From TRAINS.COM, as originally derived from MODEL RAILROADER Magazine
Forced perspective for model railroads
How to make your model cityscape look big
by John Pryke
(Originally published on August 31, 2002)
Looking at scenery from any height, the closest viewscape contains lower buildings. Beyond that in a city might be taller apartment houses, which looked small. Beyond that, maybe a large church, with a tiny steeple. At that distance, vehicles on the streets are only colored dots. From where the viewer might stand, any city looks like (and probably is) a very big city!
If we were to duplicate that city scene exactly in HO, it would take over 30 feet; yet most layouts have only 6" to 18" in depth.. Trying to do that in Mega-Scale
would be even more difficult. There is, however, a method to trick the viewers’ eye into thinking that buildings only a few feet away are far off in the distance, a technique called “forced perspective”.
This is the use of representing objects in the distance to be reduced in size to create the illusion of great distance in a very small space. A simple example is to model the scenery and buildings behind a trolley or railroad car in a smaller scale than the train itself. When the viewer looks over the train at the buildings, they appear to be far away because of their smaller size, even though only a few feet may separate the two. Your eye perceives these decreases in size as increased distance.
How to create forced perspective
When using this technique, it's helpful to create a visual barrier between the railroad and the city. The most common way to do this is to place the distant townscape two or more feet higher than tracks in the foreground. A retaining wall between the two levels works well and follows the prototypical practice of many railroads. Visually, you'll group the tracks in the foreground as one set of objects, all of the same general size, with their depth defined by the physical distance to the retaining wall. Then you'll look up and see the vertically separated cityscape as a second set of objects getting smaller and smaller. The smaller size enhances the illusion of distance through forced perspective.
Within a viewscape, the best way to achieve a sense of distance is to position the different elements of the town (houses, stores, partial buildings, flats, and the backdrop), and then to reduce the physical size of each element the farther it is from the viewer. Using EGRM as an example, the trolley in the foreground (the closest objects to the viewer) are one-and-one-half inch to the foot, or 1/8 actual size. In the townscape, houses just beyond the tracks are also scaled 1½ “ to the foot.. Ideally, partial buildings, if they are immediately behind the complete buildings, would be perhaps one-inch-to-the-foot to make them appear farther away. The next layer back consists of flats, several feet behind the front line of buildings. I find that making flats that are available in O scale makes them look much farther away. Finally, forming a backdrop even further back that reduces the size of the structures even more makes them appear even farther away than the flats. Why? Because to the eye, small size equals distance; the smaller the building the farther away it seems.
Fortunately, the manufacturers of flats and backdrops make their products with forced perspective in mind. Walthers Instant Buildings flats, for example, average 20 to 25 percent smaller than full-size HO. Similarly, the closest buildings in the city backdrops of Walthers, Detail Associates, and other manufacturers are about half HO scale (about 45 percent smaller, on the average), while those in the distance are even smaller.
Relative motion
As viewers look across a set of trains they encounter a visual barrier (the retaining wall) that separates a set of objects of one size (the trains) from a set of decreasing size (buildings, flats, and backdrop). The table at the bottom of the drawing shows the relationship between these objects in terms of percentage of full size, relative detail, and perceived distance.
A second and more subtle way to apply forced perspective is through the relative motion of near and distant structures. If you travel through a city by rail or road, look out the window and take a minute to notice how the buildings appear to move past you. Those closest go by at the speed you are moving. Structures two to three blocks away seem to move much more slowly, while buildings many blocks (or miles) in the distance appear to stand still.
Properly placed, buildings, flats, and a backdrop on you cityscape can achieve the same effect. While the difference in speed is much smaller than in the prototype, it is noticeable, and helps contribute to the sense of distance in the setting.
Showing posts with label forced perspective. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forced perspective. Show all posts
Friday, April 10, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
FORCED PERSPECTIVE IN TROLLEY DIORAMAS
Even in this unenlightened age, many model traction fans --- when they become bored with running their trolleys in a circle around a perpetual, virtual Christmas tree --- use backdrops from Walthers and Backdrop Warehouse as wall coverings in back of the layout. They are printed in a scale much smaller than the trolleys running in the foreground --- often very detailed, very nicely printed or photographed city backgrounds by commercial firms like Walthers and Backdrop Warehouse.
This key concept of using different scales for different sections of a diorama, where the scales differ and descend in size from front to back, is called 'forced perspective.
I would like to quote from a “thread” --- a list of comments in chronological, conversational order from an Internet forum on model airplanes. Because so many model airplane hobbyists, like model railroaders and live steamers, are interested primarily in operating their models, we found it surprising that any of them would be interested in building dioramas, usually a rather static display. It also was interesting that many people in that hobby --- and we're confident that holds true for model traction and transit as well --- had never heard of forced perspective, and had never realized that picturing a moment frozen in time of their otherwise very active, moving hobby was a valid, fascinating option for extending the time factor in order to appreciate the original historical scene or activity. You just wouldn’t think that there were valid static aspects of a hobby based on movement, like ours. What some British model railroaders, the fiddle yard modelers working in a very restricted area --- and French and German modelers who have built Feldbahns and industrial layouts, have demonstrated, is the satisfaction that can be derived through portraying the railroad experience in a very small area over some brief period of time. NO ! Ya doesn’t hafta just run ‘em around and around !!
