Very nice Martin
I'll look forward to the towny pictures
Cheers
Jim
The Burford Branch
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jim s-w
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iak
- Posts: 570
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Re: The Burford Branch
Gorgeous! 
Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest
enemy of truth....
Albert Einstein
Perfection is impossible.
But I may choose to serve perfection....
Robert Fripp
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PadgateWorks/
enemy of truth....
Albert Einstein
Perfection is impossible.
But I may choose to serve perfection....
Robert Fripp
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PadgateWorks/
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Mike Garwood
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Re: The Burford Branch
Wonderfully inspirational work...
Mike
Mike
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martin goodall
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Re: The Burford Branch
Thanks for the kind remarks, but let's not kid ourselves - this layout is still a very long way from being completed.
In answer to Howard -
When I originally designed the train shed (which is largely based on the train shed at Thame), I was in a quandary as to what materials to use. Wood strip or card didn't seem to fill the bill, and an attempt to produce larger section styrene strip by cutting up 80-thou sheet styrene was an abject failure. Then along came Evergreen with their superbly accurate styrene strip sections - problem solved at last. The whole structure was assembled from various sections of Evergreen strip, which are available in a sufficient range of sizes that there was no difficulty in getting all the component parts pretty close to scale, although I did use 3.5mm square North-eastern stripwood 'lumber' for the supporting posts for the train shed roof, in preference to the 3.2mm square styrene strip in the Evergreen range. You wouldn't think that 0.3mm would make much difference to the appearance of these posts, but somehow it did.
I also used Evergreen 'siding' sheet for the planking on the station building, as well as various strip sections for the framing. Building this model would have been frankly impossible without the availability of the Evergreen range of materials. Even so, it has taken well over 700 hours of modelling time so far, and it still isn't finished!
In answer to Howard -
HowardGWR wrote:Martin's train shed........ Martin has clearly found the right materials (whatever they are).
When I originally designed the train shed (which is largely based on the train shed at Thame), I was in a quandary as to what materials to use. Wood strip or card didn't seem to fill the bill, and an attempt to produce larger section styrene strip by cutting up 80-thou sheet styrene was an abject failure. Then along came Evergreen with their superbly accurate styrene strip sections - problem solved at last. The whole structure was assembled from various sections of Evergreen strip, which are available in a sufficient range of sizes that there was no difficulty in getting all the component parts pretty close to scale, although I did use 3.5mm square North-eastern stripwood 'lumber' for the supporting posts for the train shed roof, in preference to the 3.2mm square styrene strip in the Evergreen range. You wouldn't think that 0.3mm would make much difference to the appearance of these posts, but somehow it did.
I also used Evergreen 'siding' sheet for the planking on the station building, as well as various strip sections for the framing. Building this model would have been frankly impossible without the availability of the Evergreen range of materials. Even so, it has taken well over 700 hours of modelling time so far, and it still isn't finished!
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Paul Hutfield
- Posts: 40
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Re: The Burford Branch
Martin,
I've just had the chance to read through this thread and I must say that backscene is one of the most effective that i've seen, very impressive! The layout really is coming to life and has some wonderful character that IMHO is the most difficult part to capture on fictional locations and even some real ones.
With regards to your 1930's running schedule I may just be able to help with some appropriate rolling stock should you fancy a running session!
Happy modelling!!
Paul
I've just had the chance to read through this thread and I must say that backscene is one of the most effective that i've seen, very impressive! The layout really is coming to life and has some wonderful character that IMHO is the most difficult part to capture on fictional locations and even some real ones.
With regards to your 1930's running schedule I may just be able to help with some appropriate rolling stock should you fancy a running session!
Happy modelling!!
Paul
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martin goodall
- Posts: 1425
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Re: The Burford Branch
Various demands on my time have prevented my posting further photos here since I reproduced the illustrations that appeared in MRJ 196. In this and the following posts, I will publish further copies of Philip Hall’s excellent pictures (with the kind permission of Paul Karau of Wild Swan Publications Limited). These illustrated the two-part article on designing the townscape in MRJ 208 and 210, and Philip has re-edited them to correct the colour cast which unfortunately affected the versions of these photos which appeared in the magazine. I will take the opportunity of adding some further shots which were not used in the articles.
