Work in planning: Enginehouse diorama

[Hauk]

Another work in progress thread, but I hope that others might find inspiration and maybe some useful tips among my ramblings.

The topic for this diorama is the Thamshavnbanen railway workshops.
I find old railway workshops extremely appealing; it is something about the light, texture colours and mood that makes them excellent subjects for modelling.

There is also something universal about them; I have found images from as far between as Poland and the USA that in my opinion carries exactly the same mood.
Here are some images from a Polish workshop taken by a fellow Norwegian enthusiast. It is remarkable that he tok the pictures in 1990!







But I digress. Back to my chosen prototype.
I have found a couple of good shots that provide a lot of information and inspiration:





Both these images are taken during a photo session in 1931. They are taken from opposite ends of the engine house.

The engine house is still standing and is used as a warehouse. I had the fortune to be allowed inside for a quick tour.  I was happy to see that the traverse crane was still intact, and that a lot of the original paintwork was still there, albeit rather worn.



I will probably try to make another visit to measure the crane and take some more dimensions.
I got my hands on a copy of the original drawing of the roof rafters, so I have already been able to make a rather precise drawing of the engine house.
I am most interested in the interior, so I am planning an interior scene.  I am contemplating two different approaches for the diorama.

As seen in the images, the engine house is a rather symmetrical affair with doors at both ends. Even if the ends are not identical, I have been toying with the idea of modelling half the engine house, and let a mirror do the rest of my work.
This mock-up was made with cardboard and masking tape, so the angle between the mirror and the walls is far from perfect, but I hope you get the idea.





The first mock-up has not convinced met that this is the way to go, so I have made a second mock-up with a more dynamic composition. The building is cut in half by a diagonal slash.
I have experimented more with the lighting on this setup, and I feel the composition offers more possibilities than the first concept. Even if the sportscar is a poor stand in for the engine!



There is much more planning and experimenting to do with the lighting, and all suggestions and opinions are very welcome!

When it comes to the actual modelling I have gotten no further than a test piece  (several ones in fact!)  for the concrete floor. I used the technique described by Marc Reusser in the last Modellers Annual, and with a little more practice I should be able to get pretty decent results.



The girder rail is code 100 combined with Code 70 laid on the side. For a short, straight piece like I need I do not think it is worth the bother to search for real girder rail. The scale is 1/45 by the way, and the gauge 22,2mm.

The roof rafters will probably be the most time-consuming part of the project. The windows will be etched, and the brickwork is fortunately plastered on the inside. So it is mostly a painting exercise.

As for the interior, I am not planning to fill the shop with as much tools and machines as possible. I want an uncluttered background for my engine models, and I will try to tone down the busy atmosphere seen in the vintage images.
To be continued. In the meantime, keep the opinions and suggestions coming!

[1-32]

love those curved trusses
regards kim

[Design-HSB]

Hi Hauk, a great and great project on which I am pleased.

[TRAINS1941]

Your off to a good start.  Concrete looks fine nice coloring.
Looking forward to seeing this move forward.

Jerry

[Chuck Doan]

That is a neat prototype. Should make a perfect scene! And it sound reasonable in the way you are planning to do it.

[Ray Dunakin]

Great project and prototype! I agree, the "cut at a diagonal" design is more interesting.

[Hauk]

Thanks for all the encouragement!

The great headscratcher at the moment is this:

How do you simulate late evening sunlight shining through the windows? I want sharp, defined columns of light...

My plan so far: Get some LED spotlights (small downlights), make some custom housings and put Credit-card sized fresnel magnifiers in front of the light.  Fresnel lenses is used a lot in studio lighting to focus light beams, so I hope this could work at a smaller scale also.

Somebody tried something similiar?

[finescalerr]

This will be an excellent project. The larger size is a huge improvement; add a little more space if possible. You have a good eye. When it is complete I suspect you will astound us with very good lighting and photos. -- Russ

[Hauk]

The larger size is a huge improvement; add a little more space if possible.

Funny you should mention it, I have already decided to make the diorama one window deeper! More space for the traverse crane and generally more depth.

And while I am posting, here is an exterior shot of the workshop:



If I had enought space and time, I would have modelled an exterior scene as well!

[jim s-w]

As for the interior, I am not planning to fill the shop with as much tools and machines as possible. I want an uncluttered background for my engine models, and I will try to tone down the busy atmosphere seen in the vintage images.

Looks a great project.  Your quote above let to a kind of odd though in the world of modelling.  We usually tend to compress models but for this perhaps expanding it might work.  Let me explain.  Usually photographing models needs a very small aperture to get he whole model in focus.  However it sounds like what would work for you is to us a large aperture to throw the background out of focus.  The problem here is that to throw the background out you will also throw out too much of the loco too.  However of you exaggerate the distance between the loco and the background you might be able to get the same effect the real thing has.

Just thinking out loud really

Jim

[Marc988]

Interesting topic and project !

I agree that regardless of location and or timeframe railway workshops have this appeaing effect. The picture of the Polish workshop in the 90's with steamengine boiler is realy unbelievable !

For quite some time I have been working on a similar idea of a part of a more modern workshop. Unfortunately I haven't come any further than the planning phase yet   .  As part of the prep work I found some articles in an english magazine called "Model Railway Journal" some by a guy called John Dornom. Some of these articles describe several ideas of the setup of a workshop / enginehouse diorama but also some special lighting and even smoke effects in order to create some atmopherics effects like on the pictures.

I can highly recommend these articles and if you'd like I can check the issue numbers with these articles.

Regards,
Marc

[Sami]

Very nice project ! I wait other photos.

[Hauk]

Interesting topic and project !

I agree that regardless of location and or timeframe railway workshops have this appeaing effect. The picture of the Polish workshop in the 90's with steamengine boiler is realy unbelievable !

For quite some time I have been working on a similar idea of a part of a more modern workshop. Unfortunately I haven't come any further than the planning phase yet   .  As part of the prep work I found some articles in an english magazine called "Model Railway Journal" some by a guy called John Dornom. Some of these articles describe several ideas of the setup of a workshop / enginehouse diorama but also some special lighting and even smoke effects in order to create some atmopherics effects like on the pictures.

I can highly recommend these articles and if you'd like I can check the issue numbers with these articles.

Regards,
Marc

I agree that John has made a fantastic Roundhouse diorama, and his articles are in fact one of the main inspiration source for my project!

Model Railway Journal is one of my favourite modelling magazines, I have every single issue from nr. 0 up to 234.