphill along the tracks. There'll be some side streets branching off back away from the viewer.
dave
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Modeling 1890s (because the voices in my head told me to) |
Edited by - deemery on 09/28/2018 09:29:44 AM |
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Country: USA
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ocalicreek
Crew Chief
  
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Posted - 09/28/2018 : 4:39:05 PM
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I'm not Mark, but I'll chime in. For an urban scene, I'd suggest structures.
But seriously, I agree that starting with the streets is a good approach. Two questions to help the thought process - is there a defining landscape feature that would shape the scene such as a bluff or creek, etc that city planners may have worked around? And are there any key structures that must be included in order for it to feel right? And a third - what is the overall size of the average structure going to be? That is, are they all relatively small buildings clustered together, or a mix of large & small, or massive structures like I.M. Boren?
Galen
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My Train Blog: http://ocalicreek.blogspot.com/ |
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Country: USA
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deemery
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 09/28/2018 : 5:22:03 PM
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Galen, good questions. The idea here is 'city rising up a hill', something I'm familiar with growing up in Pittsburgh :-) The intent is for commercial structures, e.g. 'block buildings', banks, etc towards the left, and then houses going up the hill to the right. Those will still be city-oriented, i.e. 3 story townhouses. Most everything will be scratchbuilt (structure building is my favorite part of the hobby), but I do have some kits that I'd like to fit in (Such as "Dorothy's House" from SS Ltd - that might go on the hill over the tunnel portal in front, as "prime real estate".)
Further back, towards the back wall and the white post, there'll be more bluffs/cliffs and forest.
dave
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Modeling 1890s (because the voices in my head told me to) |
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Country: USA
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ocalicreek
Crew Chief
  
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Posted - 09/28/2018 : 6:50:32 PM
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SS Ltd makes some beautiful urban structures. I've always had my eye on the Drug Store with its corner turret, but my current city-scape will be two-story structures, mostly kitbashed from inexpensive kits.
Are you familiar with John Ott's Miskatonic RR? His urban scenes in the mythical city of Arkham are simply stunning.
Galen
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My Train Blog: http://ocalicreek.blogspot.com/ |
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Country: USA
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deemery
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 09/28/2018 : 7:23:26 PM
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Yeah, John does great work. It's such a shame the Salem MA station was torn down. John also produces outstanding prints of mid 19th century locomotives in period-correct paint scheme.
dave
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Modeling 1890s (because the voices in my head told me to) |
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Country: USA
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ocalicreek
Crew Chief
  
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Posted - 09/28/2018 : 8:01:13 PM
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I decided to take your peninsula image and have a little fun in Gimp. Mirroring the curve of the track with a curved street leads the eye across the scene, either following the track or following the street. I snaked the street up the hill, across the first bluff, then up again and back. Each successive level is a parallel or ripple of the main street's curve, creating rhythm and cadence.
Potential Street arrangement:

Download Attachment: deemery1_streets.jpg 37.54 KB
A few structures roughed in:

Download Attachment: deemery1_structures.jpg 37.9 KB
The structures I put in are only a handful. The entire area along each street could be filled with rows of buildings facing each street. I'd suggest on the far left, larger complexes, or groups of buildings like a lumber yard or any FSM-type group of low buildings. The buildings along the street that I've roughed in might be flat topped 3 story brick structures and likewise along the first tier. The higher level may be larger homes as you've mentioned, perhaps victorian mansions. The idea would be to create a clear difference in roof lines, with peaks or assorted roof types down along the tracks, flat or mansard/flat roofs in the business blocks facing the streets, and peaks/turrets/hip roofs higher up.
Just a few thoughts. No offense taken if you hate it or go an entirely different direction.
Galen
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My Train Blog: http://ocalicreek.blogspot.com/ |
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Country: USA
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railman28
Fireman
   

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Posted - 09/28/2018 : 8:14:08 PM
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I won't have any suggestions here (except Email Mark) because urban modeling is not my cup of tea. but I am very interested in what you end up doing here. Are you going to force perspective here? Exaggerate the vertical?
Bob
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It's only make-believe
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Country: USA
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deemery
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 09/29/2018 : 08:10:32 AM
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Galen, that's kinda what I had in mind, but continuing the road in front running uphill to the next terrace, too. Structures at the top of the hill help serve as a view block between the aisle on the right and the rest of the layout. There's a spur coming out of the track in the far distance roughly where your road crosses the track. That will run top-to-bottom, with a passenger tation between it and the main line, and probably a freight station closer to the bottom of the photo.
Bob, things are too close together to do any forced perspective. But I might try that in the far right corner. I have some Downtown Deco N Scale 'boneyard' castings put away.
dave
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Modeling 1890s (because the voices in my head told me to) |
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Country: USA
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Michael Hohn
Fireman
   

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Posted - 09/29/2018 : 09:55:30 AM
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Dave,
Some interesting urban ideas here. Looks like an opportunity to get those kits off the shelves and completed structures out of storage.
Mike
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_________________________________________________ Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. James Baldwin |
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deemery
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 09/29/2018 : 09:58:39 AM
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A view of the right (near) side slope:
 The grade (for a road up the hill) doesn't look so bad here.
dave
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Modeling 1890s (because the voices in my head told me to) |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 8838 |
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deemery
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 09/29/2018 : 8:45:17 PM
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'Orogeny' (mountain building) continues



dave
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Modeling 1890s (because the voices in my head told me to) |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 8838 |
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railman28
Fireman
   

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Posted - 09/29/2018 : 10:20:38 PM
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Dave, the forced perspective doesn't need to be that drastic to be effective. just 10% a row of building will be very effective. take a seriously technique look at some painting of your intended prototype. Or lay some plastic graphs over a few pictures. you'll see what i mean.
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It's only make-believe
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Edited by - railman28 on 09/29/2018 10:22:48 PM |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 5712 |
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