This photo appeared in black-and-white on page 163 of MRJ 208. It shows the area beyond the buffer stops known as ‘Station Square’.
The same area was also shown in this shot on page 165. The ‘thing’ seen at top right was the beginnings of a tree, but I shall probably start that model again, now that I’ve read Gordon Gravett’s book on modelling trees. [Well, it was seen on the original, but these shots seem to have got cropped on being posted. Maybe I shall have to shrink them slightly and re-post later.]
This unpublished shot shows a similar view from a slightly different angle.
And here is a previously unpublished ground level view of Station Square. The street lamp seems a bit fat when seen in photos, yet it looks fine when seen ‘in the flesh’; I can’t quite work that out. In quite a few of the following photos it will be seen that this lamp post has gone AWOL - it was taken out for a particular shot, and we forgot to put it back afterwards.
This shot was taken to illustrate the buildings on the right-hand side constructed in ‘two-thirds’ relief in order to keep the roof ridges away from the backscene, with the idea of adding to the sense of depth. One point which I forgot to mention in the article is that the building nearest the baseboard edge is angled away from the backscene so that it presents its full gable end to the viewer.
Station Square again (as seen on page 167).
This shot also appeared on page 167. The hole on the right is where the Great Western Hotel goes. It was removed in order to get this view.
The view down Station Road
This unpublished shot shows how Station Road relates to the nearby passenger station. The Autotrailer is a K’s kit (Diagram A31, for GWR aficionados), although it usually faces the other way round on the layout. The Siphon F on the left was also built from a K’s kit. Both of these vehicles represent the 1930s period on the layout.
More photos to follow soon.
This photo appeared in black-and-white on page 163 of MRJ 208. It shows the area beyond the buffer stops known as ‘Station Square’.
The same area was also shown in this shot on page 165. The ‘thing’ seen at top right was the beginnings of a tree, but I shall probably start that model again, now that I’ve read Gordon Gravett’s book on modelling trees. [Well, it was seen on the original, but these shots seem to have got cropped on being posted. Maybe I shall have to shrink them slightly and re-post later.]
This unpublished shot shows a similar view from a slightly different angle.
And here is a previously unpublished ground level view of Station Square. The street lamp seems a bit fat when seen in photos, yet it looks fine when seen ‘in the flesh’; I can’t quite work that out. In quite a few of the following photos it will be seen that this lamp post has gone AWOL - it was taken out for a particular shot, and we forgot to put it back afterwards.
This shot was taken to illustrate the buildings on the right-hand side constructed in ‘two-thirds’ relief in order to keep the roof ridges away from the backscene, with the idea of adding to the sense of depth. One point which I forgot to mention in the article is that the building nearest the baseboard edge is angled away from the backscene so that it presents its full gable end to the viewer.
Station Square again (as seen on page 167).
This shot also appeared on page 167. The hole on the right is where the Great Western Hotel goes. It was removed in order to get this view.
The view down Station Road
This unpublished shot shows how Station Road relates to the nearby passenger station. The Autotrailer is a K’s kit (Diagram A31, for GWR aficionados), although it usually faces the other way round on the layout. The Siphon F on the left was also built from a K’s kit. Both of these vehicles represent the 1930s period on the layout.
More photos to follow soon.
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Russ Elliott
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Re: The Burford Branch
I love the randomness of the town.
Interesting to see signs of milk traffic at Burford.
Interesting to see signs of milk traffic at Burford.
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martin goodall
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Re: The Burford Branch
Russ Elliott wrote:Interesting to see signs of milk traffic at Burford.
My understanding is that there was dairying in the area. Siphons certainly ran from Fairford (the prototype for Burford's supposed traffic pattern). Having been loaded at the milk dock, the Siphons are conveyed on the back of the branch passenger train. This is a morning move, although modeller's licence may be invoked to include an evening collection as well, using a different Siphon van.
