I’ve proposed to make 12 small dioramas for the Sutro Tunnel museum in Nevada, by 2030, and to make the first this year. The project was accepted a few months ago, and I need to get cracking. At least, I need to keep moving the ball forward.
All are 1:20 scale, with modules being about 18"w x 12"h x 9"d, arranged in cabinets. Each scene will emphasize different rolling stock & engines, with mules being the predominant “engine.”
The first diorama will be chronologically the first, showing basic tech in 1870 for driving the header tunnel. The figures here are just placeholders.
We’ve already discussed the rock tecture in this thread.
Next, we went over figures for this in the AI thread.
The last big hurdle for me was the ore cars, which were the topic here.
Today I prepped the figures for painting (not all will be used in this diorama), mainly cleaned the prints, drilled their legs and epoxied mounting rods in.
Next steps include:
Painting the figures (I suck at painting)
Making the scene (surface creation, paint, surface textures)
Scenic structures (track, beams, pipe)
Lighting (candles and general illumination)
Figure mounting and various props / detailing
Text boxes & final packaging
I guess I’m posting this to give myself a kick in the ass…
The reason I’ve been delayed on progress here is that I’ve also signed up for a series of monographs on this topic (Sutro Tunnel Railway), and am trying to get the first two publishable by the end of September… Hmmm, we’ll see.
Cliff