Blocked

Reading stop

Corn in August

Still Life with Donuts & Milk

Waiting

Heading home

Watch for Cows

Scenes from a working day

Before the day gets going.

Clearing away windfall.

A quiet time for a few test loops.

What the drone saw.

We'll have your money today. I promise.

Sunday swim

My first attempt at digitally replacing a background with a photograph. I gave this a try because I realized the lack of trees in the distance was giving me a problem. More practice, more practice.

Eye-level diorama stand: a working test article

Posing in a living room nook

For the past few weeks I've been working on a design for a Loonar Module stand that would allow me to test some ideas on viewing layouts and dioramas at eye-level. I finally settled on the design shown at the left, and decided to build it.

Some things to keep in mind. This wasn't meant to be a piece of fine furniture, but something to test out ideas. This being the case I wanted to use as much scrap has I had on hand for easy, low-cost construction.

Also, I wanted this to be as flimsy and scrawny as I thought I could get away with. And it had to be as lightweight as I dared build because it has to be carry-able from the basement to anywhere in the house. Any carpenters out there will readily see this isn't a proper, robust structure. In the end I found it isn't too bad stiffness and stability wise, but it certainly won't stand up to rough handling, or children.

With this stand I wanted to create a particular visual experience: I wanted my eyes to be level with a locomotive on the track, to be forced to look up at the tall trees and down to the water, just as if I was actually standing in the Loonar Module's world. I thought the tallness of the trees wouldn't come across if the layout was at standard table height and the viewer looked down on them. That is physically wrong.

I'm short and eye-level for me is around 64", so given that and the above requirements, I arrived at the following dimensions and material sizes:

1. The Loonar Module has a 2'x2' footprint, so the platform it rests on is a 2'x2'x1/4" piece of Masonite I had in my crawlspace scrap pile. This is a standard size one can buy at a Home Depot or other home reno store.

2. The verticals are 1"x2" pine, cut to 55-3/8" lengths. I had to buy these as I didn't have any suitable scrap material. I was going to use 2"x2" framing spruce, but couldn't find any in the store that were straight enough, so I went over to the finish lumber section and bought 4, 1"x2"x6' pine pieces for about $6 CDN each. Expensive, but they're good material.

Awaiting paint

3. The horizontals are 1"x4"x2' pieces of cedar. I had 2, 8' pieces stored outside behind my shed for a few years, so I figured their time had come. They were badly stained by the weather, but dry and straight. These 8-footers were cut into 8, 2' lengths.

4. The stand is mounted on 4 of the least expensive furniture casters I could find. I didn't have any on hand and had to buy 4, also for around $6 CDN each. Each is rated for a 50lb load, which is quite sufficient for this featherweight project. The wheels are 2-3/8" tall. I wanted to put the stand on wheels because I want to have the ability for it to be placed in the centre of a room so it can be looked at from many viewpoints. 

5. The whole thing is held together with 1" and 1-1/4", No. 8 wood screws. Luckily I had plenty on hand. 

Once built it was painted flat black to visually de-emphasize the stand and its quirks. 

My initial impression is I'm liking it. When I walk up to it and look at the layout I do see the views I see in my mind. However, there are many tests and improvements ahead. A few that come to mind:

1. It will likely need some weights at the bottom. My plan was to staple wire mesh to the bottom horizontals to form a tray for a few bricks. Visually, if the mesh is also painted black, the red bricks won't look too bad. If I could find an old section of rail to replace the bricks, that would be most excellent :-)

2. The top platform needs a ledge to prevent the layout from accidentally being bumped off. 

3. I need to make a battery powered throttle so that there aren't any electrical extension cords radiating off this thing for viewers to trip over. For casual viewing and use, such a throttle should be sufficient.

4. I'm thinking I might add a diagonal shelf for showing supporting material and adding a little shear strength to the tower. Some battery powered LEDs on the underside of the platform would provide some light. 

No doubt there are other things that I'll find out, but so far, so good.

---

Afternoon update: Donna dropped by, had a look at the setup, and provided the first problem report: “Buddy, it may be eye level for you, but it needs to be adjustable.” Problem noted. Hmm. I’m going to need a problem tracking system if this keeps up :-)

Some backyard railroad drama

I took Paul's advice and tried placing the layout up high and shooting up into the sky. I had some backlighting issues, but things are looking better. Clearly more practice is needed.

Shaping light

I'm posting these pictures of scenes from the Loonar Module not necessarily because I think they're great in some way, but because, along with some others (here, here, here, here and here), they record something about the nature of the light I'm trying to capture. Although the trees and shrubbery and rocks are not high fidelity modelling, their colour and structure seem to filter and reflect and shape sunlight in just the right way that reminds me of this sort of forest and lake scenery in this part of the world. 

When I look at the layout through the camera in July sunlight I'm starting to see what I'm after, which I only see in rough approximations indoors. I'm thinking lighting is one of the most neglected aspects of layout construction, but it has the potential to improvement a layout far beyond what more detail might do. 

I've got aways to go lighting wise, but I feel I'm heading in the right direction for the character I want to capture.

That's all the canoes they gave me

Workin' on the Railroad

Loons

What's a Loonar Module without loons? I searched high and low all over Googledom for a pair, and low and behold I finally found some 3D printed ones at Miniprints. They're quite decent, although I wonder if their beaks are a little too short. With some high power magnifying lenses I was able to paint them without problems, and they look convincing regardless of my beak fixation.