[Further research I have carried out more recently casts doubt on my former belief that there was dairying in the Witney - Burford area. The cornbrash soil in this area was more suitable for growing cereals, especially barley for malting. There was some mixed farming, but I have not been able to find much evidence of milk production in this part of Oxfordshire.]
Since these photos were taken, I have substituted the smaller 'modern' milk churns on the platform for the later period portrayed. These and road vehicles etc. are swapped around to match the period of the rolling stock being run on the layout at any particular time. The taller churns will be used for the early-twenties period; my impression is that you might have seen a mixture of tall and short churns in the 1930s.
Last edited by martin goodall on Sat Nov 14, 2020 12:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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martin goodall
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Re: The Burford Branch
With renewed thanks to Philip Hall and Paul Karau, here are some further views which appeared originally in MRJ 210, plus one or two previously unpublished shots.
This view was used twice - as the last shot in Part 1 of the townscape article in MRJ 208, and as the first shot in the second article, in MRJ 210. It shows the view down Station Road towards the brewery maltings – one of the group of buildings modelled on part of the Donnington Brewery.
This picture shows the range of buildings from Ashburton which were originally intended to form the backdrop to the goods yard. As explained in the article, I didn’t want to produce a ‘clone’ of the station at Ashburton, and so I looked instead for some Cotswold buildings to replace them.
Space did not allow the inclusion of the two further shots reproduced below, which show the mock-ups of the Ashburton buildings.
Since I posted the photos above, I have realised that this shot shows the brewery building from Donnington Brewery, forming part of the replacment of the Ashburton group.
This shot, showing the original brewery buildings, is a slightly differently cropped version of the illustration at the top of page 260.
It is difficult to get views of the old brewery, due to its position in the background, behind the station building and partly hidden by the buildings in Station Road, but this unpublished shot shows the same group of buildings illustrated in the previous photo.
This is the view along the back of the goods yard towards Station Road, with the brewery maltings on the left. As I mentioned before, I am going to have to model the back of the goods dock and paint the rear of the station building if photos are going to get taken from this angle in future.
Rather than reproducing the picture at the bottom of page 260 (which has in fact been seen before, having originally been published in MRJ 196), here is a cropped version giving a closer view of the additional brewery buildings from the Donnington Brewery.
This view was used twice - as the last shot in Part 1 of the townscape article in MRJ 208, and as the first shot in the second article, in MRJ 210. It shows the view down Station Road towards the brewery maltings – one of the group of buildings modelled on part of the Donnington Brewery.
This picture shows the range of buildings from Ashburton which were originally intended to form the backdrop to the goods yard. As explained in the article, I didn’t want to produce a ‘clone’ of the station at Ashburton, and so I looked instead for some Cotswold buildings to replace them.
Space did not allow the inclusion of the two further shots reproduced below, which show the mock-ups of the Ashburton buildings.
Since I posted the photos above, I have realised that this shot shows the brewery building from Donnington Brewery, forming part of the replacment of the Ashburton group.
This shot, showing the original brewery buildings, is a slightly differently cropped version of the illustration at the top of page 260.
It is difficult to get views of the old brewery, due to its position in the background, behind the station building and partly hidden by the buildings in Station Road, but this unpublished shot shows the same group of buildings illustrated in the previous photo.
This is the view along the back of the goods yard towards Station Road, with the brewery maltings on the left. As I mentioned before, I am going to have to model the back of the goods dock and paint the rear of the station building if photos are going to get taken from this angle in future.
Rather than reproducing the picture at the bottom of page 260 (which has in fact been seen before, having originally been published in MRJ 196), here is a cropped version giving a closer view of the additional brewery buildings from the Donnington Brewery.
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steamraiser
- Posts: 561
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Re: The Burford Branch
Martin,
How did you do your cobbled street please?
Gordon A
Bristol
How did you do your cobbled street please?
