Modeller on the roof
BRIAN ROLLEY needed a backscene that would withstand close scrutiny, and a flat image just wouldn’t be convincing enough. So he built a three‑dimensional model instead. Here’s how he did it.
Brian Rolley needed a backscene that would withstand close scrutiny, and a flat image wouldn’t be good enough...
Despite advancements in photographic backscenes, I still feel that they are somewhat lacking when viewed extremely close up. And, since my layout ‘Rosamund Street Sidings’ (MR233) is a mere 5ft 8in by 17in, viewers are forced into close proximity with the backscene. I soon came to the conclusion that a flat backscene was out of the question and that low relief buildings might be the way to go. But how? Something I was keen to avoid was a retaining wall and a row of terraced houses, simply because I’ve seen it done so many times before. My first attempt was a mock‑up of a large corrugated building ‑ with the roof ridge parallel to the back of the layout. However, this resulted in a single flat wall, which I felt looked too bland. I then tried the same building with a Northlight style roof (panes of glass positioned along a rooftop to allow natural light to pass through). Again, I wasn’t impressed. Back to the drawing board…
FACTORY FIT
The factory building that now forms the backdrop was inspired by Don Townsley drawings and a plan which I found in a mid‑1960s edition of Railway Modeller. It was the variety of both building lines and roof angles, paired with various lean‑to buildings, that appealed to me. I photocopied the source material and enlarged it to 4mm scale. Many years ago, I trained in a drawing office, so I used some of those skills to calculate various angles and edges (although a good eye will suffice). Walls and roofing were cut from mounting board, providing both the structure and template for the embossed plastic card brick and roof tiles that would be implemented later. With the card frame complete, I realised that the height of the factory building was still too low. My solution was to place the buildings atop Wills brick retaining arches ‑ cut down in height by about 10mm. I concealed the joint between the retaining walls and factory buildings with a large 3ft‑scale diameter pipe, supported by brackets.