Rewanui - a 1940 West Coast NZ layout in 1:64

[Lawrence@NZFinescale]

This mine store building was on the backshunt at Rewanui.  I've repositioned it, and mirrored in half relief as a view blocker to disguise trains departing the layout to the fiddle yard.  The 3/4 view of chimney and office is the one most will see.  The long side with 3 windows faces the track.  I understand the void under the office was for storing pipe etc.

The building's basically a 1.5mm styrene frame clad in 0.5mm sheet both sides with various 3D printed bits added on.  Window frames are laser cut card.

A rewarding building that was quite quick to do thanks to the integration of digital techniques.  Painting and finishing took most of the time.

Anyone wishing a more detailed description can find it here:
https://nzfinescale.com/youre-in-my-way/

[finescalerr]

That turned out pretty adequately, didn't it? Especially the texture. -- Russ

[Lawrence@NZFinescale]

That turned out pretty adequately, didn't it? Especially the texture. -- Russ

I browsed Youtube for some pointers on painting concrete, combined with past experience and some ideas.  I'm pretty pleased with the result.  I could probably play further, but this is a partly hidden bookend and I have other things to get on with.

Here's the real thing in '87, a few years after it became disused.  It has gone down hill a lot since then

[Lawrence@NZFinescale]

The need to exhibit the layout in the near future has got me back on to scenery.

There's a bit of a balancing act between installing scenic bits, bridges and laying track, to avoid having to work over fragile structures and the necessity of having a bridge before track can be laid over it.  The general plan has been to work from back to front, and I'm more or less up to the point directly behind the bridge.

These are pics taken mainly to assess how things are going.  The bridge and foreground trees are just placed at present.  A bit more work behind the bridge and I can fix it permanently and connect up the track.  But for now I'm playing around with the area behind and under the bridge as work here needs to be done while the bridge is removable.

The prototype pic shows the bridge 30-40 years later. The handrail treatment is a little different and the river scoured a little deeper.  As is the way with a long term project like this, much research has accumulated since commitments were made 15+ years ago.  The bridge is based on a survey drawing and the  bridge was built before many of the photos showed up.  The scenery was based on site visits, but these were AFTER a large landslide wiped out most of the bridge, so the historical topology modelled was a mix of guesswork and pragmatism.  At this end of the layout there is serious compression required, which limits the depth that can be reached. 

So the bridge itself is a scale model, but departs in some details from the prototype. But this part of the layout is in the zone between scale model and more or less fictitious fabrication. The majority of the trackwork and key structures will be scale representations, but outside that I see the modelling in a more artistic way, framing the scene.

The foreground will be mainly grassy bank on the right with a few shrubs, while the left bank will be dense shrubs/small trees as period images show.

[finescalerr]

Are we supposed to guess what might be fictitious? Because all of it looks plausible and terrific. -- Russ

[Stuart]

I'm liking your lamp shades. I too have searched for a way to make this kind of a lamp reflector.  I just might give your method a try.

Stuart

[Lawrence@NZFinescale]

I'm liking your lamp shades. I too have searched for a way to make this kind of a lamp reflector.  I just might give your method a try.

Stuart

Let me know if you need any more info.  I can email you the stls if my version suits you.

[Ray Dunakin]

The scenery is absolutely stunning so far, and the bridge is excellent. Such an unusual design, too. I like the contrast between the rusty steel braces and the wooden timbers.

[Lawrence@NZFinescale]

The scenery is absolutely stunning so far, and the bridge is excellent. Such an unusual design, too. I like the contrast between the rusty steel braces and the wooden timbers.

Thanks Ray.  The overall style is pretty common here - this one is unusual in that it is decked to take vehicles and pedestrians.

I built the bridge a long time ago, so it's having a bit of weathering before being permanently fixed in the next day or two.  All the timbers are marked with year of installation and the piles with year and depth driven.  This is carved in the timbers and highlighted by the red oxide paint patches.  One of those details nobody will notice unless they were a bridge inspector or I tell them :-).

It's a good thing I can make those trees quickly.  There are a LOT of them.

[Stuart]

I'm liking your lamp shades. I too have searched for a way to make this kind of a lamp reflector.  I just might give your method a try.

Stuart

Let me know if you need any more info.  I can email you the stls if my version suits you.

If you don't mind, that would be very helpful. Thanks.

Stuart
stuartgfx@hotmail.com

[Barney]

Superb modelling with fantastic detailing
Barney

[Lawrence@NZFinescale]

The layout has reached the stage of a mostly complete diorama on 1 baseboard.

The bridge is fixed in place and the mine store is bedded in (though removable).  There is still some vegetation to go in on the far side of the near track and I'm still pottering on the foreground.  This image taken to assess progress as it is easier to be critical of an image on screen than the real thing.

It's good to get this bit done as it it will serve as an anchor to the rest of the project and I can move from here in one direction. This module has also served to perfect the techniques and materials that I'll use going forward.  Not that I don't see improvements, but there's also a need to maintain consistency. 

[finescalerr]

Do you actually think there's much room for improvement? -- Russ

[Lawrence@NZFinescale]

Yep.  It never stops really.  Every model is better than the one before.

Things like this I like to revisit.  It's my nature to be less than satisfied, so I like to come back when I've had chance to calm a bit and reassess whether I think it's as good as it could be.  I post photos and listen to criticism, and if I can do better then I have a go.  This little scene is developing, so once the trees go in behind the line I'll see if the foreground works to my satisfaction.  Plus I'll revisit prototype pics and decide whether I have the right look.

Overall though I am pretty happy with the whole thing, as it does capture the feel of the place.

[Lawrence@NZFinescale]

Here's a couple of rare things in a single image.

Yours truly and the magnum opus set up outside on a spring day.  There's not enough clear space inside to erect the whole thing so this was a chance to test fit everything before taking it to a show.

The sceniked module is obvious.  To the right of it is the fiddle yard structure (a turntable mounts on top of this).  The rest of the blank canvas is where the station yard will be.  The general topology is roughed in blue styrofoam, and most of the structures are done to some extent. I'll be running some temporary track and displaying in progress models on the unfinished bits. The overhead structures will carry a pelmet and lighting.

It all went pretty well, but did turn up the need for one or two extra fittings and highlighted what needs to go in the tool box.