Category: Realism

Color Saturation & Hue

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 […]

The Importance of Neatness

Master modeler SebSG’s Smallwood County layout is among the best of the best. One of his hallmark skills is clean, tight, and neat workmanship. It makes an enormous contribution to the visual impact of his scenes. You can’t achieve exceptional modeling results without being crystal clear on the elements that drive those results. At the […]

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 […]

Weathering – The Big Picture

Weathering this Genesis GP-50 was a two-weekend, twelve-round cage match, complete with dodging a few near disasters. A masterfully weathered model can be a visual game-changer for any scene. However, anybody who’s delved into it can attest to the fact that it can be a very humbling experience, no matter how long you’ve been at […]