Shadowlands and Tellynott

[Mark Dalrymple]

Hello Mark, thanks for posting the long shot pictures. They really give us a better idea of your overall vision. It's going to be spectacular.

Thanks for your lovely compliment, Jeff.

I've taken a few more photos today.  I also went back and dug out some relevant photos from my 'Compleat Cityscapes' book.  Ones where there are relevant shop details.  When I look at those photos I get a real urge to scratchbuild rather than kitbash.  Especially when I look at how warped the front wall of that Magnuson kit is...  I might go to the effort to mock up a few more details to add to the mock up I have built to see how I feel.  Overall, I'm feeling really positive about the whole area.  It seems to work from all angles.  The sloping streets means that you can put foreground structures in without blocking the view behind, although I have to be strategic in this exercise.  And I get a real thrill when I look down the curving streets from above - its such a seldomly modelled view.

Cheers, Mark.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Hi guys.

Photo 1 - So here is the scene with my Magnuson merchants row 2 mocked up in position.  I have sized and cut a 15mm MDF base and cut and added a 6mm piece of cork under building two, and two pieces under building three.  Building two has also been cut down at the back to create a trapezium.  This is the easiest way to get a group of three buildings to curve around a bend.


Photo 2 - From a bit closer.  I have used my little house as a mockup to fill two places and so you will see it move into two different sites.  At present it doesn't have a home, and I really like it here.  It will make a nice little shop.  It is pictured in a group of two quite similar buildings, and I'm thinking the second one would work well next to the railway lines.  I really like the flow curving up the street.  I also like the huge difference in sizes of the tiny weatherboard gable building (I'm thinking a butchery) and the much larger gable of the model masterpieces structure.


Photo 3 - Here we are looking up the other road.  The size of the little two storied structure works well here, not blocking the view behind at all.  I placed a couple of wagons on the track to get an idea of what it will look like with some shunting in the background.  I think it will be important to the thickness of the bridge over the road to a minimum to keep the view through as wide as possible.


Photo 4 - Here is a view from further back to show a bit more context.


Photo 5 - And finally we have a view down the street from above.  I'm considering an open walkover joining the Graves building with the Model masterpiece building.


More soon, cheers, Mark.

[Mark Dalrymple]

A few more...

Photo 6 - Here is a view from behind a picture from the Compleat Cityscapes book of what I intend to build and place at the back of the peninsula here.


Photo 7 - The removal of another structure here led to this view down the street.  Sometimes it is a matter of pulling out a two storied structure and replacing it with a one storied structure.  The key is to get things looking good when looking up, looking down and looking lengthways.


Photo 8 - Here is a photo from the Compleat Cityscapes, by David McGill and Grant Tilly, of the two structures side by side.  You can see I have built the one on the left.  I'm thinking the one on the right would look good against the tracks.


Photo 9 - Finally, here is the photo from the Compleat Cityscapes that I had in the position that I have put the Magnuson kit.  I'm thinking the rolled roof design on the structure to the right would look good on the far Magnuson building.  I'm also thinking shop front verandas would look good, although I would make then considerably narrower.  Tellynott is rather strapped for space.


More soon, cheers, Mark.

[PRR Modeler]

You have a lot of good ideas and things going on in Tellynott.

[ACL1504]

Mark, cheers,

WOW, spectacular all the way. 

I like the idea of the connected buildings over the track if you can match them. It looks like the one in the rear is already set. Maybe a redo of a portion of that building.

Tom 

[Mark Dalrymple]

You have a lot of good ideas and things going on in Tellynott.

Thank you, Curt.

I'm happy with how this area is coming together.  Its got me quite motivated.

Cheers, Mark.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Mark, cheers,

WOW, spectacular all the way.

I like the idea of the connected buildings over the track if you can match them. It looks like the one in the rear is already set. Maybe a redo of a portion of that building.

Tom

Thank you for the kind words, Tom.

Yes - I think the heights of the two structures are set, with graves set up for the loading dock height for the rails and the Cimarron supply needing to be at a height that works for the road.  I can, of course, have the walkover on a slope, or add stairs at one (or both) ends.  We will see.  It may just block too much of the animal ramps that I plan on adding to the side of Graves.

Cheers, Mark.

[Rick]

Mark, that looks like a very realistic looking town/city.
Well done.

[deemery]

Looking back a few pictures, I really like the small angle you've added to "Merchant's Row II".  

As I said to Tom, you can change the look of the store windows by adding a styrene strip to bisect the window, or maybe even add more divisions.  

(We're currently watching a NZ mystery set in Queenstown.  Nice scenery!   And earlier today, I was a judge for student posters for the university's Earth Science department.  One presentation was on measuring fish that migrate from a lake north of Aukland into the ocean to spawn.)

dave

[Jerry]

That is going to be a really nice looking town!!
I like the way you work through how its going to look.

