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Breitefurt (my first layout)

Started by Chris, May 17, 2009, 12:19:04 AM

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Chris

#15
Thanks for the info Andrew.

I actually called it Breitefurt as that is the German for Broadford, a village some 3 miles from where I live and the only translatable name in the series of townships that surround it (mine being Breacais Iosal). I never found the name on Google (though I wasn't too thorough in looking through all the entries). Breitenfurt is better as I am vaguely modelling the layout in Bavaria although I do run some Prussische, Bandenische and Wurttembergische ('scuse my pigeon German) trains as well. What the heck - if you look at those layouts at Elgin they have a big mish-mash of locos and rolling stock and are placed in towns no-one has ever heard of. I'm not proud!

The important thing is that I like my layout, and it works (apart from the occasional logic foul-up (but even Microsoft suffers from that). It's difficult to learn as it is but I am planning a new control panel which shoudl make it easier for a second operator to work with me. This, if it ever happens, will make it much easier to undertake some of the more interesting operations. E.G. actually using Breitenfurt - Ost as a terminus for commuter trains and/or run trains to and from the branch line. As it is, routes are set up automatically from any track to any track by the push of a button and power only needs to switched to the destination, beit a platform track of the up or down main. At the moment exhibitions involve a fair amount of tailchasing - not very interesting.

All the best,
Chris.
Chris
N & Z Home PageBahnhof Breitenfurt – Ost

Marklin Z scale Bavarian S3/6___________________

David

I've been once to the Isle of Skye.

Unfortunately it was a very bad experience. Mainly remember rain and flies  :(

I've been quite a few times to Edinburgh, but only once further up north.

But be sure, next time in Scotland, I'll try to schedule a visit!

David.
David Hoogvorst. Founder and Owner of DRail Software. Creator of AnyRail.

Andrew

My wife and I first met at St Andrews in 1990, we both teach Scottish country dancing. The last time I was in Scotland was in 1992, I played in the Edinburgh tattoo with the Adelaide University Regiment Pipes and Drums. Unfortunately every time we now fly to Europe we see my out-laws sorry in-laws.
Mechthild and I should make a trip north to Bonnie Scotland, too many years between drinks.
Yours,
Andrew
Yours,

Andrew

Chris

Well, we moved here in 1978 and I still haven't developed webbed feet.

I agree David, it can rain - horizontally. My wife used to make her own cloths and one fabric catalogue had the words "guaranteed against all but Hebridean rain." That winter we rally learnt why! In fairness, though we do get a bit more than our fair share of rain, if you come early summer (May/June) it can be OK, albeit cloudy, but around the equinoxes (esp. up to a month after) the weather can be foul. About every eleven years we get 100 mph (160 km/h) storms but we survive. (The last really bad one about 6 years ago demolished one of the mobile phone site in north Skye. by my reckoning the wind over that particular hill was probably up to 150mph (240km/h) what with the Bernoulli effect. The mast kept standing though. Conversely, I remember a summer about 10 years ago where we had temperatures up in the high 20s while my colleagues who were in the Bahamas froze in their t-shirts and suffered continuous torrential rain.

Anyway, 'tis nearly midnight so I am off to bed.

All the best,
Chris.
Chris
N & Z Home PageBahnhof Breitenfurt – Ost

Marklin Z scale Bavarian S3/6___________________

Chris

#19
Hi All.

Well, after a pretty long hiatus, I am back on track, as they say. Started on the scenery today and an update can be seen on my site complete with a rather grotty photo (will do better later). Not up to "real modellers'" standards, I'm sorry to say, but this is my very first attempt at 'proper' scenery. Do have a look.

All the best,
Chris.

[13th July: I had to go to Inverness on the train yesterday morning. I was thinking that maybe I had overdone it on my tree planting until I saw the forestry along Lochcarronside. Much denser than mine so happy again.]
Chris
N & Z Home PageBahnhof Breitenfurt – Ost

Marklin Z scale Bavarian S3/6___________________

Chris

Hi everybody.

I've added another brief update and four new images. Still not happy with my landscape skills, but it's early days yet.

All the best,
Chris.
Chris
N & Z Home PageBahnhof Breitenfurt – Ost

Marklin Z scale Bavarian S3/6___________________

David

#21
Hi Chris,

Of course it's not easy in scale Z, but to be honest I'm not really convinced this is the best you can do!

