Thank you Jarrell that is very kind of you! I have started a new thread on this called Sergio Leone Movie Set Diorama. I think that it better describes what this diorama is all about.It is not meant to be a historical piece but my interpretation of what it may have looked like.Most of all it is just a tribute to the director himself.Cheers! John.
Once Upon a time.........
My photobucket:
http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/
I am a man of few words but lots of pics
I quit drinking beer because the download was taking longer than the upload !
As it is planned now the train would be about 62" long ,the same length of the diorama that I am presently building in 1/16th scale.I find that this is getting a little big for me to haul around now so I am looking to reduce the size a bit.I think that I will reduce the length by using the locomotive and tender and a combo passenger/baggage car only.I will start with this and add to it later if I want.I build my dioramas in modules that are joined together with screws only ,so I will still have the option later to add to the scene if it seems necessary.
I will start by building my HO mock-up and see how it looks!
,Because of all the confusion as to what G scale really is and because I need civil war cars at a reasonable price, I have decided to use Bachmann kits for the rolling stock.I can't easily modify the locomotive so it will have to be the cars.When I have everything I will put it all together and see how it looks and modify the cars if need be.I don't plan to put in any figures so scale will be not so obvious anyway.Worse comes to worse I will call it artistic license.Speaking about artistic license this diorama will be my tribute to Sergio Leone and the art of making film.He used lots of it in his film and still succeeded artistically in creating the best old west film ever made.Not a bad example I would dare to say. My diorama will be more about the art of telling a story than recording history.This story will be the simplest that I have ever done.No figures just the train and wooden structures will be modeled.The story will be centered around an empty directors chair with Sergio Leone written across the back.I thought about adding a camera and tripod but even that seems too much and it is not really required for this piece.
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Things to consider
The General locomotive kit is 1/25th scale.The closest thing to that is G or 1/24 scale.
The General was originally designed for 5 foot track but changed to narrow gauge in the 1890's
When I get the kit I will have to measure what is on there now.If it is G can I use LGB Durago and Silverton rolling stock? What about their other rolling stock is it all narrow gauge?Is it possible to change the trucks only to G scale?If not then I could modify the locomotive I guess.
I don't mind using a little artistic license with all of this after all Sergio's trains in the film were Spanish dressed up to look American.
.You know it is funny how these creative seeds are planted in your brain.When I walked out of the movie theater 40 years ago after seeing this movie for the first time,I knew something had changed,that I had experienced something that really hit home.I couldn't quite figure it out at the time but I new that I had just witnessed a great piece of Art.I have seen the movie many times since but it was only when I got into storyboard dioramas that I really began to appreciate it .The genre I had always loved since I was a kid, "The Old West", but this film was different from anything I had seen before.I bought the special collector's edition DVD of the film and began to really study it this time.This edition not only has the movie itself but you can program it for a running commentary on every scene by knowledgeable film people.There is also 3 documentaries included.Maybe its because I am an old fart now but for me this is a wonderful tool that I would of never dreamed of years ago.A university course on film making in a box. "WOW"When studying this film I sometimes just run it with sound,sometimes without sound and sometimes just the sound alone.I freeze frame compositions that I like and note lighting ,composition etc...I take pics with my digital camera right from my computer screen for research purposes.Never before have artists had all these wonderful tools at hand whenever they need them.It kinda blows me away!Home based artists have never had it so good!Now we too can learn from the masters in an exciting new way.
.My next diorama.Changed my mind again! I am doing the opening scene from the film "once upon a time in the west"in G or 1/24th scale.This will be a static diorama and I will be building the kit "the general" as the locomotive.I would like to build a passenger car,box and a flat car if I can find one to modify or kit bash or even build from plans if necessary.I would also consider old unserviceable shells or anything that requires restoration,in fact I prefer it that way for static models. In the film there is an old box car converted into a temporarily station and a water tower and windmill that I also want to kitbash or build from scratch if need be.The rest would be standard track and old railway ties or new ones slightly weathered.Any advice you could give me would be really appreciated,I am especially looking for fellow modelers who are also into the old west genre to communicate with as I am a newbie to RR dioramas although I have been modeling for 60 years.Cheers! John.
