Starting the BIG city this summer!

[METRO]

I'm going to start some major urban modeling this summer, finally starting in on downtown Toronto and Selene (fictional city) and was wondering if anyone's got some words of wisdom?

Don't worry as soon as I get some of the buildings and trackwork finnished I will post pics.

Thanks everyone!

~Urban

[mondotrains]

Hi,
You've probably seen the articles on how to make a city look "busy" by using 3-dimensional buildings in the front and then using portions of buildings, such as the building's front or "flat" to imply depth. I think building flats look just as the name implies....flat.

Last Labor Day, when most people were at the beach or at family picnics, I drove through Hartford, Connecticut and using my digital camera (3.2 megapixels), I photographed dozens of historic buildings, including the Traveler's Tower and the Colt Building. I mention the holiday because it helped to have little traffic, people and cars in the way when I was photographing. Then, I went to Wal-Mart and using their photo Kiosk, enhanced, cropped and then printed 8 x 10 photos. What I like about Wal-Mart is that they use matte finish paper, rather than glossy, for their Kiosk processing. The prints are only $2.83 each which is very reasonable. I then fastened the photos to 1/4" thick foam board, available in large sheets at craft stores. I used large glue sticks from "Staples" to attach the photos to the foam board because the glue doesn't bleed through. I found out the "hard way" that Elmer's causes the foam board to warp because it is water-based. I bought the black foam board because the foam inside is black, therefore, once I used my sharp hobby knife to cut out the sky and inappropriate cars, fences etc. from the photos, the edge of the foam which is visible is black and provides a somewhat 3-dimensional appearance. I mention this because I previously bought white foam board and then had to paint the edge all around with black acrylic paint.

In my city, elevated behind my yard, I have all sorts of interesting "buildings" against my backdrop. Considering my city scene is only 10" deep, I only had room for one "layer" or row of various 3-dimensional structures, but the photos in the background make it look much deeper. It's also fun to see buildings you're familiar with and visitors to my layout get a kick out of seeing them too. I even have a photo of the Aetna building in Hartford, where I worked for 22 years.

Hope this approach helps.
Mondo