Building the Pinnacle Creek Mining & Timber Co. RR


HOexplorer said:
One of the great things about art, politics, horse racing, etc. is that very few of us have the same opinions our next door neighbors have. That is was makes the world go round.

Lighting on this desert layout is a nightmare. The overall color, red/orange, is very difficult to photograph. Remember I have a skylight bubble in the ceiling and a desk lamp for my basic lighting. Using the desk lamp on this particular scenery gives a brighter glow in the foreground which is not so obvious in my other layouts. It's there, just not so bold. My photography style at the moment and especially this layout is basically early morning sunrises or sunsets. In real life the 'look' is better than in photos. So we think positively and realize we are all correct. Jim;)
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Definitely. I'd probably go with some sort of indirect lighting and then use less in the way of direct lighting if I wanted to maximize the light quality.

Personally, I think it looks great as is, even if a tad oversaturated.
 
Frank, Trust me, to get lighting I've done everything and bit more probably. I'm just too lazy to go purchase other types of lights so my desk lamp does most of it. I know the tricks. Are you a photographer? Sounds like you know your stuff. While I try to give all the knowledge I have to everyone I certainly don't know everything. We have fellows here who give advice all the time. You are always welcome to help out as you see fit. Jim :)
 
HOexplorer said:
Frank, Trust me, to get lighting I've done everything and bit more probably. I'm just too lazy to go purchase other types of lights so my desk lamp does most of it. I know the tricks. Are you a photographer? Sounds like you know your stuff. While I try to give all the knowledge I have to everyone I certainly don't know everything. We have fellows here who give advice all the time. You are always welcome to help out as you see fit. Jim :)
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I'm on a bit of a hiatus from that right now, so now I'm buying train stuff because I've become rather accustomed to having no money.

One thing to consider would be using Phillips Hue to light the area. When I get my layout far enough along, that's what I'm planning to use to light the whole room. They're great because they allow you to choose many different colors and they're relatively high efficiency. The really, really, cool thing about them is that you can use them to give the layout a sense of time within the day. Even without moving them, you can give them a bluer or purpler color for night and a yellower/whiter color during the day, which makes for a layout that is even more dynamic than you would be able to reasonably get with conventional lighting. For those that are really, ridiculously obsessive, you can move them around to simulate the sun angle at different parts of the day.

They're a tad pricy, but I've found them to be worth the money just for ordinary life. I can't wait to see how they work in practice on a train layout.

But, yeah, lighting itself can be quite tricky. In this case, you'd probably be better off solving this by leaving the lighting alone and just desaturating the photo a bit. That way, the difference in hue is going to be a lot less obvious and you should be able to make use of that color gradient to give it that sense of space.

In case it's not obvious, the train layout looks awesome, hence the nitpicking about the photo.
 
Frank, I spent a half hour going through Hue. Not being the most technical guy around or able to afford what I studied and would want, plus my wife says no. To bad I couldn't find a competitor for half price. I'm at the end of my modeling career. Being at the start would be more fun and I would have this product for sure. Thanks, Jim:eek:
 
Upon further looking I've discovered MagicLight. It is one wifi multi-colored bulb with a free app for dimming etc. Below $40. Xenon, offers a bulb for $20. I only need one bulb so I may give this a try. Jim:)
 
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HOexplorer said:
Upon further looking I've discovered MagicLight Pro. It is one wifi multi-colored bulb with a free app for dimming etc. Below $40. Xenon, offers a bulb for $20. I only need one bulb so I may give this a try. Jim:)
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Ah, let me know how those turn out. I already have my bulbs because they help me manage my energy levels through the day, but they are rather expensive. I'll be curious to hear how it turns out. Phillips does have cheaper ones, but they don't change color, which kind of defeats the purpose of it. But, if these cheaper ones work well for the layout, then it might be worth considering for the train room.

I'm sure in the future, they'll be much cheaper, but this is still new technology. It should also simplify the process of lighting the train board to handle the colors coming in from any exterior light quite well.
 
Sorry guys, I'm still suffering big time from this throat cold thing I've got. Slept 19 hours is the last 24. Can't seem to shake it. Bummer. Jim:(
 
I've been really sick for two week now. My wife came down with it on last Wed. Plus she has an ear ache! Back to bed. Jim:(
 
Feel better Jim.. both my parents got it, then gave it to me. So i had to give it back to them. So Its going around. Get better
 
Still down. Bronchitis. Jim

16-12-10_Vibrant_zpsxok8ne6q.jpg
 
Take it very easy Jim, lots of fluids, including some to replace electrolytes. You don't want it to become Pneumonia.
 
Someone once said that time and tide waits for no one. Lately that seems pretty true around my house. I'm afraid that the time has come to give up layout building. While I'm just 72, I'm an old 72, sort of 82. Years of sports, mountaineering, 55000 ocean miles of sailing, and a bad back since 1977 have really done me in. I still have time, but I'm constantly bucking the tide and losing to it as we all will.

So what is left here? Not much as far as the current Red Oasis layout. I took my video of the layout yesterday and it is on YouTube.
A few more photos and I'm done. I don't expect this layout to last two more weeks. I will not give up on this thread. I'm thinking about something I haven't covered and will probably wrap this thread up with a good segment on dioramas. I guess what I'm really trying to say is that it really feels like time to get my affairs in order. Hope you all can and will stick around. Thanks, Jim:(
 
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Sorry to hear that Jim. We'll stick around and continue to learn from you. Hopefully you can come up with a new way to continue with us that will be conducive to where you are now mentally and physically.
 
Jim-

Thanks so much for all you've given us, all the demo's, inspirations, explanations, encouragement, and the photo games. A dam nice thread to relax and smile with.

I think too many of us know where you're coming from. I had a turnout machine fail recently in the back part of the layout. Fifteen years ago I'd a popped under the layout and had it replaced in a couple hours. Now? I dont really know. There are good days and not so good. But, the good days are really appreciated, eh?

So, I have a request. You can certainly say no. I really like the photo in post #4111 (top of page 412). Can you shoot a version in black and white? With the engine, tender, and boxcar forward about 2 inches so the space between the tender and box car fall on the center of the bridge giving us a full on view of the ravine.

I wish I knew about one of the graphics editing programs, so I could do the black & white thing myself, but it's not something in my wheelhouse yet. I'm a big fan of black & white photos in most scenes.

Anyway, it's been great following your insanity on over 414 pages (WOW!!!), thank you, and I hope there's lots more to come.

Thanks buddy,

Bill
 
We'll keep on with you as long as you feel able Jim, look forward to your "take" on dioramas. This is definitely a thread for posterity.
 
Thank you guys. You know I appreciate the kind words.

Bill, Certainly I will do a black and white for you. It is 2 PM now here and I just woke up if that tells us anything. Anyway, I will get to it. I can post it here or you can send me you email address in a PM.

Toot, Wouldn't know what to do without you? As for posterity, naturally that is out of my control I believe. I've never sought glory or rewards or I could have done things differently. I, like all who post on these sites, do so at the whim of the site owners. I know nothing about this site. I know I got 'pinned' and that is good and all I would expect. Although, this threads seems to have the most hits in all of model railroading anywhere, I have no clue as to the future of it. Not up to me essentially.


I seem to have difficulty transporting a YouTube link of my video. Let's try it again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kWaQBDUehk


No LUCK again. Could someone else go to YouTube and look up Red Oasis 001 and see if you can get the link here? Thanks, Jim
 
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