Gordon A
Bristol
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martin goodall
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Re: The Burford Branch
The cobbled street consists of granite setts, and this surface is laid only within the goods yard. Other stone surfaces will be laid in the brewery yard and on the path up the hill at the right hand end of the layout.
These are the standard Wills Scenic sheets, cut and fitted as appropriate.
What makes them look different is the painting. Humbrol Matt White was applied first to kill the dark grey colour of the plastic. Then, when dry, a mix of Humbrol Light Grey, Khaki Drill and Matt White was mixed to a shade which I hoped looked like granite - a very light shade, with some variegation, changing the mix as the paint was applied. Finally, Sepia water colour was brushed over the painted surface after it had dried, and allowed to gather in all the joints to represent the sort of gunge that would settle in the cracks in a well-used goods yard. Any surplus water colour that had remained on the surface of the setts was wiped off, leaving the dark brown colouring only between the stones. The water colour can be applied two or three times to enhance the effect. In one case, I was not satisfied with the result, and simply wiped the water colour off altogether and did it again. Final detailing remains to be done - random stains and detritus (not forgetting some horse dung), and possibly some moss in certain areas.
Continuation of the granite setts over the rest of the goods yard surface (in the foreground of this shot, and behind the camera) is awaiting construction of the surrounding buildings, so as to ensure that the setts fit accurately against the buildings. I always set buildings into the ground (even if only by a few millimetres), rather than standing them on the ground surface.
These are the standard Wills Scenic sheets, cut and fitted as appropriate.
What makes them look different is the painting. Humbrol Matt White was applied first to kill the dark grey colour of the plastic. Then, when dry, a mix of Humbrol Light Grey, Khaki Drill and Matt White was mixed to a shade which I hoped looked like granite - a very light shade, with some variegation, changing the mix as the paint was applied. Finally, Sepia water colour was brushed over the painted surface after it had dried, and allowed to gather in all the joints to represent the sort of gunge that would settle in the cracks in a well-used goods yard. Any surplus water colour that had remained on the surface of the setts was wiped off, leaving the dark brown colouring only between the stones. The water colour can be applied two or three times to enhance the effect. In one case, I was not satisfied with the result, and simply wiped the water colour off altogether and did it again. Final detailing remains to be done - random stains and detritus (not forgetting some horse dung), and possibly some moss in certain areas.
Continuation of the granite setts over the rest of the goods yard surface (in the foreground of this shot, and behind the camera) is awaiting construction of the surrounding buildings, so as to ensure that the setts fit accurately against the buildings. I always set buildings into the ground (even if only by a few millimetres), rather than standing them on the ground surface.
Last edited by martin goodall on Mon Jun 15, 2020 11:23 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Andy W
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Re: The Burford Branch
Lovely work Martin.
Make Worcestershire great again.
Build a wall along the Herefordshire border and make them pay for it.
Build a wall along the Herefordshire border and make them pay for it.
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steamraiser
- Posts: 561
- Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 4:49 pm
Re: The Burford Branch
Thanks for the information Martin.
Gordon A
Bristol
Gordon A
Bristol
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martin goodall
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Re: The Burford Branch
With acknowledgements and thanks once again to Philip Hall and to Paul Karau, here are some further illustrations from MRJ 210, plus some additional shots which were not used in the article.
This is the rather flat reproduction of the group of buildings from Freshford which I rejected, apart from the main mill building and its adjoining office (yet another brewery actually – they seem to have a magnetic attraction for me!)
I tried out this alternative blanket mill design from Witney before deciding that I could after all use the Freshford building and its adjoining office.
Another view, previously unpublished, showing the rejected blanket mill design from Witney.
The Blanket Mill building (the old brewery from Freshford) grouped with the nearby Donnington Brewery buildings
Here are three more previously unpublished views of the premises of Burford Blankets, a close neighbour of Garne & Sons’ New Burford Brewery. The mill chimney seems to have gone missing when the first of these three photos was taken.
