What's in a Scene?

With the new lockdown, I've been working on many projects including more B/A cars, a CNR rebuilt single-sheathed boxcar (modified Tichy USRA rebuilt car), 3 brick buildings for a friend, redesigning a layout for a friend and, mind you, revisiting yet again Avenue Industrielle and a new proposition for a pure French Canadian style Downtown Quebec City CPR cameo layout... Lots of stuff I wish I'll write about!

But today, two pictures struck my eyes as a modeller because they teach us great scene composition and modelling lessons.

Can't model the early 20th century, no commercial model available!

I've heard that lame excuse so often in the last two decades it has become a joke...

The following picture is E.D. Tillson's oatmeal factory in Tillsonburgs, ON and rail served by the GTR. But honestly, it doesn't matter at all... This is your generic early 20th century North American industrial scene that can fit any layout which needs one... and bear in mind these scenes existed well into the 1980s. The interesting part is that it's so mundane anybody could replicate it with ease and get a wonderful achievable modelling project for a few months at a leisure pace.

E.D. Tillson's factory, no date (credit: Annandale NHS)

How would I model this scene? First, use the rear wall of an Atlas Middlesex Manufacturing Company kit, customize some windows, add downsprouts and install Tichy fire escape staircases. Take you time and put several evenings painting the bricks individually and weathering it nicely. You'll be surprised by the results! It will no longer be a recognizable Atlas product, but a brick factory. Since you are happy with you work, don't stop there and scratchbuild the wooden loading bay to provide more relief to the building!

For the ground, use all kind of sifted soil, clay, sand and whatever materials you have in hands. Paint it, don't rely on their natural color, weather them, add washes and powders... take you time. If you are not happy, restart the coloring process. That's the beauty, the materials are just there to provide texture, paint take cares of everything else and can be redone! Do it the armour modeller's way and stop relying on luck to get realistic results.

Then, it's rolling stock time! Sightly bash three Roundhouse or Accurail 36ft cars you got for a palm sum. You can shorten a few to 32ft if you want with your razor saw! Change grabirons, use different type of underframes (fishbelly, truss rod, etc.). In an evening, you will have a customized car nobody will recognize! Then Black Cat Publishing will be there to provide accurate period decals for them. Don't forget to look at the car trucks too! Different types of archbar trucks and even, if I'm not wrong, a pair of MDC/Roundhouse Fox trucks. These little details makes a difference! Once again, take your time and weather the cars with care, it's well worth. Finally, track down a few old Jordan Miniatures horse drawn wagons, they are wonderful!

As you can see, nothing fancy here, no expensive products, but lots of fun working with readily available material and giving them a new life by cleverly repurposing them. The entire scene can be done on a 24" x 8" and fit your shelves. I can work as a real layout too... and best of all, you get a fantastic backdrop to photograph your models!

Total cost:

-Atlas Middlesex Manufacturing Company: $60

-3x 36ft boxcars: about 20$ each + $8 decals + 8$ wheels, couplers and details: $108

-3x Jordan Miniatures horse drawn wagons: about $20 each: $60

-Scratchbuilding supplies: $15

-Scenery material: almost free...

A little bit over $200... countless hours of fun taking probably 3 to 6 months, you can brag about it and it will be the start of a new adventure.

It's the color palette folks!

This one is interesting because it's so generic we can easily spot what really matters.

Clip from Yard Limit movie (1970) (credit: CINETEL)

This snapshot is from the beautifully filme short movie Yard Limit. It depicts typical switching work at a Canadian Pacific yard in 1970. This picture caught my attention because it tells us a lot about color palettes. Without a consistent choice of color, it's hard to create cohesive scenes... let's break this one down.

First, almost 90% of the picture is made of browns, grays, greiges and other derivatives, including the sky. Generic brown freight cars distinguishable only by their logos, dirt brown ballast merging with dirt brown tracks... dirty switchstands... every mundane, generic or repetitive element is a massive blob of discolored and heavily weathered dirt colors. Interestingly enough, the polished rail surface provide just enough shine to indicate something going on here.On the other hand, every exceptional and unique objects are brightly colored and clean: the fresly repainted red caboose and the well-maintained green bridge. As exceptions, they are treated differently.

On a layout, using such a palette helps to blend cars of different manufacturers, quality and types into one coherent fleet. It also helps to blend the track in the scenery, creating a free flowing and immersive experience. Finally, the bright colored objects are worth our attention. Something is happening and they remind us of that. In that regard, the yellow targets on the switchstands remind us that something important happens in that blurry mass of dirty brown... look out!!!