Hi,

The distant and middle distant water look great but the close water seems a bit opaque.

You might look for a better texture? I don't know how they do it but the 3DMax water looks pretty good.

It seems a composite of wave structure, simulated reflection and refraction with some sparkle thrown in. It's a surface treatment, not 3D surface but looks pretty convincing.

Jim

Here are a couple images of a late project.

This one is the train depot in Cumberland Maryland set around 1947. Detail and platform are modeled on all sides with limited interior and lighting added. Considerable license has been taken with the environment which is a good deal more urban than depicted. Images include:

Depot entry side... with the elevated platform beyond.

A view from the platform.

Black and white of the platform at night.

I hope you enjoy the images and as always comments and suggestions always welcome.

Jim

This week I was able to take a break from work and crank out another piece of RR rolling stock. This time a "heavy weight" PRR dining car.

For a slab sided fairly basic shape it proved to be more technical and challenging that I had expected. The roof ends were especially fun.

I hope you will enjoy but questions, observations and criticism are always welcome.

In any case, i think you've made a good decision. Sketchup is an easy, although not foolproof, system and can do remarkable modeling. It's definitely the easiest system I've used.

It is easier to do rectangular shapes but at least initially the plywood components of your model should be pretty near 2d and fairly straightforward. Arcs and circles are not bad as well.

If you're working with modular track elements things should also be pretty simple. Once you get to spline curves (i.e. flex track,) and topography things get a bit trickier.

I recommend showing us your progress, perhaps opening a thread devoted to your progress and problems. I'm sure you'll get a lot of good advice.

Jim

The attached image is not exactly from Sketchup but rather is my SU model with some 3dMax tricks applied...

To me the value of embellishing the model with elements like the airplane and smoke is that they add life and implied motion to an image that otherwise appears fairly static.

Enjoy

Jim

Gorgeous image... is it a real project?

Thanks a lot for the nice comments folks!

I've always thought the old stations made for interesting regional architecture. If I understand correctly the railroads often used them to reinforce the promotion of tourism, selling tickets as they went.

I've also admired some of the great old B&W photos of these old machines and structures.

Anyhow, on a bit of a nostalgic theme I have a couple more images.

From a short series I'm calling "The Beginning of the End"

This scene features a steamer dragging a string of empties through the quiet town of Florin while overhead... a shiny new DC3 flies. Plane looks pretty good from a couple thousand feet away.

I bashed up the DC3 over the last couple days (my first SU airplane) strictly as background material. It's pretty lumpy if you get close.

So enjoy.

Hi Bryan, thanks for the complement... I think. Honest, it started with a SketchUp model. The following are a few of the fun facts about the model(s):

Florin Station is a modest combination passenger / freight station serving a small town. It's wood frame construction on a masonry knee wall and features a waiting room (on the left), a ticket office, and a freight room.

The station was served by a pair of tracks (east and west bound) with a safety fence between that I modeled from the grainy image I found. I've assumed there must have been some sort of shelter on the far side of the track so I've included a standard PRR passenger shelter, but its existence and appearance are a guess.

In order to achieve the long views common with rail road images I constructed the following site. It's 2 miles (3218 M) across. The model track shown in the images is 3,520 feet (1072 M) long and still, in some images you can clearly see the end.

Typically, with these models I add (and reuse) items to give scale and color. With this project some of the elements added include: A new style telegraph pole, a penny scale (you weight for a penny), a baggage scale and a light standard for the platforms. You'll see them again.

So it really was a sketch up model... honest.

Jim

Hello All,

Here's another historic railroad station, this time located in Florin PA on the Pennsylvania RailRoad (PRR).

The original no longer exists, so I had a handful of very basic drawings and one old grainy black and white on-line photo to work from. I think I came close, but a lot of guesswork was involved.

Florin is a quite rural town, but even so, it looks even more rural than it is in my images.

The Train is a string of empty coal hoppers pulled by a PRR I1 (2-10-0) steamer.

Hope you enjoy, and as always comments are welcome

Jim

Hi,

Way out in the middle of nowhere isn't it? The building is well preserved and makes for an interesting visit if you're passing through.

In doing the model I worked from some really nice drawings and photographs from the Historic American Buildings Survey that I downloaded from the Library of Congress. They show it before it was fully restored. In doing my model I tried to scrub out changes made to convert it to a modern visitor center.

I also visited the building (a day's drive from home) to photograph it and the surrounding landscape but you got better sky images. It was cloudless blue when I was there.

Thanks for the feedback.

Jim