The progress on the station platforms is getting more fun! In this post I get to do the fun part...add the lights! In the above photo you can see how I used copper tape to provide a continuous contact point for the platform lights...this is a far simpler and cleaner method than actually running wire for each light!
With the lights glued together, and the new bases attached, I then drilled holes almost the exact same diameter as the new square light bases. This worked out well since I can use the friction of the holes to hold the lights in positive rather than having to glue them in. This arrangement also helped to make keeping most of the lights in a more consistent vertical positive (one of the banes of light posts is their desire to always lean at different angles!)
Once placed on the layout I feel pretty good with how it turned out! Now, these platforms need lots of details, so again I decided to go with some 'home made' solutions rather than buying large quantities of the commercial versions!
For the signs that you typically see on these platforms, I measured the basic dimensions of the signs on the old Kibri platforms I got from eBay to invent my own. In this case, I glued a strip of flat styrene between two round styrene pipes. I gave these a coat of silver paint, and then made up some signs that look something like the real thing might.
In addition to the signs, I also created by own benches. For the benches I chopped lengths of 90 degree angle styrene for the seating area, and a section of thicker styrene for the bench base. The below photo shows the resutl:
What I can't decide on is what COLOR to make the seats! I originally wanted to go with the dark grey color shown above, but the grey is so dark they just don't look quite right. Below are some other colors I tried. I'm curious, which one do you think looks the best?
Yellow?
Blue?
Dark Grey?
Orange?
Dark Green?
So now that I've got the platform almost done, I can now start to work on walls and edges that will surround the station, and of course, the actual urban surface area!
Please do let me know about your opinion of the bench colors. I'm not sure I have a favorite (I think I gave myself too many choices!).
Those are great platforms. I really like the spare, functional appearance. And, of course, the lighting is excellent. But I expect nothing less from you.
ReplyDeleteFor benches, I think the correct color is somewhat dependent on the era you want to evoke. The dark green would be more appropriate to an earlier time when benches were still made of wood and painted. The lighter yellow, orange or sky-blue colors are more evocative of modern plastic benches where the color is part of the structure, although perhaps the blue is a bit light.
For some reason the dark gray and orange don't really work for me. I think I like yellow best, although a bright, but not too bright, red might also work.
Hi Jerry,
ReplyDeleteI love the look of your platforms, especially the lighting. Superb work! I've been contemplating the addition of catenaries for my layout, but looking at your work, I see that lighting provides a way more dramatic visual effect.
I also vote for yellow benches. It's just a thought, but have you considered using a colour that mimics wooden benches?
Alvin (Trainspotter)
Benches in NYC are still made of wood, but have arms and cross beams - I vote for a worn orange. Btw I enjoyed your video on led lighting so much, I went and ordered some!
ReplyDeleteI vote for orange.
ReplyDeleteThank everyone for the great responses! Actually, I'm surprised that yellow/orange seems to be the leading color! The orange I used in these tests was Reefer Orange.
ReplyDeleteIts funny as well because my original choice was the dark grey, but that seems to be everyone's least favorite!
Hi Alvin! Its hard to believe that is been a YEAR and a HALF since you created your platforms and I finally got around to it now! Thanks for showing me 'how its done'!
Wood is definitely one of the more common type of benches still in use, but I just don't think my smooth, untextured and un-detailed styrene benches could be convincing with a wood color?
I was thinking about your comment regarding wood grain and texture. My vision is so bad now that I have a hard time seeing at that scale. However, I think it might be possible. Wooden benches are usually built with slats with gaps between them. You could consider gluing very skinny styrene plastic strips on to orthogonally placed braces. The trick would be to make the gaps consistent. I know evergreen makes 0.2mm thin plastic strips. You could use those to ensure the gaps are consistent. But you'd have to prepare yourself for a world of hurt because of the minute detail. But if you glued long strips together and gapped them accordingly, you could cut them into small sections. Each section would be a bench! Just like a sushi chef would do when creating sushi rolls only you'd be segmenting benches.
ReplyDeleteI would have to say Orange, then Yellow, followed by blue. Grey is the anti of warm, and the little plastic people may get depressed. The station looks looks fantastic, cant wait to see it finished.
ReplyDeleteFrom somebody who hopes to start a layout sometime soon (3 years now in the starting), size and space are a problem, the size is too big for the space available. Which ebay supplier did you get the lights from?
Bruce (Australia)
@ Alvin/Train Spotter - Its funny, as a side project this weekend I finally started to put together the wooden benches and picnic tables kit from Faller...and I can honestly say I've had my fill of 2mm planks for a while!
ReplyDelete@ Bruce
Hi Bruce! The LED/lightposts are from Everestmodel. The ones I used for these lights are 45mm and I felt they were a bit too short for standard lamps. Conveniently they worked out great for the platform lights! I have some 5cm on order now which may make more appropriate street lights.
Here's a link to Everestmodel's eBay profile page:
http://myworld.ebay.com/everestmodel/&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2754
For plastic benches, definitely the blue! And as gross as it sounds, weathered a bit gray in the ass grooves.
ReplyDeleteWow, your platforms are really looking good ! The lighting and everything looks amazing ! I can't wait to see them full of little plastic people !
ReplyDeleteAs for the benches, I think yellow would be the best looking color, but I think a simple color like black or white would look cool to. I think a dark blue might work as well. Hey, maybe you could make a multicolor bench too !
I can't wait to see the finished terminal.
Mark F.