Jacq's Logging Project Discussion

[BKLN]

Sometimes I have a hard time with the toylike appearance of all "cute" logging or mining layouts. But this is a museum quality masterpiece. Very impressive!

[finescalerr]

Ho-hum. Is that the best you can do, Jacq? Well, I suppose I will have to lower my standards and publish it anyway. Would you prefer a two-part or a three-part article? I suspect it will require three (about 60 pages) to provide sufficient embarrassment. -- Russ

[jacq01]

  Panic in the shop....  
  Cannot find the camara disk with the last 25 detail photo's of the layout in Warley ( + a large amount of family photo's  ) .........I hope it is in the box with the donkeys or all small fine detail parts. Otherwise I have to take new ones when the layout is assembled again next week........rather upsetting.......

 

  work meeting

 

  suggestions to improve the cut off roof line of the power house are welcome 

 

Just add a little red paint and call it a tragic shop accident.

  The amount of available saws might have played a role 

  Marcel's and my layout were actually the only boxed in layouts ( together with The Hezelpoort by Loek Bronckhorst) 
  English layouts do have a boxed in appearance too, but the background is on nearly all too low, including the viewing height for the public.
  The reason is the operational requirements to reach couplings etc... A pity as beautiful models are spoiled by beer bellies, heads and hands.

 

  Jacq

[shropshire lad]

  The reason is the operational requirements to reach couplings etc... A pity as beautiful models are spoiled by beer bellies, heads and hands.

 

  Jacq

Whereas we had to try and squeeze our beer bellies around in front of the audience every time a Shay derailed or Alan missed the log dump with one of his logs ! Much more appealing ,

   Nick
 

[finescalerr]

Nick, I have provided a cot, appropriate plumbing, and a year's supply of food in the corner for you. Visiting day is Tuesday when you will be allowed a one hour conjugal visit from a chimpanzee wearing a thong bikini and a pretty blue ribbon. While this may seem rather harsh you have shown no remorse. If your attorneys wish to appeal, a trial date is available next week. Court is adjourned. -- ssuR

[Alan Rees]

Having spent last weekend bent double, grovelling after those disappearing logs, the treatment from the Thai masseuse in my corner is providing some relief. Perhaps this great layout should be renamed "Pain in the Lumbar" ?

[shropshire lad]

I don't know what you're whinging about , Alan , all I've got in my corner is a bloody great ex-shot putting Russian called Svetlana and she is providing no relief what so ever .

  I think I'm leaving here and rejoining the 0n30 conspiracy lot , at least they treat you properly there ,

   Nick

[DaKra]

Haven't commented before, but I've watched with admiration, beautiful work.  What I love about a model like this, besides the awesome display of artistry, craftsmanship and technical skill, is the "readability" of it.  I might approach the exhibit knowing nothing of logging in the steam era, but If I'm inclined to look beyond the eye candy, I will walk away a better educated person, thanks to your respect for the subject matter.     

As for the "best in show" ... I fear the plague is spreading.   

Dave

   

[jacq01]

  Alan, Nick,

  beside your antics under the layout recovering the dumped logs, I at least had a very good time. So stop the mumbling about "Mumby Lumber" 
  To prevent more "lumbar" problems some changes will be carried out to make operating the layout easier for the poor backs and knees.

  After his struggling with the train controler symbols before the public, Thedoor's ego suffered another setback.
  He dislodged a council post when trying to back up on my driveway.

  The storage disk has not turned up    , so new photo's have to be made....

   

As for the "best in show" ... I fear the plague is spreading.

It is already here....

   there is a discussion in another thread on the underlying motives of modeling, I can only say that I built from the heart and not from the head.
  Dave's statement

I might approach the exhibit knowing nothing of logging in the steam era, but If I'm inclined to look beyond the eye candy, I will walk away a better educated person, thanks to your respect for the subject matter.

is describing very well the process I went through myself  to  be able to built this layout. And one of the nicest compliments I received was " this looks better than the photographs on the forum"  And I do see plenty of room for improvements, there are still area's that have mysteries for me, that are not finished, but how is not clear to me, yet....

  Jacq







   

   

[finescalerr]

Jacq, if you want to make your photos make the layout look as good as it does in person and if you have Skype, send me a note about when we can talk and I will try to explain how to set up lights and homemade reflectors for photography so it looks as though you are shooting in sunlight (or moonlight). As you know, in photography, lighting and composition are everything.

If I were to shoot your layout for the articles we have in mind, I would expect to spend a long day and go home exhausted. You have the luxury of breaking that up into three or four shorter and enjoyable sessions and amazing yourself with some outstanding images. Those images will be as important to you as the models someday.

Russ

[JohnP]

As for the "best in show" ... I fear the plague is spreading.   
Dave   

I showed this thread to my wife. When I got to the "Best in Show" she cried "What a House of Horrors! That thing won?"

Jacq, the railway is beautiful. Your interpretation of American logging is quite on the spot. It used to be everyday life in many places, the forests they worked could be spectacular but were generally commonplace, and the loggers did what they needed to get the work done in as unremarkable a way as possible. Your modeling captures all that.

Let's see some nice big photos soon.

John

[granitechops]

Jacq, been dipping into this thread several times & am impressed. ( but not had time to read it all yet )

it is possible to model a simple token scene that leaves the mind concluding that there is a large commercial activity going on in the disrict
eg., small mill suggesting also larger more complex mills nearby.
but if one is not familiar with the particular industry portrayed, say because its not your scene, or you'r too young to even imagine such things ever existed, such would not leave much immpression.
But a model such as yours should draw the enquiring mind into how the machinery worked, belts, fast & loose pulleys, line drives, steam engines, boilers, fuel, even before looking at the progression of the wood thro the mill

Having worked in the 60s - 70s as a lorry driver in railway yards, commercial docksides, Naval dockyards, scrap yards, quarries, power stations etc. etc, I often look at model scenes & go, to myself, No, No , it did not look like that or it would not have worked if done that way.
Now I am not a rivet counter, but they do have to look believable, no rivets where it would be impossible for anything to be attatched on the other side of it. and to me that applies to other things, not only rivets        
Although I dare say I have been guilty of similar things when I have been in a hurry, not had the information I wanted & just cracked on with the project in hand regardless      
my problem is I get impatient, but I am workling on it 
Living in Devon England, I have never seen such a mill as you have portrayed first hand, but I feel I could have walked through it in real life, it is detailed, informative, inspirational, enjoyable, & reminds me how dangerous the industrial revolution really could be, if you did not keep your wits about you. Thanks for taking the time to share your progress with us, it does slow one up when working on such a project ( even if you do also get valuable feedback as you work )       
Thinking about your question about the roof line
    "suggestions to improve the cut off roof line of the power house are welcome"
would a section of roof just of rafters with the covering removed, Say fire damage, or just replacement maintenance, distract the eye from the shape?   
or was that not what you meant?

[jacq01]

  My appologies for not posting any news after the return from Warley. 
  When tightening a screw by hand apparently some nerves were damaged as I lost any feeling in the pink and the ball of the thumb of my left hand.
  According to the neurologist, the pink and side of the hand will take some time but the feeling in the rest of the hand will return shortly. 
  As lefthander I feared for my modeling abilities......

  Next week I'll get some help setting up the layout so photo's will follow a bit later than planned.

  Jacq

[Ray Dunakin]

Yikes! Take good care of that hand!

[finescalerr]

Looks like you'll be okay but don't take any chances! -- Russ