Posts made by LA_RR_Architect

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

A couple more progress images...

Still pushing the plumbing and operating hardware largely from front to back, I've also blocked out the cab and tender body.

Beginning to get a feel for the bulk of this heavy weight.

Still a long way to go but perhaps there really is light at the end of the tunnel. In any case, I'm really wanting to see a rendered view of this brute.

As usual, more coming.

Regards

Jim

Really wonderful.

Here's another image of the same cold scene. I've added snow covered trees and additional smaller snow flakes. I think the combined effect of the trees and the dome of light / snow is to hold the eye more to the center of the image.

...where presumably the yard crew is inside the yardmaster's cabin keeping warm over coffee.

Jim

Just fooling around with some of my railroad pieces and 3dMax particles...

So, ...it's nearly midnight and well below freezing as PRR locomotive 4637 approaches the water tower ...and it's started to snow again...

These are full resolution details:

I hope you enjoy.

Well good people, thanks for looking in and the comments.

...still no "Big Boy" yet or flatcar for that matter, but I did come up with plans for a "reefer" or iced refrigerator car. Here she is...

That's it for now, enjoy.

Jim

Hi, thanks for the suggestions...

about Big Boy. i was joking

• I understood that it was a joke, but then I got to thinking. Modeling a Big Boy would be only a bit more complicated than the B&M 4-8-2. Since the Big Boy is a 4-8-8-4, the two gangs of cylinders, rods and driving wheels are copies of each other. The model would be bigger but all I would really need to add is the extra pair of wheels in the trailing truck and a bit more piping. As an added bonus, the centipede tender used on the B&M locomotive is nearly identical to that used on the Big Boy.

what render engine you´re use?

A few years ago I bought AutoCAD and Revit licenses. 3D Max came with them... so that's what I use. Like all AutoDesk products it's too big and bulky but produces pretty good results.

*https://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/selectd ... x=co&id=69

or this on

http://sarplans.steam4me.net/

on this site i have found only a 4 wheel refrigerator car

some times you can find anything on model rail road pages, too.*

Thanks for the pointers to on-line drawings... Right now my problem is getting on top of the failing graphics card in my lap top. Once that's beaten, I can look at more modeling.

...and by the way, those were two pretty nice water colors!

Yep, that's a college campus alright. I see you used the old architectural photographer's trick of hosing down the street before making the picture.

Well done!

Hi,

Thanks for the comments.

Next project? Too many choices.

I hadn't thought the Big Boy possible, but maybe...

And if that, well, I'm a bit of a Pennsylvania fan... perhaps if I can find drawings a T1 or even a GG1 - that would be a change. Then again perhaps an SP cab forward or a DMIR Yellowstone.

I'm also on the look out for plans for a refrigerator car and a flat car and as always, interesting railroad structures.

Too many choices, too little time.

I'll leave you with a final image for now. This is generally what I build these models for.

Then again, I think my laptop is dying... maybe a new computer first.

Jim

Hey everybody, thanks for looking and for the encouragement!

Here are a couple of my first rendering "rushes"

And here's how the B & M 4115 fits into my growing fleet of railroad rolling stock models...

She's definitely the biggest and most complex to date.

I hope you enjoy

Jim

Hello Daniel

Some nice historic models here and it seems like you've found a good process with your historic review board. These folks can really be interesting to work with.

I had started out doing historic structures as a way to teach myself SU but haven't found access to paying clients yet.

Even so, it's grown into a bit of a hobby. Some of my stuff can be found here:

http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=81%26amp;t=61430%26amp;start=30

Jim