Finally, we have the overline bridge, which helps to frame and define the station area. The bridge as built will be slightly wider than this mock-up. Beyond the bridge, as yet unseen and unphotographed, will be the locomotive facilities and a gasworks.
This is the rather flat reproduction of the group of buildings from Freshford which I rejected, apart from the main mill building and its adjoining office (yet another brewery actually – they seem to have a magnetic attraction for me!)
I tried out this alternative blanket mill design from Witney before deciding that I could after all use the Freshford building and its adjoining office.
Another view, previously unpublished, showing the rejected blanket mill design from Witney.
The Blanket Mill building (the old brewery from Freshford) grouped with the nearby Donnington Brewery buildings
Here are three more previously unpublished views of the premises of Burford Blankets, a close neighbour of Garne & Sons’ New Burford Brewery. The mill chimney seems to have gone missing when the first of these three photos was taken.
Finally, we have the overline bridge, which helps to frame and define the station area. The bridge as built will be slightly wider than this mock-up. Beyond the bridge, as yet unseen and unphotographed, will be the locomotive facilities and a gasworks.
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Tim V
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Re: The Burford Branch
Is that one of your skies Martin?
Tim V
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)
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martin goodall
- Posts: 1425
- Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:20 pm
Re: The Burford Branch
Yes, Tim; it's one of mine. The sky has not been 'photoshopped', so far as I am aware, unless Philip possibly 'extended' it to fill the top corner of the frame in one or two cases. The cloud effects are certainly my own, and are painted on the backscene itself. As I mentioned before, I believe in tall backscenes. (This one is almost 2 feet high).
I find skies remarkably easy to paint. I am just putting the finishing touches to a two-part article on painting the backscene, which Barry Norman is hoping to publish in MRJ 218 and 219 (if I have worked out the numbering correctly). Barry is guest-editing those two issues.
I find skies remarkably easy to paint. I am just putting the finishing touches to a two-part article on painting the backscene, which Barry Norman is hoping to publish in MRJ 218 and 219 (if I have worked out the numbering correctly). Barry is guest-editing those two issues.
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martin goodall
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Re: The Burford Branch
It is some time since I last posted photographs of the layout in this thread, but now that the article on the backscene has been published (in MRJ 220 and 221), I will upload the photos of the backscene, plus one or two others that were not used in the magazine.
Once again, I am grateful to Philip Hall for taking these photographs and to Paul Karau of Wild Swan Publications for permission to reproduce them here.
The first view below appeared on page 4 of MRJ 220. Although it was selected to illustrate the method used to draw out the design of the backscene, this close-up also shows both the use of aerial perspective (or ‘perspective in colour’) and the use of a lead pencil to draw in the details of the windows afterwards. The nearest roofs display shades of grey and light brown, and have slating and other details pencilled in. The second layer is lighter and has no pencilled details, and has light grey roofs. The third layer is lighter again and the roofs are painted a very light blue. (Note also the repetition of motifs towards the back, by tracing the same buildings more than once (and in some cases in mirror image) as a means of extending the townscape.
The photo on page 8 of MRJ 220 by Karl Crowther (not ‘Crawford’ as incorrectly printed in the magazine), which shows how I added a drawing of Burford Church to the backscene, has already been posted here [on Feb 07, 2012], so I won’t repeat it.
Instead, the next shot shows the same part of the backscene with the (as yet uncompleted) buildings in front of it.
The shot below also shows the way in which the painted backscene sits behind the modelled townscape. These shots show that the backscene is even lighter than the illustrations in MRJ may have suggested. (We deliberately ‘turned up’ the colour slightly to bring out the details in the magazine.)
The next photo is a wider view showing the backscene behind the mocked-up roofscape of the town.
I will post some further photos shortly (including those that appeared in MRJ 221).
Once again, I am grateful to Philip Hall for taking these photographs and to Paul Karau of Wild Swan Publications for permission to reproduce them here.