For my own scenery, I use a plant called 'Zeeschuim' in Dutch. Here's an example picture:
http://www.universmodeliste.com/zeeschuim-gpp-xml-277_280-2028.html
Don't know the English or Latin name, but you can probably Google for it. It's a very cheap and filigrane plant that will probably look a lot better. If you want you can spray paint it, or you can dip it in a white glue/water solution and sprinkle it with 'foliage' powder.

Perhaps you should not mix too many different types of trees in one area. Colorwise, they seem to be in a different season each. Also paint and cover the underground, and add some lower shrubs and plants underneath the trees in the front.

I hope you take this as constructive criticism!

David.
David Hoogvorst. Founder and Owner of DRail Software. Creator of AnyRail.

Chris

#22
Hi David. Many thanks for responding.

Quote from: David on July 15, 2010, 12:26:02 AM
Of course it's not easy in scale Z, but to be honest I'm not really convinced this is the best you can do!

Oh, I agree but, as I wrote, this is my very first attempt and I did do everything in the wrong order.

QuoteFor my own scenery, I use a plant called 'Zeeschuim' in Dutch. Here's an example picture:
http://www.universmodeliste.com/zeeschuim-gpp-xml-277_280-2028.html
Don't know the English or Latin name, but you can probably Google for it. It's a very cheap and filigrane plant that will probably look a lot better. If you want you can spray paint it, or you can dip it in a white glue/water solution and sprinkle it with 'foliage' powder.

It certainly looks interesting. One of the problems with Z is that it is not a popular modelling scale in the UK. As a result, very few people make scenic materials for it. For instance, Woodland Scenics covers only HO and N. The N scale 'undergrowth' has become Z scale bushes. Some of the grass sold by UK suppliers would be taller than a child in Z. Having said that, I did feel that the grass looked rather like a well manicured lawn.

QuotePerhaps you should not mix too many different types of trees in one area. Colorwise, they seem to be in a different season each. Also paint and cover the underground, and add some lower shrubs and plants underneath the trees in the front.

Yes, I agree. I have pulled out the flowering tree, which was a pretty poor model anyway, and the conifers have gone and been replaced by some taller broadleaved trees. As for the two at the extreme left, they have been left in. They are not autumn coloured. Maybe, if the weather lets up for a while, I will take a couple of outdoor shots of the two scenes. They would look a lot better then.

Incidentally, the ground under the trees is pretty bare earth and mulch with the grass extending only a small way into the forest. This can be clearly seen in the 3rd image that I posted last night.

QuoteI hope you take this as constructive criticism!

David, your comments are well received. In fact, you are the first person to give some helpful criticism – mostly I have had just "looking good", etc. One person did comment on the density of the undergrowth at the up end. The two scenes are not quite finished yet as I need to put fencing round the managed woodland and possibly a notice of some kind mentioning the company that manages it.

With best wishes,
Chris.
Chris
N & Z Home PageBahnhof Breitenfurt – Ost

Marklin Z scale Bavarian S3/6___________________

Jeff

#23
Chris,

I have a couple of comments. I'm not sure if they can be construed as constructive or not, that's up to you.

First, I don't think the yellow-foliaged trees look at all right behind all the greenery in some of the pix. Is it fall? Is it late summer? Are there any trees in Europe/UK that go that yellow before anything else turns?

Second, could you post an up to date .any file?
Later,                                                AnyRail Fanatic
Jeff                      and Unofficial Guy Who Knows Almost Everything About It

David K Smith

#24
Chris, I know Z isn't popular in the UK and that makes it hard to purchase products. However, for most scenery items, the term "scale" can be a little deceiving. In fact, nearly all trees are vastly undersized for the scale indicated on the product. Thus it would be perfectly fine--in fact, more accurate--to use N scale trees and scenery products for Z scale.

I recognize the trees you're using, and they aren't exactly the best you can find. I might suggest the following. Check out the Woodland Scenics website. It has some great pointers and tutorials for scenery-making. I'd suggest reviewing this information before going much further.

http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/index.cfm

Unfortunately, doing a Google search for making model railroad scenery yields an endless stream of useless websites, 99% of which were set up to funnel click money into someone's pocket. If you look at them, almost none of them have any photographs at all, and most of the information--which is usually outdated or of questionable quality--has been copied and pasted back and forth from other sites. That's not very useful! (I've been tempted for a long time to create a series of detailed online how-to's, but I need to retire first so I'll have the time to do it.)

