[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Time for another Model RR Pic ... (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 3/2/2007 3:42:36 PM EDT
For the arfcom crew.  It's been a while. Rio Grande geep nudges a coal load into position...  |
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Nice photography, only thing I would suggest is "warmer" lighting. Cold lighting is the only thing that holds back most pics in the mags from lookin' more realistic. just a suggestion,  t eta: litter like a wine bottle or walmart bag here and there would be a nice touch too LOL! |
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I take it you applied all the weathering to the rolling stock right?....if so good job. I used to be fascinated by trains as a youngin...not to the point of wanting to work for em or on em...just the whole concept of how they dragged the UK from a cottage industry based economy to a world power in a very short time. Yeah I had a few HO/OO scale locos' in my day 
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Yeah, the weathering is mine. I'm certainly no specialist at it but have fun. The hopper is one of the few that have had india ink used during the weathering process. Most of them are chalk and Dull Cote only. |
I got ya. Thanks for the coaching. Unfortunately, the camera an old, $150 Sony Cybershot P&S. I REALLY want a Canon Digital Rebel XTi!!! cjklekar, yes HO (1:87) scale. For anyone interested. D&RGW Platte Canyon RR |
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OMG, guns and trains HAS to be a bad combo. I mean, I know how much money i've spent on guns, I know how much money my uncle has spent on trains. I was of the opinion that if one would combine these two "addictions" one would end up bankrupt and soon be living under a bridge.  j/k bro My HO layout is up in my parents attic, where is been for the past 10 years. I'm not sure where my box of engines went. I started to get into it as a kid, but one day I found my dad's stash of old guns and ammo magazines, and for my savings account, there was no turning back. |
Ok, so with trains and my AR addiction, you've got my financial portfolio figured out. Now throw in a motorcycle, an $1800 mountain bike, my hunting habit and we're really talking...
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GP30!!!1 Ya got any of those SD40T-2s, perhaps DRGW 5371? |
Unfortunately, no Tunnel Motors are on the layout. We do run on SD7, but 6 axle stuff is pushing it for us in places. We've got a good bit of railroad in a reasonable space and you know what trade offs that requires.
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Very nice. On the photography side, one thing you could do (when you get that new D Rebel) is invest in a macro zoom lens. (It can even be a cheap $50 Sigma or something). That will allow you more control over your depth of field on those close-up shots, by decreasing the minimum focal distance. In other words, you'll be able to keep everything in the foreground of the shot (including the railroad cars) in focus, while having an out-of-focus background. It'll allow you to get creative, making the shot look more natural. For a much better explanation of depth-of-field, check out this link: www.ephotozine.com/techniques/viewtechnique.cfm?recid=63 |
 you could tint a bit around for the look you want... Now it looks like a picture in Popular Science from 1985 |
Too heck with the pic, that's some beautiful weathering! LOL, the lighting is really nice on that one but then again I'm bein' too picky. t |
To fool the human eye (and look more natural), I would think you'd want MORE depth of field. All too often the pics you see are taken as you described and tend to "isolate" the subject, such as in an outdoor portrait of a person. For a scene, stop the lens down as far as available light will allow so the depth of field is greater, and it'll look more natural to the eye in print. That is, unless you are tryin' to emphasize or isolate the main subject. just my opinion, t |
I agree on the depth of field. This pic was done from 5 photos merged together that each had separate focus distances. The result is a pic with everything in focus. Once again, the light could have been better...   |
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What did you do to add some "warmth"? I had florescent lights in my old basement, so I bought some of those cheap aluminum reflective lights at Walmart and used a few 100 watt bulbs. It helped a lot. My red cabooses and black steam engines always had a "bluish" tint to them with just florescent. I also replaced some of the florescent bulbs with some sort of pink bulb. I think I got them at Lowe's, and they said "adds warmth" right on the package. |
That's a great weathering job on that hopper. Is that the Roundhouse 70 ton? I have about 300 of those labeled N&W. I wish they had real grab irons on them, but they only cost about $6/each 10 years ago. Now the cheapest hoppers are about $10/each. |
Great ideas. We use Sylvania(sp?) "Daylight" incandescent bulbs. The layout looks more realistically lit than many, but it's tough to duplicate the look of sunlight. One of these days, I'm going to do a diorama for outdoor photos... |
Both the hoppers in the thread are Roundhouse. You're right, the details aren't the best, but they are a decent unit at a reasonable price. Thanks for the comment on the weathering. What's your opinion of the ATSF unit I used india ink on? |
N gauge has come a LLOONNGGGG way. There are now engines that come sound equipped, and with Digital Command Control (computer chip controls the engine, rather than voltage, so you can run multiple ones on the same track). There are great running and looking engines being made by Life-Like, KATO, Atlas, (even Athearn, I think) etc... I you are looking for a fun starter project, consider using a hollow core door as a layout base. They are very sturdy, and warp resistant, and light. You can even by track that snaps together and has the roadbed molded on, so all you do is connect it, and put scenery around it. Ballasting is one of the most tedious parts of this hobby. BTW, here is a link to a story from Model Railroader recently where they built a small HO layout in a week. It includes many pictures and descriptions which you can click on to enlarge. Model Railroader Layout in a week project: step by step |
I thought you had used chalk. It looks great. When I was weathering my hoppers, I had so many to do, I just ran the train past an airbrush with flat black, for the sides (to soften/dull the white N&W), and then again with a tan/brown to add dirt and dust kick up around the bottom 1/4 of the car and trucks. I just shot a pic I wanted you to see of my steam fleet I recently weathered, but it didn't come out too well without any extra lighting. Since my layout got disassembled, I've been concentrating on collecting large steam engines. I need approx. 8 - Class Y6b 2-8-8-2's, 2 - Class A 2-6-6-4, 2 - Class Y3 2-8-8-2's, and a 2-6-6-2, and 2 -Class J 4-8-4's plus a variety of miscellaneous engines to run a real operating session with several large coal trains, a couple merchandise trains, and a passenger train and a couple locals, and some mine runs, with pushers and/or helpers for the coal and merchandise trains. The only thing I have left to purchase is 4 more Y6b's. I have been watching and finding them on ebay for approx $350 + sound $100. So, only $1800 more to go and I'll be ready to operate (once I add on to my house, or move). I thought guns were expensive. Not many people remodel their house for their gun collection. |
