Yesterday I was walking home from the train station, through the rain, and before I realized, I was thinking of how great a mrr layout with wind and rain would look. After seeing quite a few layouts, either at shows or online, it seems to me that most of the time layouts are quite dry and sunny, but rainy days are quite common in many places, so a layout featuring wet weather would be quite realistic, don't you think?
On the modeling side the atmosphere could be set by suitable use of lighting and a background - that way any layout could probably be converted at least a little. Use of sound might work to give the illusion of wind and rain (real wind and water might not be a good idea most of the time) and finally modeling puddles and wet ground might add to the effect.
But well - has anyone given any of these things a try, is anyone aware of layouts with a rainy theme or has any of you given this a thought? I will probably not bring any of this in practice anytime soon, but for some long-term project, who knows.
norm
I have been itching to model a scene just after a rain storm. The puddles and wet ground would be interesting. And details like wet pavement that is darker with spots that are drying that are lighter, puddles, runoff, rivers and streams with rushing muddy water, wet roofs and flowing gutters would all be neat. I wanted to try it, mainly, because no one else has.
The only one I recall is a Rand Hood article from Model Railroader, circa about 1992. I have thought about making a few puddles, but more of a "rained yesterday" rather than a "just rained" look.
I would imagine dull coat would be a no-no for a rainy day scene.
Charlie
The easy solution would be to apply a thick layer of glossy varnish to everything...but the risk of messing up the whole scene would be a bit great. Colour variations with soil (dry spots under trees and overhanging structures might add to the effect.)
But so there are no pictures of rainy layouts then?
I've attempted snow scenes before, but never rain...
One thing to consider, perhaps more so that the "shinyness" would be the fact that wet things appear darker than dry things... i.e. dirt, rocks, wood, pavement, etc...perhaps a thin black wash applied to the "wet" areas, followed by a thin coat of gloss medium...???
David Stewart's O scale Appalachian and Ohio, featured in MR, had a "rain room" segment of the layout that looked wet and dark, and I think may have included thunderstorm sounds and lightning effects. Some scenes like this one were isolated from the rest of his layout and were reached by short "people tunnels" so the rain scene was an independent diorama. I'd think visually separating the rest of the layout from the rain scene would be the way to go to make it look plausible. Interesting idea.
Ralph
I model So Cal where the average rainfall is less than 12 inches lately. Rainy days are so scarce, that catching one to model would be difficult. About the only day out here that is consistently rainy is what ever day NASCAR schedules the spring race at Auto club speedway in Fontana!
I think I'll stay with, "It rained the day before yesterday, you should have seen how deep the water in the gutters was!" and model only large bodies of water.
If you're looking for an expert on building a layout that gets rained on, try most any G scaler.
As my layout is set in Pittsburgh, it would only be appropriate to have a rainy layout. Right now I'm tangling with picking colors for a fittingly dreary backdrop.
I've seen a layout that sort of went for this. it was based on some ATSF line (i'm not to good with western roads), but bascially, the back drop was of an angry thunder cloud in the distance, and lightning strikes would flash down occaisionally. it was really impressive, the lightning looked real when it flashed. I can't seem to find it, but its on you tube somewhere. I've seen some other attempts at storms, including a module with a black fascia over hang, using cotton to make clouds and putting a strobe feature in, followed by the thunder clap. there were no streaks of lightning, but it didn't look bad.
In the June 2010 issue of RMC, there's a article featuring Wayne Sittner's very nicely-done anthracite region layout. One of the photos shows a very convincing puddle in a roadway. While that sounds kinda lame, and isn't meant to represent a scene right after a rainstorm, it's very well modelled. The article and accompanying photos are, in my opinion, worth the cover price.
Wayne
nachoman Wrote:The only one I recall is a Rand Hood article from Model Railroader, circa about 1992. I have thought about making a few puddles, but more of a "rained yesterday" rather than a "just rained" look.
That article is also in Kalmbach's book "The New Scenery Tips and Techniques" published in 2002.
Sumpter250 Wrote:I think I'll stay with, "It rained the day before yesterday, you should have seen how deep the water in the gutters was!" ...
This approach was mentioned in the last Walthers e-update. They included modelling evidence in your creeks and ponds in the form of sticks and other debris at the high water mark, along with muddy, churning water, and so on.
They don't seem to reproduce the newsletter on their web site, but you can sign up for it here:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.walthers.com/exec/page/mailing">http://www.walthers.com/exec/page/mailing</a><!-- m -->
If you don't get there in time, send me a PM and I'll forward the email.
Andrew
MasonJar Wrote:Sumpter250 Wrote:I think I'll stay with, "It rained the day before yesterday, you should have seen how deep the water in the gutters was!" ...
This approach was mentioned in the last Walthers e-update. They included modelling evidence in your creeks and ponds in the form of sticks and other debris at the high water mark, along with muddy, churning water, and so on.
They don't seem to reproduce the newsletter on their web site, but you can sign up for it here:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.walthers.com/exec/page/mailing">http://www.walthers.com/exec/page/mailing</a><!-- m -->
If you don't get there in time, send me a PM and I'll forward the email.
Andrew
Yeah, i was about to post that as well. Ironic walthers sent an email on the subject as we were talking about it