Although Woodland Scenics is obviously providing information to entice people to purchase their products, their information is actually quite useful and good. Also, you may want to poke around John Cubbins' site, ZTrains. He has started building a library of useful tutorials. (He also has an excellent editorial there right now--very topical.)

http://www.ztrains.com/

I can make a number of other more specific recommendations, but for now I think the best starting point is to do some research.

David

Chris,

For materials, you could try "Anita Decor". They're present on almost every exhibition in The Netherlands and Germany, and they have a website: http://www.anitadecor.nl/

Of course, Dutch is no problem for you at all ;), but they might provide a few interesting things, especially the trees ("Bomen"), and plants ("Beplanting"). They have ready-made ones and kits. I think that the pictures are very helpful for inspiration as well. In the Bomen/Ecoline section you can find some.

David.
David Hoogvorst. Founder and Owner of DRail Software. Creator of AnyRail.

Chris

Hi David and Jeff. Thank you for your comments.

First let me say that I have had these trees for several months. Some will not be used at all as they are too unrealistic. The rest will have to do for now. I don't have any books on German trees but here in teh UK, leaves do come in a variety of shades of green and those 'yellow' trees are, in fact, a very light green. The others are far to green for their own good – certainly far richer than the trees outside my room (next to which are a group of baby sparrows {not to be modelled!} perched on the power cables {not to be modelled either}).

I am not to worried about the pale trees – I like them. And, yes, there are plenty of trees here that turn earlier than others by several weeks, just as in the spring it can be a couple of months between the first and last trees to leaf. We actually thought our fuchsia was dead and suddenly it has sprung into life this month!

The landscape progress was as follows. Shape carved out of extruded polystyrene bought cheap from the locol builder yard. This was painted using Woodland Scenics earth undercoat (C1229) where the trees would be, followed by green undercoat (C1228) as far in as the second row of trees and then near vertical surfaces were painted stone grey (C1218). I find the stone grey a bit too dark and an artist friend of mine is going to try to make it look like real rock the week after next. She is also going to paint a backdrop for me to put, eventually, behind the 'upstage' landscape (more trees – conifers most likely).

I am not going for absolute scenic authenticity with this layout as the focus is on the operation rather than the scenery. Maybe my next will reverse the rôles. It would certainly be a lot easier to operate!

I am familiar with a fair number of Z scale sites, many are linked from my site's Links page. I see the amazing work that some modellers have produced but know I will never have the patience to emulate them. I am not in the best of health and one of my eyes is now well below par and I want to run my trains above all things. Now I am retired I have the opportunity. Hence my passing reference to impressionism rather than absolute realism. (Also, I have to live with my wife who feels the whole exercise is just playing with my toys and a bit of a waste of time and I should be doing the decoration and the garden. Compromise is the name of the game.)

Having said all that, I am still open to suggestions as I still have to fill that 6ft (180cm) length behind the layout and the branch line.

As requested, I have appended the latest version of the .any file though it is little changed from recent ones.

With best wishes and thanks,
Chris

[PS The trees are moslt not glued so that changes can be made later.]
Chris
N & Z Home PageBahnhof Breitenfurt – Ost

Marklin Z scale Bavarian S3/6___________________

Chris

Hi David. Thanks for the 'heads up'. I will have a look at their site. Although I know even less Dutch than German, I do have the amazing Firefox extension that can (when it feels like it) translate from may different languages into many others, including English.

Interestingly enough, it was a Dutch friend of mine, living in the Black Isle just north of Inverness, who introduced me to Z scale and inspired me to build a layout myself.

With best wishes,
Chris.

PS. Funny really. All the best responses are coming from a layout planning application's forum, not from the modelling forums!
Chris
N & Z Home PageBahnhof Breitenfurt – Ost

Marklin Z scale Bavarian S3/6___________________

David

Yeah, well, I'm also working on and struggling with my own scenery! For the third time, after throwing away two previous layouts where operation turned out to be too awkward.

One of the simple things you could do is just downgrade the brightness of the colours a bit. It might be the picture, but they seem a bit over the top. With some simple coloured chalk powder you can do that quite easily (and undo it too!).

David.
David Hoogvorst. Founder and Owner of DRail Software. Creator of AnyRail.

Chris

Hi David.

Yes, the colours in the pictures is not true to life, presumably because I was using flash on daylight balance. It has rained all day so won't be able to take outdoor photos. Will try tomorrow if the weather improves. However, I doubt it! Oh well, ces't la vie.

Best,
Chris.
Chris
N & Z Home PageBahnhof Breitenfurt – Ost

Marklin Z scale Bavarian S3/6___________________