The other advantage is that one can focus the audience’s attention on some small, evocative aspect of what electric traction railroading really felt like, looked like, and even sounded like, that extends far beyond running a trolley at speed and sounding the horn.
It also opens a major avenue for modeling in the really large scales --- Jimmy Sparkman’s and British trams ¾ inch to the foot, live steam's one inch and 1½ inch scale, and even in the size we're currently beating a drum for --- 2 inches to the foot, the scale utilized by action figures and Barbie dolls.
And lest you turn up your nose at the latter (Mattel calls it Playscale; our call is that it should be dubbed DisPlayscale), consider the possibility for realistic displays if you bring forced perspective into play :
DisPlayscale in the foreground --- it could be just a static moment captured for the viewer, with realistic figures engaged in typical railroad activity; immediately behind it at a small distance, a 1.5-inch-to-the-foot live steam locomotive or string of railcars; right behind that, at the appropriate distance, one-inch scale; next, some F Scale (1:20.3) or G scale (1:22.5 to 1:32), with their detail and outstanding visuals; and, finally, background flats in 0 scale (1:48), displaying a rich industrial or metropolitan background. We think it would take spectators’ breath away. If people asked what the diorama’s scale was, you could ingenuously say “All of them”.
Following is a set of relevant quotes from a model airplane forum:
“One further note, You might want to have several possibilities where your piece will or can be displayed other than a contest.
Museums.
Hobby Shops,
Libraries,
Private or permanent hangars where real aircraft are housed and repaired,
Tech schools,
Corporate headquarters Like trolley and model rail publishing co.,
Large malls
Government buildings, etc.
N.B. This list emended to reflect traction vice aviation interests
Finding a permanent home is not difficult if it’s well done. The first place my Staaken Diorama went on display was the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. It has been on temporary loan to the Wings Over the Rockies Aviation Museum for 4 years. If you do a club-sponsored contest entry, the post-contest and ultimate location should be established first and one person should be in charge of its disposition. This person would then answer to the club.
While there is more on the topic, it can all be gleaned from Shep Paynes great work. “How to build Dioramas”. Verlinden has great scenes and ideas. Don't discard any possibilities.”
Tool guys advise : Lefty Loosy, Righty Tighty
Diorama builders might say : Closey Largey, Farthey Smalley
This key concept of using different scales for different sections of a diorama, where the scales differ and descend in size from front to back, is called 'forced perspective.
I would like to quote from a “thread” --- a list of comments in chronological, conversational order from an Internet forum on model airplanes. Because so many model airplane hobbyists, like model railroaders and live steamers, are interested primarily in operating their models, we found it surprising that any of them would be interested in building dioramas, usually a rather static display. It also was interesting that many people in that hobby --- and we're confident that holds true for model traction and transit as well --- had never heard of forced perspective, and had never realized that picturing a moment frozen in time of their otherwise very active, moving hobby was a valid, fascinating option for extending the time factor in order to appreciate the original historical scene or activity. You just wouldn’t think that there were valid static aspects of a hobby based on movement, like ours. What some British model railroaders, the fiddle yard modelers working in a very restricted area --- and French and German modelers who have built Feldbahns and industrial layouts, have demonstrated, is the satisfaction that can be derived through portraying the railroad experience in a very small area over some brief period of time. NO ! Ya doesn’t hafta just run ‘em around and around !!
The other advantage is that one can focus the audience’s attention on some small, evocative aspect of what electric traction railroading really felt like, looked like, and even sounded like, that extends far beyond running a trolley at speed and sounding the horn.
It also opens a major avenue for modeling in the really large scales --- Jimmy Sparkman’s and British trams ¾ inch to the foot, live steam's one inch and 1½ inch scale, and even in the size we're currently beating a drum for --- 2 inches to the foot, the scale utilized by action figures and Barbie dolls.
And lest you turn up your nose at the latter (Mattel calls it Playscale; our call is that it should be dubbed DisPlayscale), consider the possibility for realistic displays if you bring forced perspective into play :
DisPlayscale in the foreground --- it could be just a static moment captured for the viewer, with realistic figures engaged in typical railroad activity; immediately behind it at a small distance, a 1.5-inch-to-the-foot live steam locomotive or string of railcars; right behind that, at the appropriate distance, one-inch scale; next, some F Scale (1:20.3) or G scale (1:22.5 to 1:32), with their detail and outstanding visuals; and, finally, background flats in 0 scale (1:48), displaying a rich industrial or metropolitan background. We think it would take spectators’ breath away. If people asked what the diorama’s scale was, you could ingenuously say “All of them”.