Jerry

[Mark Dalrymple]

Mark, that looks like a very realistic looking town/city.
Well done.

Thanks, Rick.

I feel as though progress to the left along the peninsula will be easier now that I have this start.  I made a start on cleaning up the flash on the merchants row II kit.  Also tried to straighten them out somewhat.

Cheers, Mark.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Looking back a few pictures, I really like the small angle you've added to "Merchant's Row II". 

As I said to Tom, you can change the look of the store windows by adding a styrene strip to bisect the window, or maybe even add more divisions. 

(We're currently watching a NZ mystery set in Queenstown.  Nice scenery!   And earlier today, I was a judge for student posters for the university's Earth Science department.  One presentation was on measuring fish that migrate from a lake north of Aukland into the ocean to spawn.)

dave

Thanks, Dave.

Yes - I think the angle works well.  The subtle changes in height will really help set the buildings into the scene, too.  I'll use many of the details in the picture of the shops I uploaded, along with a couple of other pictures I have.  The rolled roof as shown in the picture will be something quite unique.

The scenery around lake Wakatipu is lovely.  Jacksons bay (where Tellynott is set) is only 75km (46 1/2 miles) north of Queenstown, but on the other side of the Southern Alps.  The southern tip of my layout, when it first turns west to lake McKerrow, is only 25km to Glenorchy, the northern tip of lake Wakatipu.  Just past Glenorchy is Paradise, a very appropriately named part of New Zealand.

Cheers, Mark.

[Mark Dalrymple]

That is going to be a really nice looking town!!
I like the way you work through how its going to look.

Jerry

Thanks, Jerry.

I like to have a really good idea of how an area will look, and how it will work with the areas each side, behind and in front, and within the overall scene, before I begin cutting up my kits.  Small changes can often mean a lot more work, so its easier in the long run to get things right with mock-ups first.

Cheers, Mark.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Hi guys.

I cur the front and back walls of the kit into the various shops.  My front wall castings were very warped around the very delicate shop front windows.  I heated them by waving them over a heat gun, and then held them flat on a cold metal surface.  Gently did it - not too close to the gun, and not for too long.  I had a couple of attempts at one or two walls.

Photo 1 - As per usual for Magnuson/ Scale structure kits - things are a long way from perfect.   The angle the white metal castings were sanded/ filed to did not match the base template and also run off considerably at the top.  This will have to be repaired with putty.  To address this problem I decided making a base, floor and ceiling disc would make things easier.  Using the turret template I marked and cut out three 1.5mm styrene discs.  I then glued the left and centre white metal casting together using CA, lining up the sill of the top windows, and while setting, held the disc in position to check the angle was correct.  I glued the three discs in position and filled the back of the seam between the two white metal castings with CA (if the angles had been done correctly, there would have been no seam).  I then glued the right hand white metal casting to the centre casting (the discs made lining this up easier.  The top of the turret was good, but the bottom splayed out about 3mm on one side (that's almost a scale foot!).
 After allowing the CA ample time to harden, I used a pair of flat nosed pliers to straighten the casting, holding the glued seem against the pressure.  The centre piece also did not match with the two outer pieces horizontally.  I decided to match the bottom of sill of the top windows and put up with the discrepancy above and below.  I guess you could have cut the casting in half and spliced back together to try to move a bit of material and get things better, but it felt like a lot of effort that might actually make things worse.


Photo 2 - After cleaning out the flash from the resin windows I glued the side, end and front wall to a styrene base, and marked and glued the doorway (with shim added underneath from 1mm styrene), together.  Before doing this I marked and cut two more styrene bases.  I cut the front and back walls on the kit into the various shops as this is necessary for the changes in height.  I glued the other two styrene pieces in place, one between the ground floor and floor 2, and one on an angle for the roof.  I placed the centre floor so that the bottom floor of the turret would fit tightly underneath it for extra gluing.


Photo 3 - I had to do a good amount of filing to get the turret to fit into the gap.  One white metal side piece was factory filed on an angle vertically, with the top window having about a 4x2  facing against the resin wall and the bottom window with a 8x2 facing.  After sanding off the extra 4 scale inches, the turret slotted into position.  I did some checking on the turret roof casting using a small square and ruler to check the top was central.  It was slightly off, so I found the most consistent quadrant and marked to use at the front.  I glued this in place using 2 part epoxy.


Photo 4 - and here it is on an angle.  I opted to have my main roof lower than the turret.  We had a turret in our last house, and this is how it was done, with a small wall down to the flat roof.  I still have to glue the side wall on - but want to leave access to the structure's interior at this stage.


More soon, cheers, Mark.

[deemery]

Cutting 'floors' for the tower is a great way to help assembly.  Since I reworked some of the angles in mine, I couldn't lean on symmetry like you are doing.  Hopefully the tower parts will come together into that symmetrical arrangement, but don't be surprised if you end up with an irregular polygon to get the best fit of the parts...

dave