"Once Upon A Time In The West" 1/24 scale

JohnReid

Active Member
Because I will be working in G scale I have changed my plans and probably do a Sweetwater Station diorama.The boardwalk ,the train and no figures.This will be strictly a mood piece with no direct storyline.I plan it as a tribute to my favorite film and its director.
I just plan to use the sound of the idling train with the music from the film dubbed in. Maybe even build it into a box with a DVD player dedicated just to this.also may include some mood lighting as an evening scene.Any way we will see what develops.Anyone who has seen the film can create their own storyline in their imagination.
 

JohnReid

Active Member
This diorama will be for me! Long before other models came into my life their was my American Flyer train ,that I played with for years just on the floor, more than 60 years ago now.
Sergio gave an interview once and told of how his interest in the old west was developed in his childhood probably about 10 years before mine.Like he did I went to the movies and sucked in all that old west mythology,then came home and played out the scenes with my buds or my model train.
As I reach my 70's it seems that I want to re-connect with my long gone childhood and play with my trains again.
 

JohnReid

Active Member
Onceuponatime024-1.jpg
 

JohnReid

Active Member
Once in awhile I like to take picture vignettes from my dioramas.This is actually from a 1/16th aircraft diorama but would work for RR fans too!
 

JohnReid

Active Member
I hate 1:1 scale carpentry and actually am quite lousy at it.I will be glad to get this over with and get back to real modeling.I just don't know how the RR guys do it with all their complicated layouts and such.I have saved the worst for last,figuring out how the roof lines will meet in the corner.I will do it in foam board first and use it as a pattern for the plywood roof.
The framework for the facades is just about finished and I can start adding the 1/4" plywood.The frame is very strong as it is ,so the plywood will be there mostly just to cover in the area.The back will be 2 pieces, screwed on for easy access to the lighting etc....A small hinged door is also an option for bulb changes.
 

JohnReid

Active Member
I have over 7,500 pics in my photobucket on models of all kinds and model building.Unfortunately some confusion has evolved over the years and even I have difficulty finding stuff sometimes.I plan in the future to put some order in all of this and post " how to's....." with the appropriate pictures.
 

JohnReid

Active Member
Lighting is extremely important to the success of a diorama in any scale.To date I have completed 3 large hangar scenes with overhead lighting which has made things quite easy.The backyard dio that I am working on now is mostly an outdoor scene with lighting behind the windows of the brick facade.

Painting figures will be more difficult with just the natural light and no shadows to work with this time.I only plan one figure in this diorama.

The lighting in the pic above is just a 60Watt bare bulb in a hand held lighting fixture.By moving the light around I can play with the shadows to make things pop out like in a relief carving.Of course a lot of these effects are lost in daylight.
 

MrBill

New Member
Hi John, Interesting Diorama you have going on here. I appreciate the concentration of effort on one scene. Refining goals in Model railroading can be very challenging indeed, given the inherent nature of the rails going somewhere. The importance you've placed on lighting can't be stessed enough either. Since the only way a lot of us can share our projects is through photos and the web, I've concluded that quality shots are as important as the models themselves. Nice work. -Bill
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
Jon,


Nice brick work, are those bricks from the dollhouse. are you planning on using one of those fine models of the general you show the box art from. That are a very fine kit, with lots of detail. I started to build one once , and it was damaged, and I put it up. My dad had an un- assembled kit. I have a G scale Kalamazoo 4-4-0 whose body is quite toylike, and I have thought of using the mechanism from the Kalamazoo, and pillaging details from one of the General kits.

What other elements are you going to use in this diorama.


Bill Nelson
 

JohnReid

Active Member
Hi John, Interesting Diorama you have going on here. I appreciate the concentration of effort on one scene. Refining goals in Model railroading can be very challenging indeed, given the inherent nature of the rails going somewhere. The importance you've placed on lighting can't be stessed enough either. Since the only way a lot of us can share our projects is through photos and the web, I've concluded that quality shots are as important as the models themselves. Nice work. -Bill
And just as much fun too!
 
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