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nh63879 β Let there be light part 2
#lighting #model #modelling #railway #scenery #street
Published: 2015-12-28 16:13:21 +0000 UTC; Views: 1087; Favourites: 6; Downloads: 12
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Description
Following the success of wiring up a working streetlight I've added some more in along the street. The whole thing has been a fiddly and at times frustrating task to do but I've done it. Just got to do the other half of the street now!Related content
Comments: 17
Always looks better with some lights around, and I like what you've with the building in the foreground. Able to see the interiors and furniture...unless the walls are yet to be built?
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I did intend to add some furniture and figures inside with some interior lighting but I decided not too. I've added the fronts and give all the buildings a coat of weathering to take away the card look.
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Why did you decide not to?Β
How do you do the weathering?
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Well for one thing is the cost of adding such detail. I admit the quality is there but the price for some of the HO accessories was a bit too high. I do intend to add some more detail to the main street. One thing I do have in mind is to have a small market scene between the Woolworths and the cinema, along with some pedestrian railings and a pelican crossing.
The weathering is not hard to do. I mainly used dark earth powder from the humbrol weathering powder range that was just patted onto the buildings and brushed up and down in a streaking method. I started off with the metcalfe bank and shop which turned out better than I though, as well as taking the toy like look and feel to it, and decided to add the same to the rest of my buildings which have given them a grubby and stained look and feel. All that is need to finish them off is some turf scatter along the sides and on the rooftops to represent moss. As well as that I've got to repaint the road surface and the markings which have come out all messy.Β
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Everything is usually high priced, specially when a railway modeler. Although just before Christmas I got some market stall to add onto my layout, card kits that look simple and easy (Though can imagine they'll be difficult as hell and fiddly) About Β£2 or something on Ebay.
If not them then I think it's Wills plastic kits are next best, but not as cheap.
I always imagine weathering can be difficult, but from how you explained it seems kinda straight forward. I keep saying I'll give it a try, but don't wanna make things look like a pile of crap.
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Yeah I've noticed some of them on ebay. I wasn't so sure about them as much as the ready made ones. Wills do seem to make a good kit but I think they'd look a little bit out of place on my modern era layout.
I'm please you see that my explanation of weathering has been helpful. Weathering is not as hard it sounds and as they do say 'practice makes perfect'. I mainly started off with pastels and paint brushes on card models then went onto using an airbrush on a old wagon. I also found reference(s) from books on weathering and special editions of the main modelling magazines, focusing on weathering and painting and the like. That and the web is another good source of help, mainly on RM web.
If you're unsure about weathering then the best thing to do is to get some second hand model or something similar and practice with that. You don't need to buy all out expensive stuff to get started. Perhaps some tins of paints and maybe a few brushes and pastels is more than enough to help you get started. Hopefully when you get into it and feel confident enough then you can perhaps look into things like airbrushes and top notch weathering stuff.
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I think the kits I got could just about past in a modern layout, since the same kinda of stalls can be found on some markets....not many but some.
Seems like someone's very experience, and are from your work. Have heard about using pastels and such, a cheaper and easier way of weathering. A couple have commented that some of my locos look weathered, mostly due to dust and talc used as snow.
Not sure if it might have been yourself or someone else who said spray Metcalfe windows with hairspray (Or something similar) and can give a smoked effect, one of my future plans is a burnt out house, weathering would be used a fair bit
Also a Happy New Year
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Fair point there.
I've used pastels and the like in the past and find they're quite good for weathering. I've used spray varnish in the past with models and have let a bit drift onto the windows. I try to avoid it unless as you said I'm representing a burnt out building. I don't know if I'm going to add one on my layout just yet. I do intend to make a different corner filler to the one I built. As good as it may have sounded I don't think a high street and a retail park go together, although a shopping center would. I've been thinking a lot about it and I'm going to make a new corner with terraced houses instead, with some lighting and interiors.
As I said before representing a burnt out building is straightforward, with black pastels and powders with spray varnish. It's a lot better and safer than using real fire!Β
Oh and happy new year to you too.
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Yeah, might give up using fire and just use the fire and smoke effects instead.Β
Guess a high street and retail park aren't the best of matching, unless showing different changes and such. I'm going for the high street and terrace shops kinda theme, then with the market stalls to be added. All on the upper area will be shops and houses that match, rather than a large stone building to represent a hospital among red bricked houses
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Sounds interesting. Shops and houses blend in well together. I've got a hold of the new terraced houses kit from scalescenes.com earlier and have began to build it. I've only began on just the one set of houses which I do plan to have interiors and lighting. Although this will only be towards the front ends only. I've had to do a lot of planning before hand since this is all on my corner end, that joins onto the high street, and the space is rather limited. So instead it'll consist of two sets of houses and two low relief house backs with an alleyway. This way it means that there will be a fully visible street with enough space for cars to be parked on or by the pavement and cars to pass. That and of course it means there can be an extra cameo scene here and there!Β Β
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Certainly sounds like there's plenty going on with your layout, can't wait to see the final result! 
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Why thanks. I've managed to clean up some of my track in the corner which until now had been causing some derailments and slips. One thing I'm sure to be doing is to replace the 3-way storage loops with curved points and two loops for both lines. That way I can run longer trains and not have to contend with complex point-work, and keep it simplified in that there's one line for passenger stock and another for freight. I've got one set of terraced houses in the final stages which I gotta admit are fantastic and worth the hard work. All that's needed is to add the interior detail and maybe one or two lights, which is a bit tricky as the internal sizes don't give much room for a lot of interior detail and separated rooms.
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Really sounds like you're gonna be kept busy then, and the tracks can sound a bit complex. I'm thinking of pulling all the layout up and restarting from scratch, though think I'm kinda limited to room especially with the idea of a larger mainline station.
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Thanks. It's good to have something to keep one busy in the long evening, and in the day as well. I got one of the terraced houses almost finished and I got some prieser HO figures today which will add some interesting cameo scenes in the street. I've just got to get some MDF for the top corner, that holds out better than hardboard, and resume working on the street. I don't see any reason why rebuilding a layout from scratch won't hurt. Especially around this time of year when making a fresh start could be worthwhile. There are plenty of guides on building a layout from start to finish from model rail, BRM and the like to help you out and get some ideas. If you ever want any help and advice or want to know more on how my layout is progressing then feel free to send me a note anytime.
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Why thanks. Got a lot more work to do before it's completed
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