Madera Sugar Pine Lumber Company # 1 Old Betsy

[Scratchman]

Hear are two photos of the first loco, now #62.





Gordon Birrell .... Moving on to something new.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77318580@N00/

[finescalerr]

OH - MY - GOD! -- Russ

[lab-dad]

What he said, only louder and with an expletive.
-Marty

[Ray Dunakin]

Holy moly! You've outdone yourself, Gordon!

[jacq01]

 Gordon,

From the first model ( the shay) I saw built by you till this one, it has been. all these years, a wonderful experience to see what you achieve with simple means. It has been, and still is, inspirational.

thank you
Jacq

[Scratchman]

This first photo is showing the two locos together. The roofs have not been glued on yet so they are not sitting right.



This photo I backed up to show my setup. I use two (40 x 32 inches) sheets of mat board for the back drop. One sheet is probably enough for the smaller scales. I will buy a gray color with a white back side and use the back side. This will let me have a gray side for some shots where I need some contrast. For the lighting all I do is wait till the setup location is in total shade.  I don't know too much about the camera but what I did on these shots is turn off the flash and set the white balance before each shot.  I used the manual setting, setting the aperture value to a high number. I will shoot the same shot in two or three different shutter speeds to give me a selection to choose from. The two photos at the top of this page were taken in my west-facing garage with the garage door open.  This set up is still in the shade but the light is only coming in from one direction so I could only get a good shot of the side that is facing the light. If your taking photos for a article try to use the white backdrop as much as possible I for one like seeing the subject on a clean backdrop not your work bench. If you are taking a photo of a loco or a piece of rolling stock using a white back drop don't include the track the track will distract from the model. There are probably other good way to do this but they are probably not this simple.   




Gordon Birrell


http://www.flickr.com/photos/77318580@N00/

[finescalerr]

Guys, Gordon has not only provided a clinic here on modeling but also one on photography. If you didn't know how to take photos of your models, the lower image is your answer and Gordon's description pretty much summarizes how to do it. (ALWAYS USE A TRIPOD!) If you need more help, contact me.

I will be waiting for your photos and articles.

Russ

[TRAINS1941]

Gordon,

Just unbelievable!!!  It just doesn't get any better than this.

Jerry

[Scratchman]

Thanks guys for your comments. This photo I call six stacks It shows the six modeling projects I built in 2009. This is a lot more fun than working.



Gordon Birrell

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77318580@N00/

[Gordon Ferguson]

Looks like 2009 was a "good" year ... excellent modelling! Hope 2010 will be even more productive and we can all share.

Can I ask why you build in 1/16th?

Oh and thanks for the photo tips, very useful

[Belg]

Guys, Gordon has not only provided a clinic here on modeling but also one on photography. If you didn't know how to take photos of your models, the lower image is your answer and Gordon's description pretty much summarizes how to do it. (ALWAYS USE A TRIPOD!) If you need more help, contact me.

I will be waiting for your photos and articles.

Russ

Do you also recommend using a remote trigger so you don't jar the camera? Pat

[Belg]

Gordon, its great to see your entire 2009 collection all together. If I could ask for a quick favor could you post a shot with an item in it for size reference? I really don't know how big your locos are. Thanks for sharing your great work with us. One more quick question, on the loco with the stack that has two smaller stacks? coming off the sides, what are these for? Pat

[Scratchman]

Gordon I also work in 1:24 scale but I prefer 1:16 scale for most of my modeling. There are 12-1/16" in 3/4 " so each 1/16 = one inch. Say I need a 2x4 board, this would be 1/8" x 1/4", a very even number. Say I need a 2x4 board in 1:20 scale, well that's not as easy. 12 scale inches = 5/8", 6 scale inches = 5/16", 3 scale inches = 5/32", divide that by 3 to get 1 scale inch. I don't even know how to do that. These are not very even numbers. Basswood, styrene, tubing and even the quad paper I use all comes in these even numbers. I'm not tied to any railroad scale so why not use the easier scale.

Pat, if this will help, the bases for the out houses are 10" by 10". The pipes on the stacks are part of the spark arrester system.

Gordon Birrell

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77318580@N00/



       

[finescalerr]

Pat, if your camera has a 3 or 5 second delay feature (and most do, for taking self-portraits and group shots), that's every bit as good as a cable release. My cable release didn't fit my current camera but, before I bought a new release for $50 or $100, I realized the camera has a 3 second delay ... and it works perfectly for long exposure shots.

Gordon, your stuff always blows me away. It's just so elegant!

Russ

[marc_reusser]

Absolutely beautiful.....seeing them all together really drives home that point.

MR