Whenever I'm in the basement I always take a look at the E. L. Moore diorama design and study it a bit.
This one has a Ma's Place at either end, and a road down the centre to service the various industries, which terminates at the lumber shed attached to McGee's. I'll add some large, strategically placed trees along the road to get scene separation without a divider.
It's quite hot here, and is predicted to continue to be so for the next few days, which means I'll be spending more time in the cool basement escaping the blast and tinkering with the design.
I'm interested to see where this is going. Could be great. But you could still do a series of dioramas and forget connecting track. It's not like it's going on a traveling display. Or even a corner curio cabinet with 6 shelves of equal size- you could rotate their order and keep them on display in minimal space.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, and at present I'm just playing with ideas. The biggest problem with the above is finding space for it when it's done. Thin, non-functioning dioramas lend themselves better to storage in an Ikea cabinet, and maybe that is the best way to proceed.
DeleteBut, I've been having a discussion with Vince about the 'deadness' of non-functioning model railroad layouts / displays. At the Magic of model railroading gallery at the California State Railroad Museum I saw the founder mention in a video tour that the unique thing about model railroads was that they function; however, all the layouts on display were static. Ok, I understand the practical reason for that, but it does seem odd. It got me wondering if an ELM display should be dynamic or static, and this design is me wandering around the ideas of a classically dynamic display. Maybe lighting and figures are the way to bring it alive and prevent it from sliding into the 'dead zone'
Of course, ELM always enlivened his photos with figures and implied activity. As dioramas, you can move them around, display them at different times, take outdoor photos, etc. If it's on a layout, they'll be in a less contained atmosphere, thus requiring more frequent dusting, which might lead to things breaking. Many pros and cons. Up to you, naturally.
DeleteFigures are going to be important. Tracking down some old Weston & Airfix ones will be an interesting task.
DeleteOoh...got me thinking about Fantasonics, Jim Wells' amazing service for introducing "animation" to a model space using light and sound to simulate life in the scene. A diorama with light and sound effects to imply Cal and Ma Spumoni and the cast of Moorian characters inhabiting the space would be pretty neat. It is something I've tinkered with years ago though not to the fullness of its potential.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to look into Fanatasonics - thanks for the tip!
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