Mosslanda: Urban decline…
No layout based upon the modern railway should be without the grit that makes these locations real…
Rather than caricature graffiti I’ve tried to represent this in a respectful, meaningful way. I’ve stood on this platform and seen the evidence of rough sleeping. No matter an individuals life choices, no one should have to call a cold platform a home for the night. A stack of cardboard boxes under the canopy is a silent and under sensational nod to this sad reflection of the times. The track and platform are scattered with non-descript litter, lacking colour but shape and form matter more in this small scale.
Until next time, more soon…
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I would:
ReplyDelete1) Build up the ground cover slightly to eliminate the shadow under the box, front left
2) Add a few dashes with a felt tip pen to some of the litter
3) Give some of the track a dark brown wash
4) Maybe add a few weeds
5) Dust the buildings with some pigments to break up the monotones
This modeller - Nouaillier - has had his work shown in an art gallery.
PS Some of the captions in your books are difficult to read because the writing is so small.
Sorry to hear you're struggling with captions - which book are you talking about? The illustrations are also here on the blog, and if you search for them you should be able to enlarge them to be able to read more easily. In the second print run of the first book we've also enlarged the printed captions - and I carried that feedback through to the second book where these were larger to start with.
DeleteYou mention some ideas for 'improvement' - thank you. You won't mind if I don't address them - for me the piece is how I want it. More colour will not help the story, if anything will detract from it.
The message in the book isn't so much the plans, rather the manifesto at the front. Nouaillier is an incredibly talented model maker, and artist. I am not surprised he has had work exhibited. He only seems to make compact structures, I follow his blog and his work in CM. Has he done anything larger? I'd love to see more of a story told in a composition piece.
In reverse order:
ReplyDeleteYes. See French magazine RMF No. 422 Avril 2000, 427 Octobre 2000, 430 Janvier 2001. It is in French and I am not fluent in that language so I cannot go into details. However, this particular diorama is 1200mm x 500mm, so it is similar to yours. I would be surprised if there are not others but I only happened on this one by accident.
I deliberately did NOT use any loaded words like "improvement". By colourising some of the rubbish and renaming the layout "Trash" you could allow observant viewers to draw comparisons, viz. the way homeless people are treated as trash. Personally I think that would be a very powerful message, far more so than 99% of layouts, but yes, I agree opinions differ. (Mosslanda means nothing to me. Scandinavian perhaps?...)
As you have taken petty umbrage with my comment as to what I would do differently, you "won't mind" if I don't spend my time re-reading both your books to help you out. However, one example which does spring to mind is the tilde symbol followed by "1m". Totally unexpected and mixing units, IIRC.
I appreciate that your pictures are larger on your website, but is this fact noted in the books? And the main message may be contained at the front rather than in any particular plan, but it would help if I could follow the operating sequences for those plans I do like, for example. I work on the assumption that captions are intended to add something, else they would not be present, but then I am autistic and so a bit literal.
I have noticed that you did not reply to my earlier comments, and given this reply rest assured I won't be making any more! I was interested in your (paid for) views on my layout plans, but that won't happen either now.
Sorry you felt I was taking umbridge, certainly not, just blunt and almost certainly Asperger’s traits myself.
DeleteOh and I usually reply to most comments on the blog, sorry if I’ve missed any previously.
DeleteFinally, Mosslanda is the name of the shelf from IKEA the project sits upon and has titled all posts in this series.
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