Looking at the image above, note how quickly the colors lose saturation with distance. Note the high percentage of subdued colors such as gray, pale beige, and burnt umber. Awareness of this reality can go a long way towards improving the realism of our layouts. Two of the driving elements of visual impact are color […]
Category: Prototype
Upgrading A Coil Car
My latest project was upgrading this Intermountain coil car for the LA layout. The goal of this project, and the point of today’s blog, was to focus on keeping the weathering subtle. Follow along as I walk you through things. The title of today’s blog involves a bit of bait and switch. It’s less about […]
Fruitland Team Track – A Gift to Modelers
The yard job pulls a cut of cars out of the Fruitland Team Track, lays on the horn, and prays it doesn’t spear any motorists as it crosses Leonis Blvd. (LA RailProductions video) As long as I’ve been studying it, I still continue to be amazed at the modeling potential of the Fruitland Avenue Team […]
LA’s Billboard Culture
LA’s billboard culture is long-standing. In the 1950s, you had the iconic “Methyl” ads created by the Foster and Kleiser ad agency. Many of the sign creators went on to become artists in their own right. Billboards. Depending on personal tastes, opinions vary from “hate ‘em”, “tolerate ‘em”, “sorta of like ‘em”, to “love them!”. […]
Spur Ops. July 13
Matt Sturgell and Kelly Regan guide the local off the CSX main onto The Downtown Spur at the start of the op. session. It’s been far too long since I’ve had an op. session on The Downtown Spur. It should come as no surprise that getting off one’s fat ass and actually inviting people over […]