General Discussion (Model Railroader)

Hello I have been working on a kit and my wife came in and was looking around. And then ask why are you going to all that trouble on the side you cant see? And I said it was good practice for the side you can see and if I left it alone it would bother me. She gave me one of those wife looks and left. So what do you do? Do it right and finish it or do you leave it. Because you cant see it. Frank

The next time you are painting the house or mowing the lawn only do what is in the front of the house. When she asks why you didn't do the back...ask her why go thru all the trouble on the side people don't see.

Frank,

For me, if there's a window where even part of the inside can be viewed by a visitor (or me), then I try and "reasonably" detail it, like this diner that I'm still working on:

Now, how far you define "reasonably" is entirely up to you.  With that said, I'm probably one of those that goes a little farther than is necessary.

Tom

Some day, you may change your layout.  After all, no layout is ever really "done."  So, you may put that structure somewhere else, or turn it around so the back becomes the front.  If, or when, that happens, the unfinished side is going to look pretty strange.

I have a table layout, so everything can be seen from pretty much any direction.  Sometimes, I put a camera in there, too, to catch a view that the eye wouldn't otherwise see.  You may do this someday, so you'd might as will do the whole job.

This is one of my favorite photos of my layout:

It was taken from the back wall looking toward the front (I used a little tripod and the self timer.).  Everything in the picture is from that "can't see" angle,   For me, this one picture is good enough reason to finish everything all the way around.

And yet, it was a legitimate question.  I don't weather the web of the rails on my layout that don't appear on camera angles or from the operating area.  To me it is a mis-use of resources, time and paint, that could be used where they can be readily appreciated in view.

Yet, again, it would be an incomplete model for me if I went to the trouble to pay for, and painstakingly erect, a model, especially an expensive craftsman type, and not do all I could so that it could be situated in any orientation.

-Crandell

 Because I might want to turn it around someday and the work will already be done. DUH!

jeffrey-wimberly:

 Because I might want to turn it around someday and the work will already be done. DUH!

What Jeff said. 

Tom

I know that just knowing it is complete is enough for me.  It wouldn't feel right if one side of the structure was just 'blank'.

What you can do is use the 'back' side for techniques you're not sure about using on that particular model.  I discovered a quick way for doing brickwork like this, by accident, on a roundhouse wall that will be facing the backdrop.  After spilling some light filler on it, I noticed it created a bit of a mortar texture.  So I spread it over the entire wall section.  It worked well, so I applied it to the 'visible' part of the roundhouse.

 IMHO - I'd finish everything 'cause I'm just that way!

Jimmy

 Frank -

This is more from a modeler, than a model railroader, OK?

I still remember reading an article  or seeing something somewhere when I was a kid, where a guy was doing, IIRC a helicopter model and he was detailing the engine. I still remember his words, too bad you won't be able to see this at all once it's in the chopper.  I still remember my reaction - this guy is a idiot. That stuck. If there's no way something will ever/could ever be seen, I have a hard time justifying working it. Kinda like detailing a carb on a curbside model car with a non-opening hood. (If I ever decide to cut the hood, THEN I'll do the carb.)

 Getting back to MRR, most of my layout are 360 degree numbers, so most people can do walk arounds. In that case, yes, pretty near everything gets worked. I like being able to see things from different angles - keeps it interesting and can lend a few surprises to the layout.

 The last part of the equation is what's called the payoff in some psych circles. In this case, the payoff means how much work is THIS part going to take vs. what's going to be my return on it. Sometimes I can be under the magnifying lamp for hours and sometime a quick coat of paint suffices. We all do it.   

Archer

Except for the scalehouse and other small structures in the foreground, none of the structures in this photo have modelled backs.  There is a back, or, in the case of the larger buildings, a lot of heavy-duty bracing, but it's simply blank .060" styrene.

Her's the same area from the opposite direction:

This one, built from a bag of broken parts from the used table at my LHS, has only two finished walls, as that was all for which there was parts.  The other walls are more .060" styrene:

The brick building shown here has only its front finished.  The other walls are painted a "brick colour", but they're barely visible from any direction:

I built four of these coal dealer's storage bins.  Three are finished like this one:  both ends and the side facing the track:

The fourth has both ends and the truck loading side finished:

The two kit-built structures on the right are fully modelled (I didn't feel that it was worth the effort to replace the rear walls, even though they're not viewable), while the two kit-bashed ones at left are three-sided:

As is this scratch-built icehouse:

And the GERN complex is modelled only on its visible sides.  Even the free-standing section, at right, has only two finished sides:

I do, however, paint both sides of both rails, as I often take photos from the layout.  Here's a shot of the area shown in the first picture:

...and a view on the layout (the track has yet to be ballasted) from the same direction as my second photo:

Another reverse-angle view:

This shot looks right across the aisle to the area of the scene above:

And a view along the tracks (I think that's the northern lights overhead, but I don't like the looks of those clouds in the distance ):

Near the icehouse:

And a view from staging:

The buildings in the foreground at right and centre are fully modelled, while the one at left has a finished wall (facing the camera) cut-off on an angle at the edge of the layout, with the cut area simply blank styrene.  The front, facing the building at centre, is also finished, as is the unseen wall, which faces the five-storey building to the rear.  That wall can be seen at right in the photo above.

For an around-the-walls type of layout, using finished walls only where they'll be visible allows you to double the size of many structures simply by using the unseen wall on the side where it will be seen - many of the structures above are examples of this.

Wayne

jeffrey-wimberly:

 Because I might want to turn it around someday and the work will already be done. DUH!

But Jeff, some don't like to model things like that!!

 I do all the sides because I don't know where it will be used on the next layout and also to me that represents a finished model.  But I also understand the theatrical aspect of this hobby so I can see why you wouldn't bother with the parts that are going to be seen.  With interiors and scenery I go the other way.  If you can't see it, I don't bother.

Enjoy

Paul