The Playland Penny Arcade

[Ken Hamilton]

I think a very slight touch of off white yellow/cream colour for want of a better way of describing it nicotine stained and maybe with one or two of the slats bent down in the middle where the occupant puts his fingers through to stare out

That's why I love this place.  You can always count on a creative kick in the pants to keep you on your toes.
The fact is, I finished the blinds....looked at them thinking they should be stained.....decided they were good enough
because I was impatient to get them in place....surpressed my better judgement....hung them in the windows...
and promptly got tagged.....
That will definitely be corrected.  Thanks, Gordy!

As far as that seam, it must be some pixel-related glitch, maybe caused by the time exposure.  
The slats are indeed straight.

EDIT:
Geez......now that the white blinds have been brought to my attention they jump out like a sore thumb......

[Bill Sartore]

Regarding the TV flickerer that Ken is using...

I had Tim Anderson from Ngineering do a custom programming of one of his flasher units for me. I was making a modified version of the Foscale Decker's Pine Tar soap kit and wanted to simulate the flicker that you would see from an old B&W TV set. He now sells them on his site (or at a discount from me at www.microlumina.com - but my webstore is not functional yet - you need to email me) along with many other lighting simulators that he sells.

To see the flicker simulator in action go here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oexxa0VZXfs
You can see the flicker working in the opening shot and at the end. The video is a little rough since it was just something I shot on the fly with the model unfinished. The panning/tracking night shots are kind of rough to do in video under low light conditions. However, it gives you an idea of the TV simulator.

Ken and I are using a cool white LED for the TV. Color temp on the LED is too cool for a fluorescent type light but spot on for a B&W TV I think.

[pwranta193]

Great video in showing the look... it really does evoke B&W tube time.  Ken - being new to this - I wondered if you had an overall light plan with different combos, or do you switch each of the effects on a suits your tastes?  Until seeing Bill's mulit-light video scene, I would have though that the effects would get lost - or conflict, but apparently not true.  I want to see what you come up with for the pinball games

Great work - I've really enjoyed watching you add depth (at so many levels) to this scene.
Paul

[Ken Hamilton]

Before...........


After..........


Thanks to Gordon's sharp eye, I redid the windows by weathering the shades (the one on the right is
actually a little darker than it looks in the picture) and the drapes, and noticed that I had hung the
blinds in the right window UPSIDE DOWN.  Look close at the "Before & After" and you'll see the difference.

I also added pull cords:



Thanks again, Gordon.  Your observation was a big help.

Paul:  I really didn't have a big plan for the lighting - just an idea of having a lighted entry and
second for hallway, and a couple of lights on the third floor.

[Ray Dunakin]

How on earth did you make those blinds?

[finescalerr]

Who would have thought a little touch would have such a big impact? -- Russ

[Gordon Ferguson]

Ken,

I feel that I fulfilled my life's destiny now .... time to retire .

I think it looks really good now, both the blinds and the extra work you have done on the curtains to tone them down and to reshape them ..... its all added another layer of realism on to a clever bit of modelling.

[Junior]

Fantastic work Ken - very realistic. The You Tube clip by Bill is also great!

Anders

[Ken Hamilton]

Thanks, guys.
Speaking of video clips, Fotki has a relatively new feature where videos can be uploaded.
I played around with it for the first time last night and uploaded a short clip taken with a little
Kodak point-and-shoot camera.It's hardly a professional-looking sequence, but this video
thing has potential.....

http://public.fotki.com/khamilton/models/playland_penny_arcade/100-0315.html

[chester]

My mother always told me it was rude to look into folks windows at night but these from you Ken, are worth playing peeping Tom. The up close shots of the fire escapes really show them off too. Any future plans for weathering them or is this a well maintained building?

[Frederic Testard]

I'm interested also on the 'how did you make the blinds?' question.
The new pictures are even better than the previous ones, and the shifting pixels mystery (probably an anger reaction at the upside down blinds) has disappeared.

[W.P. Rayner]

Looks great Ken, truly inspirational work. I'm grateful for the privilege of watching your pieces come together... the nicotine stains on the blinds are very convincing and glad you were able to fix the pixel shift problem in the earlier shots. All that's missing is a cigar smoldering in the ashtray, a copy of the horse Racing News, some crumpled betting slips and a handgun... 

Paul

[Malachi Constant]

Well, now that you've got them properly colored and hanging in the direction ... inquiring minds DO want to know about your fabrication tricks!  -- Dallas

[danpickard]

Ken,
Top marks for the attention to detail, with the blinds looking great with the new staining.  Such a "iconic" look for a slightly seedy looking abode...twisted, bent and uneven shades, with I'm guessing no Mrs in this appartment to adjust the decor nicely and do a bit of up keep!

The flicker LED circuit for the tv is spot on.  Very realistic with the randomness and varied intensities of light, rather than just on and off.  Its just another one of the little features of this story that would make it all the more better to see in the flesh.  You will have to request the lights be dimmed in the model room when its on display.  That should upset everyone else wanting to take pics of every other model on display

Cheers,
Dan

[Ken Hamilton]

How on earth did you make those blinds?

Thanks......

I didn't take any How-To pictures when making the blinds on the diorama, but I'll whip
up another one to show the process.  It's really easy and doesn't take much time at all.

Today I picked up some yarn to make a rug that will be hanging over the fire escape railing.
That process will be documented as it progresses & pics of that will be posted, too.

Stay tuned............