Following is a set of relevant quotes from a model airplane forum:
“One further note, You might want to have several possibilities where your piece will or can be displayed other than a contest.
Museums.
Hobby Shops,
Libraries,
Private or permanent hangars where real aircraft are housed and repaired,
Tech schools,
Corporate headquarters Like trolley and model rail publishing co.,
Large malls
Government buildings, etc.
N.B. This list emended to reflect traction vice aviation interests
Finding a permanent home is not difficult if it’s well done. The first place my Staaken Diorama went on display was the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. It has been on temporary loan to the Wings Over the Rockies Aviation Museum for 4 years. If you do a club-sponsored contest entry, the post-contest and ultimate location should be established first and one person should be in charge of its disposition. This person would then answer to the club.
While there is more on the topic, it can all be gleaned from Shep Paynes great work. “How to build Dioramas”. Verlinden has great scenes and ideas. Don't discard any possibilities.”
Tool guys advise : Lefty Loosy, Righty Tighty
Diorama builders might say : Closey Largey, Farthey Smalley
Sunday, April 5, 2009
MODEL TRACTION in the MEGA-GAUGES
What are the Mega-Gauges, and why use the term at all?
Because the traditional gauges --- historically the earliest in time of the popular scales, Gauge 1, 0 scale, and H0 --- have become the usual fare of the model railroad hobby, it’s easy to think that they are the entire hobby.
Live steamers certainly can tell you differently; it’s interesting to note that the Mega-Gauges are considered the Live Steam gauges. I’m talking about --- from the smallest to the largest --- ¾th inch to the foot (1:16 scale), one inch to the foot (1:12 scale) and 1½ inch to the foot (1:8 scale).
To these, I would like to add 2 inches to the foot (1:6) for reasons that I will explain in a later post.
For historical reasons, 1:16 scale is the premier size for model trams (British for “trolley”) in Great Britain, so I find it necessary to establish its presence to those unfamiliar with the hobby overseas. It’s the scale in which Jimmy Sparkman’s extraordinary models of Philadelphia’s SEPTA transit system are built, but unfortunately, not much else.
I’m suggesting that a couple of those scales are ideal for development (in every sense of the word). I’m thinking, in particular, of one inch and two inch scales. In a later blog in this series, I will explain their role in railway modeling and, in particular, in transit modeling. I will state my case for their use in trolley models in tomorrow’s blog.
This is all leading to my view that we can’t sit still and hope people will become interested in model traction. We need to convince everyone in the hobby that we all need to get the word out. Can you imagine how few folks would be driving automobiles if Henry Ford was content to sit in a garage in Detroit waiting for customers to stumble over his Tin Lizzies? Just remember that Joshua Lionel Cowan publicized his model trains by setting up layouts around Christmas trees in the display windows of Main Street department stores across the country.
We need to do something similar --- and not just an occasional exhibition in, say, a university in suburban Philadelphia, where we preach to the already converted.
What are the Mega-Gauges, and why use the term at all?
Because the traditional gauges --- historically the earliest in time of the popular scales, Gauge 1, 0 scale, and H0 --- have become the usual fare of the model railroad hobby, it’s easy to think that they are the entire hobby.
Live steamers certainly can tell you differently; it’s interesting to note that the Mega-Gauges are considered the Live Steam gauges. I’m talking about --- from the smallest to the largest --- ¾th inch to the foot (1:16 scale), one inch to the foot (1:12 scale) and 1½ inch to the foot (1:8 scale).
To these, I would like to add 2 inches to the foot (1:6) for reasons that I will explain in a later post.
For historical reasons, 1:16 scale is the premier size for model trams (British for “trolley”) in Great Britain, so I find it necessary to establish its presence to those unfamiliar with the hobby overseas. It’s the scale in which Jimmy Sparkman’s extraordinary models of Philadelphia’s SEPTA transit system are built, but unfortunately, not much else.
I’m suggesting that a couple of those scales are ideal for development (in every sense of the word). I’m thinking, in particular, of one inch and two inch scales. In a later blog in this series, I will explain their role in railway modeling and, in particular, in transit modeling. I will state my case for their use in trolley models in tomorrow’s blog.
This is all leading to my view that we can’t sit still and hope people will become interested in model traction. We need to convince everyone in the hobby that we all need to get the word out. Can you imagine how few folks would be driving automobiles if Henry Ford was content to sit in a garage in Detroit waiting for customers to stumble over his Tin Lizzies? Just remember that Joshua Lionel Cowan publicized his model trains by setting up layouts around Christmas trees in the display windows of Main Street department stores across the country.
We need to do something similar --- and not just an occasional exhibition in, say, a university in suburban Philadelphia, where we preach to the already converted.
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