I do use chalk and Dull Cote, but also incorporated india ink for the "coal dust" stains between the verticle panels. I think it needs stains around the verticle members to really look right. It sound like you know how to spend $$$. Steam is expensive, especially with sound. We have never spent more than $179 on a loco, with most being well under $100. P2K stuff on ebay is cheap and looks great. Our Stewart Fs are fine runners, have dummy B units for sound and make great detailing projects. Here is my son's Stewart F9 set. It was fun to detail the grabs, MU hoses and class lights. The B is Soundtraxx equipped for basic sound.  |
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How much backdrop length do you have? Have you considered the photo backdrops from backdropwarehouse.com? Your modeling and photography is so good, it would dramatically increase the angles and photos you could produce. I noticed some pretty shallow layout areas in your pictures on the other site that make photography harder. They are ridiculously expensive. But, so is everything else in the hobby. BTW, have you seen Broadway-Limited is doing an SD-9 in their cheaper "blueline"? Should be right up your alley. Hope they do D&RGW paint. |
Don't forget, I am not building a layout currently. And I already have all the rolling stock. I buy an engine every 4-6 months it seems like. I have a strict rule that I do not buy any engine that falls outside my area of operation (N&W mid-fifties). This keeps me from buying cool things like sound equipped diesels, or PRR Hipppos and T1's, C&O Alleghenies, or UP Challengers, etc... I only own one engine that doesn't fit my operations, and that is a NKP Berkshire, because I grew up with the NKP 765 always in my town for exursions in the 80's. I grew up in Bellevue, OH which was home of NKP largest yard and shops, so I have some affection for the NKP. |
I've tried to contain myself to one road and its predecessors but it's tough these days. There is just too much cool stuff out there now. Now I try to justify pool arrangements and lease and run through agreements. Doesn't always fly. I think I'll just call it all one big RR museum. |
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The "daylight" bulbs go a long way towards correcting color cast issues, but can still use some help. Florescents yield a greenish cast that is instantly recognizable, and most unrealistic. "Warm" usually refers to a redshift in the spectrum, while "cool" refers to a shift towards a bluer light. Photoshop allows easy manipulation of color balance, but it will be dependent on your camera and settings, plus your lighting. Most all photos, even those shot outdoors, can benefit from about 10 units of yellow, 6 or 7 units of green, and as much red as you can get away with, usually 10 to 15 units. Trying to achieve control that precise with colored lights seems difficult at best. That's for starters, you can get pretty creative when it comes to finding settings for sunset or the pink cast of early sunrise. Opening the window shades, and picking your shooting times can bring more natural color balance to your shots. This pic was shot using back-light from a very red sunrise about 7 am, on my workbench, with a poster sized photograph as the backdrop. The layout I'm building for my kids has a very long way to go, having just reached approached "basic done" stage, with "golf course" looking grass, zero detail, and ballast and water yet to go. This is only an example of the sort of experimentation possible, not any representation of some "right" way to do things, which really doesn't exist, in my opinion. Any modeller will immediately recognize the limitations of this image, and realize how far we have to go on our layout and rolling stock.  One other way to achieve "realism", in my opinion, is to duplicate the sense of awe most people get from real trains, brought on by their sheer size and the way they tower over the viewer. The way to do this is to orient the camera as low as is possible, from a realism POV. Even below grade works for me, as long as there's a believable way to achieve that, inherent in the image. I like the OP's work, especially the weathering and composition. The india ink gon looks the best to me, the others are, as previously noted, just a shade too "blue" for my eyes. Also, just a few fractions of an inch lower will put the camera even with the standing hobo's eye level, and about even with the walkways of the loco, which is about how I see them in the real world. Still, head and shoulder above what I see in MR, especially page after page of layouts shot under those alien green flourescents. Keep them coming and keep up the good work! |
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I love model railroading! I`m an O Guage`r myself, but enjoy them all. I just put on layaway an MTH AlCo PA ABA set in Denver Rio Grande livery last weekend. I told my wife that as soon as we get a house I`ve got dibs on the basement for my gun room, game room, and train room. The trains will give me something to do with my kids until they get old enough to shoot.
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Thanks, that's exactly what I wanted to use. I have an old maple hollow core dore laying about that would be just right for N-gauge. Thanks for the link. ETA: if I want to model one particular time period and place, say Milwaukee Road in Minnesota in the late 1960s, where would I go for info on that railroad's equipment? |
Thanks for the comment. We sure had fun detailing them. BTW, the filler is all Stewart. It's one of the few details they have out of the box. |
Check out scale armor modeling boards for some good articles on weathering techniques. Lot of focus on 'pre-shading' paintjobs that really doesn't apply, but the descriptions of where this technique is applied should help with your applications. Also like the photography and in fact the 'depth of field' (or lack thereof) actually works in my opinion. Especially with the blurry far backgrounds. Lastly, I REALLY like your ground-cover. The gravel has a good variety of 'trash' in it. And the scrub / weeds as well. Really quite life-like. I used to build scale WWII fighters and bombers long ago, then spent some time off and on with sci-fi builds. I'll get back into someday with some dioramas. Now I just watch my paints dry out and read the occasional FineScaleModeler. |
