Page 44 - 39. MRH13-05-May2013

Getting Real Column - 6
9: So what have
we here? This is
the result of my
friend Jim Six using
Photoshop to "de-
parallax" the photo
and to remove all
traces of the antiques
sign. Another friend,
Neil Schofield, used
Autocad to help me
print the image to
what we believed was
HO scale. The image
came out so well
that I began to think
that doing the build-
ing with photo sides
would be the best way
to model it.
Unfortunately, the
images of the side of
the elevator were too
skewed to be useful,
and I began to con-
sider alternatives. Eventually I decided that a combina-
tion of standard modeling materials and parts of the
scaled image could be combined for a convincing look.
A quick-and-dirty mock-up was made out of cheap
foam core painted silver and the photo above stuck to
the front of it. That mock-up was kicked around and
moved for years until actual construction of the town
of Meshoppen was started.
9
10: In this picture, the mock-up is being used to help
visualize the eventual proportions of the town itself.
10
11: Here we see that there is literally nothing behind
the front of the mock-up! Note the “input-output”
building already constructed for me by modeler Rich
Cobb. Later you’ll see how this was blended properly
into the scene.
11
index contents
MRH-May 2013