I have been trying to come up with a plan for a 2'x4' photo diorama to get me started in model railroading, but I've ran into a problem. I can't plan one because I'm trying to put TOO MUCH stuff on it, so what are Trainboard's suggestions for making a diorama that would be a good start for a beginner but not too advanced for someone with years experianced model railroader.
Keep it simple with some green ground cover and a few trees with the track neatly placed with some ballast. Track would be laid in the middle of the scene at a slight angle; not straight
A single short siding. Perhaps a small number of buildings in a group to depict a small business like a lumber yard or feed mill. A single road running along the length of the diorama or just from one edge up to the buildings. I have two dioramas. One that I can place buildings on and another that is just track, trees and ground cover. It is really small modules that move around on a small table top so I can alternate strait track, curve track, a clump of trees and a movable skyboard to always place perpendicular to the camera angle. I shuffle them around for variety.
Start simple. You can always go back and add more at any time later. As already suggested, make the track diagonal.
Oh, I forgot. I also have a short bridge module that I use on my variable diorama. I also have an assortment of telegraph poles that I stick about. This shows one setup where I even had some water under the bridge. I block things up to get the right levels on each unit. I then use Photoshop to crop out all the peripherals and blend the modules together.
My diorama was about 3ft long, 18 ins wide, twin tracks on a slight diagonal, with drainage ditches, a short low cutting, telephone poles and wires, and a dirt road with a grade crossing. Kept me going for ages. Have fun! Mike
Gee, 2 x 4' seems huge for a diorama, at least in N scale. I built one on a 10 inch by 22 inch piece of board. Ran a piece of track across it that could like either a spur or a terminal district switching branch... Stuck it on something to allow it a bit above zero ground level, don't remember whether it was foam roadbed or a piece of lath wood.... Some real thun foam packing material I could easily carve down to make a ditch. Built up a street crossing with cardboard. Finished out with some surplus plastic buildings I had picked from a used stuff table for a buck apiece. Closeup with a printed background. Scene posed at the crossing as if a passenger train has just passed. Actually only bhad one rr car on the diorama... I think of the diorama as like a movie set. False fronts. Tracks don't really need to run anywhere or connct to anything. But different angles on the diorama can represent different scenes.
Some more stuff on the above diorama... I cut the tower off a Heljan "cold storage" so it wouldn't look so much like the standard kit. Opened the doors. Put a tiny bit of stuff inside to suggest something there. Generic junk and weeds to look like "something," not anything particular... A typical equipment shot using the dioramas. These are all Santa Fe reefers...but all different.
A diorama about 10inch by 14 so I could carry it to school to nshow in class for a lesson on transcontinental railroad.
