Saturday 4 October 2014

Aiming for some Atmosphere Part 1

Hello.

For a while now I have had the idea in my head to create a little something that can be used purely for taking photos of engines. The inspiration came a while ago on RMWeb in the form of a roundhouse diorama which has also recently appeared on the cover of the excellent 'Finescale magazine. The photos just oozed atmosphere and really appealed to my sense of modelling and what I like trying to achieve.

With these images in my mind the opportunity came at the N Gauge show where I spoke to Maurice and Mike of Osborns models to see if they could laser cut something I could use in the form of a GW Engine Shed. A short while later I was the proud owner of one shed which I posted about a few posts ago.

So, it was down to me to turn it into something I could use. I started with the roof by CNC cutting out a bunch of roof trusses out of plasticard sheet (which I previously posted about). This now brings me to todays post...

The reason I chose styrene for the roof trusses is so I can easily glue them to the existing laser cut wood. Above you can see them glued to half the roof.

There is still plenty to do but this gives an idea of what I would like to achieve. The long wall will be removable so you can get a camera inside.

This is what the roof currently looks like. I haven't figured out how to do the channels for the smoke yet (I am sure they have a proper name!).

Finally the two photos below hopefully give an indication on what I am aiming for...





I think there is glimpses of atmosphere, fingers crossed it gets better with time...

Julia :o)




11 comments:

  1. Very nice Julia. I think the photos of the engines inside really do exude the atmosphere of an engine shed - the dappled light illuminating them from above is just right. I look forward to seeing this little project progress.

    Ian

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  2. Hi that's really nice Julia I do like the big tank I've just received my 9f kit from Bob Jones and Jerry is going to build a Q6 for me so things are starting to move forward on the 2mm front
    Funny thing is I look at the 2mm blogs more than WT and RM Web now
    John

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    1. Hello John.

      I am looking forward to seeing the results of your 2mm work oneday then. I am sure Jerry will do a great job with the Q6.

      Its been very liberating running my own blog and not being reliant upon the existing forums. I don't think I have ever updated my old blog anywhere near as much as this one!

      Julia.

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  3. Thanks Ian.

    I hope it lives upto the expectations I have. It was reassuring in a way to take the photos of the engines inside as it stands to get an idea of what I could achieve.

    Julia.

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  4. Super stuff Julia. That last photo oozes atmosphere already!

    Tom.

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  5. Looks very nice so far.

    I always think the key to shots like these is the lighting, especially to get the effect of sunlight coming through the rooflights, and you look to be well on the way to pulling that off here.

    Just got to find a way to reproduce 2mm scale dust motes!!

    David.

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  6. Thanks David.

    I agree about the lighting. I see there is going to plenty of experimentation to get the lighting right once the shed is done. Not sure what yu mean about 'dust motes' though.

    Julia.

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  7. Dust motes are very small specks of dust (also known as as angel dust) that you can only see when they catch the light. Exactly the sort of thing you see when a shaft of light shines into an otherwise gloomy shed :)

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  8. Hello Julia,
    nice blog, apologies as I have only just figured out how to reply! I think that the engine shed will turn out to be a great photo asset, the shots above show real promise already. Also I love your 52xx, super little model.

    Alex

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  9. Thanks Alex.

    Im glad you figured out how to post. The engine shed is comming along slowly and I keep on checking it all the time to make sure I can achieve the effect I want.

    Looking forward to seeing your next model.

    Julia.

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