Am familiar with Adobe Photoshop and have used it to modify and add material to photographs and imagine it can be used to create items as you did. Will have a go at it. Have never used any of the Windows based art software. Very clever way that you trick the eye to see the roofing material edges. Will give that a go, also.
Thank you for the detailed response. I appreciate it and will utilize your hints as I continue to explore the creation of tintype scenery.
Looking forward to postings on the 129 and the complete project.
Swede
Thanks Mike! We're working on it! December or January issue is the current target for my 2012 Christmas layouts.
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
It's a perfect example of "machine logic" () in many ways. In the past, I used Adobe PhotoDeluxe 2.0 to create things like those arrival boards. But because the program is old, and here's the logic puzzle, it won't run on newer pc's because they "don't have enough RAM". This program was developed in the 90's and required only 8mb of ram (16mb recomended) to function. But for whatever reason, it can't cope with a number like 900mb as being larger than 16mb and says there's not enough RAM! Figure that one out!
Anyhoo. I had to create the black rectangle and draw the lines and the oval on it using paintbrush (remember that ancient program that still comes with windows?) and then do the lettering with a different program: 3D Album Picture Pro. It was the only one I have that could produce at least semi-legible text at that printed size. The font is just good ol' Times New Roman. It's just that the first letters are separate larger versions positioned along side the rest of the word.
The field of the roof is one large piece of textured green cardstock. I bought it at Wal-Mart in the scrapbooking section. It came on a 12" by 12" pad of primary colors. The detail on the roof is just 3mm wide strips cut from a different type of cardstock and glued on top. By using a textured card to slightly scatter the light on the base layer, it creates an illusion of depth where barely any exists at all. 65lb card isn't very thick, but the shadow lines created at the edges make you think it is. Pretty cool huh?
The 129 terrace is moving right along too. today I finished making and installed the "edge wrap" and I'll be installing the stairs next. I made those today too and later tonight I'll glue them in place on the foamcore risers. Then I can work on the garden plots and flagpole and finally I'll tackle the railing. Considering how much I'm attempting to build this year, I'll start a new construction thread soon. I'll probably move on to the hellgate bridge next.
Fantastic, Becky. How did you create the type for the two schedule boards? Is the roof detail overlapped strips?
Thanks for sharing
Good evening all,
Wow! And again, Wow! Becky, you have got to get some of this stuff published. This is incredible work. Wow!!!!
Keep on training,
Mike C. from Indiana
Can hardly wait to see the finished product! Would never attempt to take on a project such as this. My creative abilities are far too limited. I certainly agree with your approach regarding the brick pattern.
The trick I've learned over the years is to include just the right details for the materials you're working with. For example, the 124 has a brick pattern embossed into the wall surfaces. In cardstock I have only 3 options to choose from.
I decided to go with option 3 because option 1 would require a degree of detail I wasn't sure would be convincing. Similarly option 2 could get real messy very fast trying to presicely attach hundreds of bricks. So I leave the walls flat and let the eye fall towards the doors, windows and signs and away from the less detailed walls. Another example is the roof. By using a textured cardstock for the field and a flat cardstock for the ribbing it tricks the eye into believing the ribs are thicker and more interresting than they really are.
Color is another issue. I can't match Lionel prewar terracotta to cardstock colors available at most craft and stationary stores. So I went with orange. Orange walls, light yellow (to simulate cream) windows and trim, red doors and green window inserts and roof. I made the signs from sheet aluminum with woodland scenics dry transfer lettering and created the train arrival boards on my pc. The windows are also lined with vellum to enhance the lighting which is coming from a 432c bulb shining uot from a light fixture I made from a syringe!
The terrace will be a big piece of foamcore board covered in light peach/light cream card with green fencing. I bought a cheap cloth flag at Wal Mart and I'll make a new pole for it. Flower beds will be loofah scraps.
Good morning all,
Another source of buildings with a prewar "feel" are various forms of Halsam buildings that you can find on eBAY. While more widely known for Elgo American Plastic Bricks after World War II (and those are fine as well), there were two types of wooden sets that were made prewar. One is almost directly compatible to the plastic sets (in fact the first windows and doors in the plastic sets were the same as in the wood sets), and the other is vastly different in construction technique. The second type is a bit harder to find.
Thanks Becky. I fully understand. Building a 124 station and 129 terrace will be quite an undertaking. There are lots of curves and details. Do you intend to make the brick corners of the station in red and white like the original?
My hat is off to you!
Here's a shot of my Marx layout from a few years ago. I am in the process of repainting the tabletop. It's a lot smaller than the space you are dealing with.
J White
I wish I could share the photos. But various reasons prevent it. Like #1 I didn't take the photos myself so I couldn't post them to Photobucket in order to share them here. But more importantly #2 I lost those files when my computer crashed last December. All I had to work from was printouts I had made before the crash. I also checked with Ebay and unfortunately they don't show completed listings anymore like they used to. So I couldn't even provide a link to where I got them. Sorry, no photos.
This thread has sparked interest in me to build some tinplate stuff again! I decided I was unhappy with my current Standard Gauge situation (packing them up after Christmas and not being able to play with them for 10 months out of the year ) and since it may be some time before I can rebuild my permanent layout the way I want it, I might as well have a little fun! So yesterday I started building a 124 station and 129 terrace! All out of cardstock, foamcore and stuff laying around the house of course! And since I'll finally have some space, I might as well do the 840 power station, 444 roundhouse, 300 Hellgate and a few other things I haven't had space for!
Thanks to everyone who replied to my post. I'm still learning how to get around in this forum or I would have replied sooner. I should have space for a 6 x 12 table and a 4 x 6 extension to form an L shape. I would love to be able to run my original Lionel 254 electric engine outfit on the same layout as the new reproduction set I recently purchased from MTH and The Lionel Limited Corporation.
Becky, thanks for posting the link to the 2012 thread. I was not aware of the website you referenced, but went there and after practicing on one house, have now completed two at a scale that is reasonable for my layout. I have also printed out the buildings in the boulevard scene and will attempt to create my own boulevard. Your AF station looks wonderful! You indicated that you had a set of dimensioned photos that were used to create your station. Are they something that you could and would be willing to share with us?
Thanks very much,
I built a small one last summer on a card table. Here's a link to the thread explaining some of the techniques I used:
http://cs.trains.com/ctt/f/95/t/204425.aspx
watch?v=FeCkGJkPTg
Rob
Sparky38 ...Does anyone know where I might find an example of one to look at and maybe get some ideas? ...
...Does anyone know where I might find an example of one to look at and maybe get some ideas? ...
it would also help if you could describe the space you have to work with.
Sparky, Prewar covers a lot of territory. Are you interested in a specific "brand" such as American Flyer (Chicago Flyer or Gilbert), Lionel, Marx or some of the other names? There are some prewar style layout pictures on the thread for Prewar American Flyer Gilbert where I've tried to capture a bit of the feel of immediate pre to mid WWII toy train layouts. The exception being I added some Plasticville houses in one area. Prewar, there doesn't seem to be a huge selection of residential or commercial buildings other than trains stations!
Lover of all things Gilbert, truly a man ahead of his time.
message sent .
Railroad Crossings: Thinning the gene pool daily!
Hi, I am interested in creating a pre-war tinplate layout (O). Does anyone know where I might find an example of one to look at and maybe get some ideas? Thanks
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month