When I was doing the 7/8ths -scale competition layout, I designed and made a sales kiosk for one side of the scene. After doing the competition, I thought I could try and add a bit more detail, and maybe try and develop it a bit. The loose plan was to do some pics for a possible magazine piece, so I thought I'd knock-up not only a second version of the kiosk in another role (as a station ticket booth) to show the versatility of the basic building, but also build a couple of quick dioramas to shoot some new pics on.
THE STATION TICKET OFFICE
The kit of parts, for the ticket booth version.
It was mostly done with 3mm acrylic (because the intention is this will be going outside in the garden, and needs to be at least shower-proof), with some plasticard detailing.
The completed station version; the major changes were the window, and the canopy with faux-wooden barge boarding.
The interior was similarly cobbled from odds and ends, mainly scrap Playmobil bits.
Like so. I've been putting all sorts of odds and ends on one side for these builds, mainly acquired by typing in "Playmobil Spares/Job Lots" on eBay and buying cheap boxes of tat for low prices.
Having built the kiosks, I decided I'd need a couple of sets to photograph them on. The original intention was to photograph the station building actually on the garden railway, but it wasn't in as finished a state as I needed. Any photography set would be very much an exercise in no-budget upcycling.
Struggling for a fence, I found these on offer.
I was deliberately aiming for the slightly run-down atmosphere of a miniature railway very much on it's last operating season...
The set, waiting for the sun to come out. Some offcuts of wood, hanging basket liner, ancient Triang TT track, bits from the scrapbox, and some odds and ends of walls with embossed card.
As with the competition entry, copious use had to be made of the Dr.Who figures. I like the idea this is one of the terminus stations on the same route that was in the competition layout.
SEASIDE SALES KIOSK
This was the initial design artwork for the seaside sales kiosk, the finished version came out pretty close, only an odd few details changed.
Turning a dolphin into an inflatable toy.
The seaside sales kiosk, with much beach-tat. Note the bits of graffiti on the outside, this needed to look like a slightly-neglected structure that suffered a bit from vandalism out of hours.
The interior view, again, lots of cobbled-together bits.
The kiosk itself is a bit of a mad mix of colours, but then it fits with the jolly seaside theme, and allows me to use up a lot of scraps for the construction.
Having built the station diorama, I realised I couldn't get a decent enough angle on the seaside tat kiosk on the existing layout. I thought I could knock-up something instead with more spare wood, some playsand, and some odds and ends. I figured copying the design sketch, and having a promenade.
Back in 2020 I built a simple diorama to illustrate a take on the Holyhead Breakwater Railway for a magazine article, so I thought I could upcycle it into this shoot.
The set incorporated the promenade, and then everything else was covered with printed flagstones. The railings were more of the design I did for the competition layout, with laser-cut fence posts, with dismantled wire from a broken clothes rack.
The whole scene, the annoying shadows being cast by next-doors tree much in evidence... unfortunately by the time the sun bothered to come out (on the only day I had free to shoot the pictures) there was no choice but to try and incorporate the shadows, as if there were clouds drifting over the sun.
The shadows from that damned tree, and the more restricted width of the set, limited the angles a bit, but in terms of being a properly colourful scene, all jumbled and cluttered with beach tat, it did the trick.
All in all, I was very happy with how this bit of the project turned out, but it wasn't to be the last of Port Eden, which was to rear its head again not long after this shoot wrapped...
No comments:
Post a Comment