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Make It Real, My Fantasy!
I don't think that anyone can ever make a model look 100% real. There is a modeling philosophy about making every detail as close to the prototype as possible. It is called Proto HO. Tony Koester, a columnist for Model Railroader Magazine, often writes about it. While he doesn't do it to the extent of true proto HO modelers, he does lean heavily toward it, especially in the operation of his railroad and trying to model exact industries and buildings.I like the idea of things looking real but there is a certain level of detail which people notice and a level that goes too far that nobody really cares about. Some people obsess over a rivet being a few inches out of place or other micro details like that. I have learned from working in Hollywood that imagination is a powerful thing. If you give people scenes which seem familiar, average, and stereotypical, their imagination fills in the missing details. There is a Hollywood term known as suspension of disbelief. When the viewer gets caught up in the scene and feels like they are there. Then, if something totally fake happens, the viewer is shocked back to reality and says, "Fake!"
On a model railroad just one fake looking item could ruin the whole scene. That's where a certain standard of detail must be set. For me, I require vehicles to be HO scale (no oversized Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars) Wheels should also look real if possible and have mirrors, mud flaps, windshields, interiors and drivers, or at least an owner nearby. You don't want an abandoned car holding up traffic in the middle of the road.
I think with roads you need four things:
Proper street color is important: Only fresh black top is black. The sun bleaches it lighter and lighter every day. Some roads, like freeways, are made of cement and that is a very light gray color. Legal color lines and other road markings make it more real. Don't forget cracks and potholes, man hole covers, dips and all of the other road obstacles you regularly encounter.
Scale width: 10-12' wide lanes, and don't forget some space for shoulders or parking. Also curbs, sidewalks and storm drains help.
Realistic signs: avoid the fake looking toy stop signs. Signs and street lights and other type objects should look real. There are too many toy stop signs that scream out "FAKE!" instead of "STOP!"Building placement is important. Before I start adding structures to the layout I like to have everything be open and undeveloped. Then, like a building contractor, I develop one or two lots at a time. When a new business or residence is planned, it is built to fit the lot. That way they get crammed together or spaced out depending on the density of the area. Many of my buildings are altered, kit bashed, or made from scraps or from scratch.
Make sure you paint your buildings and don't forget to weather them to help show their age and level of maintenance. Also show the level of maintenance on the lot. Do the have a gardener or do they let the weeds grow. Trees, bushes, grass and weeds are important. Woodland Scenic makes all of the best vegetation.
Now here is where we get to the most important part, the people. They should not stand on those big plastic bases. Instead cut them off below the feet and glue them in place with white glue or glue them onto stands made from the thinest piece of clear plastic you can find. Scraps from packaging works.
What are the people doing? Make them tell a story. What are they doing and why? I make my urban areas crowded with people while the suburbs have less and out in the sticks there's hardly anyone. I think of them as little actors who are all playing a part in the show. Hollywood stereotypes everything so that the viewer can easily identify the characters. Take these actors and put them in their places. Give them jobs to do. When they ask you, "What's my motivation?' you have to tell them. "You are operating that crane, unloading those trailers, now get to work or your fired!" Other actors have their own things to do. If you're a rollerblader, then rollerblade, if you're a bar tender, tend the bar, if you're the drunk lying in the gutter, start puking. Try to place people into believable scenes doing typical activities. The sports pub scene had to have bathrooms because peeing is a major part of going to a bar. You drink, you pee. Another example is a highway patrol. They pull people over and give them tickets. So make that Smokey does his job. No slacking.I could write you a whole book on scenery but someone already did. "How to
Build Realistic Model Railroad Scenery, 2nd Edition" By Dave Frary. Dave is the expert and the book is loaded with good tips. There are also good articles in model railroad magazines. I also suggest that you check out, "How To Build Model Railroad Benchwork - by Linn Westcott" These books are both very good to a point, then you have take what you learned from them and experiment to find out what works best for you.Every time you build something, you will learn a little bit more and improve with practice. The newest areas of any layout are always the best because you hone your skills as you get more experience. So what do you do? You go back and remodel the older parts and improve them.
A model railroad is never really finished. It is a life long process of planning, building, upgrading, and rebuilding and improving. The Lone Wolf and Santa Fe started out as an Lionel 0-27 train set with one spur and was dismantled and rebuilt on the carpet daily even when it grew into a monster which ran down the hallway and into each room of the house.
At the end of junior high school the railroad shrank down to HO scale and replaced a slot car track on an 4x8 sheet of plywood. The basis of the new, scale railroad was two Tyco train sets. One was a freight train with a Santa Fe F7 in the War Bonnet livery. lol. The other was a Amtrak passenger train with a F7 and 3 lighted passenger cars.
By the next Christmas, the railroad expanded to fill most of the garage. The rolling stock was rolling in, in the form of several new freight cars and a shiny new Atlas GP40 to pull them all. Over the next several years the railroad was completely changed until every single piece had been rebuilt. There have been two major redesigns of the track plan to improve operation and scenic changes which have relocated whole towns. About the only area which hasn't moved is Wolf Mountain which remains in the same spot but has gained elevation when the layout was raised up two and a half feet, and the new scenery has just recently been finished to some degree.
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Copyright 2003 Updated 5/26/2020
Sunset West Productions