The first view below appeared on page 4 of MRJ 220. Although it was selected to illustrate the method used to draw out the design of the backscene, this close-up also shows both the use of aerial perspective (or ‘perspective in colour’) and the use of a lead pencil to draw in the details of the windows afterwards. The nearest roofs display shades of grey and light brown, and have slating and other details pencilled in. The second layer is lighter and has no pencilled details, and has light grey roofs. The third layer is lighter again and the roofs are painted a very light blue. (Note also the repetition of motifs towards the back, by tracing the same buildings more than once (and in some cases in mirror image) as a means of extending the townscape.
The photo on page 8 of MRJ 220 by Karl Crowther (not ‘Crawford’ as incorrectly printed in the magazine), which shows how I added a drawing of Burford Church to the backscene, has already been posted here [on Feb 07, 2012], so I won’t repeat it.
Instead, the next shot shows the same part of the backscene with the (as yet uncompleted) buildings in front of it.
The shot below also shows the way in which the painted backscene sits behind the modelled townscape. These shots show that the backscene is even lighter than the illustrations in MRJ may have suggested. (We deliberately ‘turned up’ the colour slightly to bring out the details in the magazine.)
The next photo is a wider view showing the backscene behind the mocked-up roofscape of the town.
I will post some further photos shortly (including those that appeared in MRJ 221).
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Andy W
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Re: The Burford Branch
Lovely stuff.
Make Worcestershire great again.
Build a wall along the Herefordshire border and make them pay for it.
Build a wall along the Herefordshire border and make them pay for it.
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Russ Elliott
- Posts: 930
- Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2011 6:38 pm
Re: The Burford Branch
I'm dismayed to learn that MRJ felt the need to 'turn up' the colour. One of my pet hates is over-saturated in yer face colour pics of model landscapes. One expects that of Model Rail, but not MRJ please.
And yes, lovely stuff.
And yes, lovely stuff.
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martin goodall
- Posts: 1425
- Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:20 pm
Re: The Burford Branch
Russ Elliott wrote:I'm dismayed to learn that MRJ felt the need to 'turn up' the colour. One of my pet hates is over-saturated in yer face colour pics of model landscapes. One expects that of Model Rail, but not MRJ please.
Mea culpa. It was when I had the photos on the computer before publication that I yielded to the temptation to 'tweak' the colour very slightly. Otherwise, the backscene does tend to look a bit 'wishy-washy' when photographed. (I don't think anyone at MRJ was aware that I was guilty of this wicked act.)
I do agree with Russ about over-saturated colour in various magazines (not just Model Rail), but I leave it to readers to say whether or not it was OTT in this case.
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Paul Willis
- Forum Team
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- Joined: Sun Jul 20, 2008 6:00 pm
Re: The Burford Branch
martin goodall wrote:Russ Elliott wrote:I'm dismayed to learn that MRJ felt the need to 'turn up' the colour. One of my pet hates is over-saturated in yer face colour pics of model landscapes. One expects that of Model Rail, but not MRJ please.
Mea culpa. It was when I had the photos on the computer before publication that I yielded to the temptation to 'tweak' the colour very slightly. Otherwise, the backscene does tend to look a bit 'wishy-washy' when photographed. (I don't think anyone at MRJ was aware that I was guilty of this wicked act.)
I do agree with Russ about over-saturated colour in various magazines (not just Model Rail), but I leave it to readers to say whether or not it was OTT in this case.
I have to say that I do agree with Martin in this case[1] due to the need to ensure clarity of reproduction.
As I compose the various adverts that are placed in magazines for the Society, I have available to me a huge range of pictures, almost all of high quality that I can use. However I also have to be aware of the production values of the publications that I put them into.
One or two magazines have a somewhat over-saturated reproduction, and I try and adjust the colour balance so that the models don't appear toy-like. I made a real cock-up with this in an advert for Scaleforum (I think in the Modeller) a couple of years ago, and it looked like the chosen diesel had been painted with Ribena!
Equally, and relevant to Martin's work, when I take a nicely colour-balanced picture and convert it to black and white for MRJ it often loses a lot of the contrast, which I then have to selectively dial back in. So I would much rather (as a personal opinion) see Martin's techniques and skills demonstrated clearly by a little exagerated emphasis in the printing so that we can understand how such excellent results can be achieved.
