A dark underpass
September 14th, 2009 Posted in Construction
One of the things I love about urban railways are the cavernous spaces beneath bridges. Is there anything better than walking under one of these on a cold rainy day and hearing the dripping water and low rumble as a train passes overhead? I really wanted my underpass to capture this atmosphere (minus the slightly damp smell). Certainly no place send your nana, but back in the 1970’s she probably would have got to the other end just fine…
The first element that needed to be built was the road and pavements that run under the bridge. I simply mounted the double yellow lines and bus stop sections from my Road and Pavement kit on to some 1mm card. I did experiment with a slight amount of camber to the road, but to be honest it never seems to look quite right in 1:76 scale. The pavement was a fairly straightforward build, also using 1mm card. It’s certainly worth the effort to carefully score in between the pavement slabs with a scalpel and give it a light dusting of dark brown weathering powder, it really brings the surface to life.
2mm card and my TX02 Brown Brick sheet and matching arches were used to create the side walls. Disused and bricked up arched doorways, often long abandoned subways to station platforms above, seem to be a fairly common feature under bridges in the London area and they certainly add a bit more interest to the scene. Streaking and lime scale are always very evident under bridges and can be easily added by lightly working black and white coloured pencils over the surface of the print in a downward motion. These streaks were then toned back using Tamiya Weathering Master pack B.
The final addition prior to installation were working lights. I removed the posts from a fairly cheap set of US ‘Highway lights’ (Model Power No.497), hit the light surrounds with a coat of grey primer and then just drilled a couple of holes over the doors and held them in place with a couple of dabs of CA. Before the glue dried I also adjusted the lights so that the fairly over scale bulbs weren’t directly visible at a normal viewing angle.
Once the lights were in place I used Evergreen .5mm (No. 218) and 1.6 mm rod (No. 222) and 2×4mm strip (No.167) to create the electrical conduit, junction points and power boxes. Having been assembled separately on a flat surface, I gave them a coat of grey primer and carefully glued them into position. The very fine bolts and padlocks on the doors are from Brassmasters (Pack K).
19 Responses to “A dark underpass”
By Mario on Sep 18, 2009
Did you scratch build the bridge?
By John Wiffen on Sep 19, 2009
The plate girder bridge is a cut down plastic one, I think made by Atlas.
By JOHN on Sep 23, 2009
The bridge would make a great Scalescenes model.
By Dave on Sep 28, 2009
Truly inspiring! I appreciate all your efforts, ideas, and expertise. My layout will only improve from your guidance. I eagerly await the low relief high street and office block. I’m still in the planning stage, but you have everything I need to make my layout come to life.
By John Wiffen on Sep 29, 2009
Many thanks Dave
By gtc on Oct 2, 2009
I’d like to echo Dave’s comments. I’m also in the planning stages and I’ve found lots of valuable information here for future reference.
By Cory on Oct 15, 2009
Truly remarkable. Beautiful work. You have inspired me to try an NTRAKS module for the local club. I love card modelling.
By David M on Oct 19, 2009
Greetings from a fellow illustrator and Graphic-designer! I’m very impressed with what you are doing with photographic elements and textures. What kind of printer are you using, and are you worried that that the prints might fade or change colour with time?
By John Wiffen on Oct 19, 2009
Many thanks David, all of my kits are output on a colour laser printer (Epson AcuLaser C1100). A few light coats of artists’ spray matt varnish dramatically reduces fading regardless of which printer you use. This is usually available from most art supply shops (as I’m sure you are aware). There are numerous brands of Artist’s matt spray on the market, basically any that are labeled as suitable for fixing charcoal or pastels etc would be perfect. If you are in any doubt, test the spray on a print scrap first to ensure that it doesn’t adversely react with the print surface (I have heard from other modellers that Windsor and Newton spray can cause problems with inkjet prints).
By Sean on Dec 7, 2009
The dark underpass looks really great. At the top of wall there’s a grey strip (just above the lights), how did you create this? Is it part of one of your brick sheets? Hope that made some kind of sense!
By John Wiffen on Dec 7, 2009
Thanks Sean, the grey strip is cut from the TX14 Concrete wall texture sheet from my Scratchbuilder’s yard.
By Rog Merry on Dec 19, 2009
Have just looked at the ‘dark underpass’ – wonderfully grotty and inspirational! So many layouts which have obviously taken ages to make still look unrealistically neat and tidy – not an accusation you could make here! I’ve been building a large loft layout for many years, and have aimed for this sort of effect with Carr’s powders, dry brushing etc, with only partial success. I’ve just bought my first Scalescenes kit and wish they’d been around when I was starting up. Too late to start all over again….
By John Wiffen on Dec 19, 2009
Many thanks Roger
By warren on Dec 31, 2009
fantastic layout, very inspiring.
By Steve Sandiford on Feb 15, 2010
I, too, am busy planning a layout using scalescenes buildings and materials, and the work you are displaying here is inspirational. My question is: when are you going to write a guide/book to structural modelling using a PC? Don’t say that the basics are covered elsewhere (I hate it when modellers say things like “following Pendon techniques” or “in the usual manner” – please accept that your modelling is superb, and that lesser mortals want to know, blow by blow, weathering-powder-brush by weather-powder-brush, exactly how you achieve such excellent results! You already have material for a “new” reference book for the computer era – include a few tutorials on how to go about adapting your kits using suitable software and you’d have a best-seller! (Incidentally, looking at Bolton (Lancashire) station surroundings, I can see a modern warehouse structure (ex FOCUS), retaining walls, overbridges, a “low relief” modern office block behind the station and some “low relief” high rise flats together with a (derelict) church overlooking the station! Roll on your forthcoming kits!!)
By John Wiffen on Feb 16, 2010
Thanks for your comments Steve, I am planning to greatly expand the ‘Construction tips’ section of Scalescenes.com in the near future to include more advanced techniques in a step by step format. Maybe even an eBook?
Cheers
John
By JJB on Feb 22, 2010
Absolutely astonishing! I just found your site and scalescenes.com today and I could not believe the depth and realism of the structures. I was in London a few years ago and the bridge scene you posted brought me back to a cold, damp, inspiring place that I hope to return to someday soon. I model the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific in n scale and will be visiting scalescenes.com frequently. Keep up the great work!
JJB
By Harold Hopkinson on Mar 30, 2010
I was wondering if you have any plans to produce backscenes as you seem to have all the tools at your disposal.So it would be a welcome addition to your range.
By John Wiffen on Mar 30, 2010
I have a couple of free sky backdrops that you can download from here. I’m also planning some low relief terraced house backs for later in the year.