. More and more I have come to believe that photography and the way your stuff is presented is just as important as the diorama itself,especially dioramas of the storyboard type.The frame, painting and lighting are just as essential in 3D as 2D art.Even "how to..." pics are more interesting when properly presented. I have been fooling around in photobucket and photoshop as you can see. Layering is something that I am trying to learn now so that I can have just the frame saved and add different pictures and text to it.In the meantime the above is an example of what I mean. When my building days are over,I plan to do an on-line book of pictures and "how to's......" for my modeling buds on the internet.The best part is that it will be free! The way I look at it is this,prior to having the internet I spend a lot of time and money tracking all this information down(I have been modeling for over 60 years)now I have all this at my doorstep ,it is time to give something back!
I have over 7,500 pics in my photobucket on models of all kinds and model building.Unfortunately some confusion has evolved over the years and even I have difficulty finding stuff sometimes.I plan in the future to put some order in all of this and post " how to's....." with the appropriate pictures.
-I hate 1:1 scale carpentry and actually am quite lousy at it.I will be glad to get this over with and get back to real modeling.I just don't know how the RR guys do it with all their complicated layouts and such.I have saved the worst for last,figuring out how the roof lines will meet in the corner.I will do it in foam board first and use it as a pattern for the plywood roof. The framework for the facades is just about finished and I can start adding the 1/4" plywood.The frame is very strong as it is ,so the plywood will be there mostly just to cover in the area.The back will be 2 pieces, screwed on for easy access to the lighting etc....A small hinged door is also an option for bulb changes.
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Pretty darn close!
I just noticed the front lantern needs straightening.
I have started a thread on the Layouts and Layout Building section of this forum.There I will discuss the "how to's......... that I use for building large scale dioramas.Should be fun!
Hi John
There is no difference that I know of, usually the originals are better than the reruns. I think that it has someting to do with the casting dies getting old and losing the "crispness" of the detail. From the looks of the box it looks like you found an original run, pretty good score on that dude.
keep it on the tall skinny stuff Neil
Waitin;Once in awhile I like to take picture vignettes from my dioramas.This is actually from a 1/16th aircraft diorama but would work for RR fans too!
Waitin'
Hi Neil ! thanks. I found one on ebay I don't know about original or rerun Why? is there a difference.
Cheers! John.
Welcome John
I am sure everyone here is looking forward to pics and how to's and whatnot on your diorama, as someone who was once quite heavily into 1/24th scale models and such I am really looking forward to what your doing and seeing your photos. Where did you find a model of the General?... is it an original run or is it a rerun? I have not seen one of them in a looong time. keep it on the high shiny stuff Neil
JohnReidBy what factor would I have to multiply HO scale to get G scale?
G Scale (LGB = 1:22.5) at Wikipedia and HO Scale (1:87) at Wikipedia:
G Scale ratios vary from manufacturer to manufacturer as you can see.
Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956
nother pic
I figure that this would be about the length of the train as depicted in the film.
By what factor would I have to multiply HO scale to get G scale? in other words if I took a measurement on a Ho scale locomotive and I wanted to scale it up to G by what number would I multiply it ?
I am planning to use this old unserviceable kit to do a HO scale mock-up .
So your a fan too!
If you are doing the "Train Station" scene, are you going to have a scale model fly on Jack Elams face?
The red brick building would be the station, probably in wood.The car is a stand-in for the train and the road of course would be the track and platform.This would all be built into a framed box with speakers and a DVD player.Push a button and you would have the sound track of the music,push another button and the film and sound would play.Anyway that is what I am envisioning right now.I don't think that I have seen anything like thist before but there will be lots of changes as this idea evolves.Should be fun!
Here is a better idea of what I am planning!