Cheers
Paul Willis
Marketing Manager
[1] Glossing over anything to do with EM wheels [2]
[2] or EM layouts for that matter...
Beware of Trains - occasional modelling in progress!
www.5522models.co.uk
www.5522models.co.uk
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Philip Hall
- Posts: 1956
- Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2009 7:49 pm
Re: The Burford Branch
Russ,
What Martin hasn't said is that when I took the pictures a while back I hadn't realised what effect the differing kinds of lighting in his railway room would have on the pictures. This didn't show up on the camera's screen but did, with a vengeance, on the computer. Everything was much too dark and yellowy brown. So I set to with Photoshop and using 'auto level' or 'colour correction' managed to restore the pictures to what I thought they ought to look like. Unfortunately, Paul K already had received the original pictures before I 'cooked' them, so the very first article on Burford looked a bit brown! Subsequent articles have used the corrected pictures, but maybe I did the correction a bit too much which resulted in the need to 'turn up' the colour to make things easier to see.
MRJ's colour, to me, is generally 'about right', and I know that Paul takes an awful lot of trouble to try and make the pictures as good as possible, and since MRJ's advance into colour has striven to get a restrained colour balance in the magazine. I think he's succeeded (obviously I'm biased!) - witness the pictures of 'Portchullin' a while back, which seemed to me to be very close to Mark Tatlow's fine model. I think you're quite right right, Russ, that some other magazine's pictures, whilst technically superb in sharpness and contrast, sometimes can be a bit 'day-glo'.
We will keep trying.
Philip
What Martin hasn't said is that when I took the pictures a while back I hadn't realised what effect the differing kinds of lighting in his railway room would have on the pictures. This didn't show up on the camera's screen but did, with a vengeance, on the computer. Everything was much too dark and yellowy brown. So I set to with Photoshop and using 'auto level' or 'colour correction' managed to restore the pictures to what I thought they ought to look like. Unfortunately, Paul K already had received the original pictures before I 'cooked' them, so the very first article on Burford looked a bit brown! Subsequent articles have used the corrected pictures, but maybe I did the correction a bit too much which resulted in the need to 'turn up' the colour to make things easier to see.
MRJ's colour, to me, is generally 'about right', and I know that Paul takes an awful lot of trouble to try and make the pictures as good as possible, and since MRJ's advance into colour has striven to get a restrained colour balance in the magazine. I think he's succeeded (obviously I'm biased!) - witness the pictures of 'Portchullin' a while back, which seemed to me to be very close to Mark Tatlow's fine model. I think you're quite right right, Russ, that some other magazine's pictures, whilst technically superb in sharpness and contrast, sometimes can be a bit 'day-glo'.
We will keep trying.
Philip
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doktorstamp
- Posts: 73
- Joined: Sat Oct 02, 2010 9:07 am
Re: The Burford Branch
When we used film cameras, as some of us still do, then film balanced for tungsten light would have been recommended. That or an appropriate filter to counter the "undesired" effects.
A problem per se with viewing on a digital camera is this shows "live view", and not the fully processed picture. However the camera's 'white balance' can be adjusted, or as stated obtain an appropriate filter from Cokin or Lee Filters, with the former being resin based it's much cheaper. Lee's prices might just make you cough and/or choke.
Very popular with photographers at present is something known as HDR (High Dynamic Range), some cameras have this facility built in, others require post-processing in Adobe or GIMP etc. This produces 'punchy' pictures which are in vogue, irrespective of whether they convey the true colours or not. No doubt the photography fashion carousel will move on in due course, undubitably helped by the camera designers/developers who will incorporate the latest must-have-widget, without-which-life-is-not-worth-living.