This time of year a successful breeding pair has an offspring or two nearby. You can see a juvenile loon over on the right near one of the adults. I may need to find a small HO-scale duck to stand-in for junior.

I'm feeling that the Loonar Module is just about done, and I think it has taught me all the lessons it has to teach, which was its purpose. There're just a few more details I want to add, and that'll be that.

Into the Blue

Birches near the track bend

Blue skies

A couple of weeks ago I submitted some photos of the Loonar Module's de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver to Max's Models for his Canadian Group Build video. I was pleased to see my photos were included, and that one up there was one of them. I shot it the same day I was outside taking the ones of lake water. This is the blurb I wrote to accompany the photos:

This is my build up of Osborn Model Kits’ 1/87 scale DHC-2 Beaver. It’s a laser cut wood kit that I built last winter. The prototype was manufactured by de Havilland Canada, and many were used by the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests. My paint scheme and markings are reminiscent of those flown by Lands and Forests, but aren’t 100% accurate. This little plane now resides on my model railroad.

I like that picture, but the sky's colour isn't right. It's the wrong shade of blue for a sunny day in southern Ontario. Now, over on the right, that's a classic sunny, summer Ontario sky blue - at least as far as my camera can capture it.

These days I'm starting to gain an appreciation for layout lighting. In most photos I see, and have taken, the lighting is poor, and doesn't properly convey the essence of the scenes being recorded.

For my outside photos I can make improvements by changing my backdrop, trying different orientations with respect to the sun, and taking pictures in various natural light conditions, but I'm not sure what I'll do when the weather forces me back inside. Well, today's the first day of summer, so I'm not going to worry about that problem until the snow flies again.

Annals of the Lands & Forests Railway: The Personal Flying Sub

In 1966 the Department of Lands & Forests contracted the Allen Irwin Company to build a personal size, single operator Flying Submarine. Given that Ontario was estimated to have over 250,000 lakes, 1/5 of the world’s fresh water, and an area 1.5x the size of Texas, it was thought a fleet of flying observation subs was a prudent investment. The 1966 purchase was to be the first of many; however, a strange series of events in late 1967 put an end to that plan*.  

The Department took delivery in the spring of 1967. The inaugural trip saw the sub stop at several ports of call in Ontario, one being the Loonar Railway Testing Facility, before heading to Expo ’67 in July. This is the only surviving photo** - taken by a passing canoeist - of the visit to that remote railway test facility.

Lands & Forests Flying Sub #8 is Moebius' little Flying Sub kit built more-or-less box-stock. The only changes I made were to leave out the interior and add my own decals.

The internet tells me this model of the fictional Flying Sub that appeared on the old tv show, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, is around 1/128 scale. That's too large for N-scale, and too small for HO. However, if it was indeed for a single HO submariner, and that person was small and skinny enough to squeeze through the hatches, then this vehicle sizes out to maybe about right for a personal-sized submarine. Just maybe.....

The hull was brush painted with loose applications of yellow, grey, and black acrylics. I didn't want that pristine yellow of the tv show's vehicle. 

I built this model during the darkest part of winter as a break from layout construction. At that time I had no idea what its story would be; it was only meant to be fun. It was only after I had printed up the decals for the loco that I thought about incorporating the Flying Sub into the scene.

*Within Lands & Forests a group of upstarts were plotting to create a new department called Skies & Waters, and the acquisition of the Flying Submarine by the old guard L&F executives was the last straw for the S&W gang. The S&W faction felt L&F was getting too big, and couldn’t properly administer lands, forests, skies, and waters. The S&W faction felt that splitting L&F in two would allow better focus on the emerging concerns of air and water pollution. And as is common in organizations where there are too many executive strivers and not enough executive seats to be strived for, the S&W faction felt a new department was just the ticket to provide them. So, a vehicle that could command both the skies and waters with equal ease was just too much for the S&W gang to bear. And to add insult to injury none of the S&W faction had any input on the Flying Sub acquisition, so it was de facto bad. Memos were drawn up, white papers circulated, cabinet ministers were wined and dined, lobbyists schmoozed, contractors courted, many nights of long knives were endured, and old favours were called in. When the ink had dried and the paper cuts healed, the Flying Submarine purchase was but a hazy memory, and a bright , shiny new bureaucracy was birthed to end off 1967.

**All official photographs were destroyed by Skies & Waters.

Lake water

A week or so after applying 'water' to the Loonar Module's lake bed I took the layout outside to see how it looked in sunlight, and to take a few pictures.

The water was made by first applying two coats of Golden gloss medium to the lake bed to seal it. Then a layer of Golden semi-gloss soft gel was sponged on to give the surface a slightly wavy texture. This was left to dry for a day. I wasn't happy with the reflectivity of the gel, so I went ahead and applied two glazes of gloss medium on top. Next time I'll simply use some gloss soft gel.

In natural light, and when viewed from the correct angle, the water surface looks rather convincing. Although, the bright late afternoon sun caused the water's surface to soften a little. After 15 minutes the airplane's floats were settled into the lake, and some considerable prying was required to unstick them when it came time to pack up.

If it stops raining long enough, I'm looking forward to taking more outdoor layout photos this summer :-)