My first time landscaping in N scale and first time in adulthood in any scale. Compliments and critiques welcomed. Here are a couple of iPhone camera pictures:
Looks great..The only thing missing? You need some mountains,ETC,on the backdrop,some smaller brush & bushes,and more trees..What's there looks outstanding,but particularly,on the backdrop,it looks like the world just ends there..
Actually this is quite good. The scenery shown seems realistic. I'm not a fan of having the fascia board in photos, but unless thought about before hand not much can be done about it. I much prefer building the layout down the sides and try to eliminate the fascia all together if possible. Also, photos don't often mislead and I'm wondering if you super-elevated you outside rail on the curve shown? The overall "look" of the photos is a bit too clean. More junk and bushes would 'dirty' it up more like real life. Keep up the good work.
It may be the angle of the photos, but here goes...to my eye, the bridge appears to be over what I've always called an intermittent stream, which appears dry right now. I'd try some lighter colors down in the streambed perhaps. I'd also say the gap between the bridge abutment and its wing is a bit much, perhaps try filling that in. Otherwise it looks quite nice, and seems to capture the feel of many areas I've seen similar scenes in 1:1 scale.
Looks very good I think you're getting off to a great start and you've created a nice scenery foundation. Now you can add small scenic details and nuances but that's what you do after you stand there and look it over for a while and let your imagination get a workout. At least that's the fun of it for me. I like the way the top of your fascia follows the contour of the ground. Nice touch! Your trees are nicely proportioned and that bridge looks very realistic. Carry on.
Good scenery overall. Only one thing that my old eyes spot is the reflection or shadow of the trees and the locomotive on the backdrop. Most likely the result of the flash or room lighting. However there does seem to me to be some empty space even with the nice sky effect you have achieved on the backdrop between the curve and the elevators. Maybe just a few trees in there with just some tops showing from the viewpoint the photo was taken from. Also might absorb some of that reflection and shadow off that backdrop. Over all though it is a pleasing scene to my old eyes.
Thanks for the comments. Keep 'me coming, please. I'm done working on this area for today. I now see how many more trees, bushes, weeds, etc a scene can take. Here's a slight improvement.
Looks real good! If you are this good now, can't wait to see what you will be doing 6 months from now.
Yep! like it. You, Sir, are well on your way. Keep up the good work. Also, keep in mind you asked for scrutiny, and got some good advice. To the casual non model railroader, I am sure that it looks outstanding to them. Good job!
If you are in Kansas the back drop is perfect. What might touch it up a bit is a farm house and barn with a tornado coming through. No, nix the tornado. Scary enough watching the damage they can do...no need to replicate it. Looking mighty spiffy for a first time.
Nice job on the scenery...especially for a first attempt...but not too shabby for a third or fourth attempt either! I like you use of differing textures on the turf and ground/soil areas. The concrete on the bridge abutments look quite convincing also. I notice that you've painted your rails. I assume you've also painted and weathered your ties, but I can't see 'em too well in the photos. Congratulations! You'd be surprised at how many model railroaders just leave their track unpainted and unweathered. Okay. The first thing I notice that I don't like is that the sharp curve isn't superelevated. The prototypes superelevate almost every curve and that would have added greatly to the "rightness" of the scene. Kinda hard to go back and do it when your track is down and ballasted, but for key scenes, it's worth it to do it. Your river/stream area needs more bushes and short trees IMO. Your big tree on the left has too much trunk showing. Trees growing in the wild tend to not have a lot of trunk showing, unless it's cattle country and then the leaves are flat across the bottom because the cows eat 'em. Also, it's common practice for the prototype to put a sign on either end of their bridges telling people to not trespass and who owns the property. Fenceposts to keep range cattle off the tracks would probably be appropriate. You can string 'em if you want. Human hair works well as does EZ Line. Speaking of cattle, a cow or few would add to the scene. Lastly, almost all railroads have telegraph/power/telephone poles running alongside one or both sides of the track, and this scene is begging for them. It's the small touches that make the scene, and this scene needs a few more small touches to set off the excellent start you've already done. Cheerio! Bob Gilmore
Thanks everyone! I'm excited that some of the "heavy hitters" on here chimed in! You all have me excited to keep working on this scene. In retrospect I should have super elevated this 10" radius curve. For some reason I decided not to even though I did super elevate the 13" radius curve at the other end of my small layout (overall about 30" x 72"). And I have to say that seeing the train lean into that curve is one of my favorite things. Perhaps I'll move down to that end with scenery materials next. Also, that is Peco 55 track. Next layout I'll go with hand laying it I all I think. This is a "learning" layout as it's my first time in N scale.
I make mine using an aluminum no-stick cookie sheet. Works great! And...it saves you a bundle of money. I can tell you're dead serious about this! I like it...That last little photo looks very good, If only the track was ME or hand-laid...but, I know you're working on that. Keep the progress pics coming! Cheerio! Bob Gilmore