I suggest those wishing to understand HDR utilise google.
kind regards
Nigel
A problem per se with viewing on a digital camera is this shows "live view", and not the fully processed picture. However the camera's 'white balance' can be adjusted, or as stated obtain an appropriate filter from Cokin or Lee Filters, with the former being resin based it's much cheaper. Lee's prices might just make you cough and/or choke.
Very popular with photographers at present is something known as HDR (High Dynamic Range), some cameras have this facility built in, others require post-processing in Adobe or GIMP etc. This produces 'punchy' pictures which are in vogue, irrespective of whether they convey the true colours or not. No doubt the photography fashion carousel will move on in due course, undubitably helped by the camera designers/developers who will incorporate the latest must-have-widget, without-which-life-is-not-worth-living.
I suggest those wishing to understand HDR utilise google.
kind regards
Nigel
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Tim V
- Posts: 2870
- Joined: Tue Jul 29, 2008 4:40 pm
Re: The Burford Branch
I see enough HDR images in the magazines of certain preservation society's, looks b****y awful...
Tim V
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)
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martin goodall
- Posts: 1425
- Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:20 pm
Re: The Burford Branch
As promised, here are some more photos of the Burford backscene. As before, I am grateful to Philip Hall for taking these photographs and to Paul Karau of Wild Swan Publications for permission to reproduce them here.
The first view appeared on page 52 of MRJ 221, and shows the backscene at the right-hand end of the layout, with buildings removed. Note the pencilled details on the nearest buildings, and roughly painted trees to the right.
The next shot from a similar viewpoint, giving an oblique view along the backscene at the right-hand end of the layout.
The next photo, which appeared on page 53 of MRJ 221 is similar, with more buildings removed to show the painting of the townscape on the backscene
The photo at the bottom of page 53 of MRJ 221, by Karl Crowther, has also appeared here before [on Feb 07, 2012], and so is not repeated.
The next view (which appeared on page 54 of MRJ 221) is a close-up showing how the buildings in the foreground are sharpened up. All the details were added using a sharp lead pencil. Windows and other details were drawn and blocked in with a lead pencil. More distant buildings further down the street have details omitted or only sketchily indicated and are lighter, having had ‘mist’ sprayed over them.
This close-up of another section of the townscape was reproduced at the bottom of page 54 in MRJ 221, and shows windows and other details pencilled in, plus the use of aerial perspective and the rough and ready portrayal of foliage, as described in the text on page 55.
This view across the goods yard (with the buildings behind the goods yard removed) shows how the different parts of the backscene illustrated above are combined together. The precise arrangements are dependent on what 3D models will stand in front of the relevant parts of the backscene.
In the next post I will upload some photos of other backscenes mentioned in the article, but for which space could not be found in the magazine.
The first view appeared on page 52 of MRJ 221, and shows the backscene at the right-hand end of the layout, with buildings removed. Note the pencilled details on the nearest buildings, and roughly painted trees to the right.
The next shot from a similar viewpoint, giving an oblique view along the backscene at the right-hand end of the layout.
The next photo, which appeared on page 53 of MRJ 221 is similar, with more buildings removed to show the painting of the townscape on the backscene
The photo at the bottom of page 53 of MRJ 221, by Karl Crowther, has also appeared here before [on Feb 07, 2012], and so is not repeated.
The next view (which appeared on page 54 of MRJ 221) is a close-up showing how the buildings in the foreground are sharpened up. All the details were added using a sharp lead pencil. Windows and other details were drawn and blocked in with a lead pencil. More distant buildings further down the street have details omitted or only sketchily indicated and are lighter, having had ‘mist’ sprayed over them.
This close-up of another section of the townscape was reproduced at the bottom of page 54 in MRJ 221, and shows windows and other details pencilled in, plus the use of aerial perspective and the rough and ready portrayal of foliage, as described in the text on page 55.
This view across the goods yard (with the buildings behind the goods yard removed) shows how the different parts of the backscene illustrated above are combined together. The precise arrangements are dependent on what 3D models will stand in front of the relevant parts of the backscene.
In the next post I will upload some photos of other backscenes mentioned in the article, but for which space could not be found in the magazine.
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