Parking lot with some landscaping

[Steve H]

Hi all,

I have been wanting to build a “setting” for photographing my completed builds. The idea here that it is the corner of a parking lot, with the surrounding area being landscaped. I did a quick WIP on this if you are interested in more details. This is something I have not tried before, but it was fun combining my career in civil construction/road building, my love of gardening and landscaping, and the passion I have for this awesome hobby of ours. 

Yes, I did try to simulate oil stains in the appropriate places. I might add more to that, but don’t want to overdo it.

Couldn’t resist “parking” a few of my favourites to see how things look… And Jim, if you stop by for a look there’s some “shiny”!! 

Overall I’m quite pleased with the final look. The scale look of the asphalt is pretty close by my eye. I will definitely play around with where I set the base to try and get a better flow in the background. Eventually I would like a photographed backdrop, in the meantime this is much better than nothing. Thanks a lot for having a look. Hope yo like it, and always, all comments welcome.

Cheers, Steve

[Misha]

Hi Steve, somehow I missed your great WIP thread with all the steps outlined so well on constructing your dio base. The result is a perfect setting for photographing a scene with multiple vehicles. I’m planning to build a similar base to enhance the realism rather than shooting against the typical rolled white background. 
 

An important skill in modelling is to develop your eye to see in scale that you have illustrated in finding common objects, such as the garlic press, to represent an item in scale. Working as a theatre designer, which involves building a proposed design in 1/48 scale, It seems I’m always on the lookout for items to collect in both scales. Congrats on your recent work!

Cheers Misha

[crazyjim]

It's AWESOME!!!  The SHINY ??? builds work very well in the scene.

[Steve H]

59 minutes ago, Misha said:

Hi Steve, somehow I missed your great WIP thread with all the steps outlined so well on constructing your dio base. The result is a perfect setting for photographing a scene with multiple vehicles. I’m planning to build a similar base to enhance the realism rather than shooting against the typical rolled white background. 
 

An important skill in modelling is to develop your eye to see in scale that you have illustrated in finding common objects, such as the garlic press, to represent an item in scale. Working as a theatre designer, which involves building a proposed design in 1/48 scale, It seems I’m always on the lookout for items to collect in both scales. Congrats on your recent work!

Cheers Misha

Thanks Misha. It was definitely fun foraging on my property for the various elements. Trying to keep the scale somewhat accurate and believable was a combination of measurements and also what just looked right. Thanks for the kind words, I have no doubt the base you build will be a work of art.

Cheers, Steve

[Steve H]

1 hour ago, crazyjim said:

It's AWESOME!!!  The SHINY ??? builds work very well in the scene.

Haha!! Thanks Jim!  Ya…. the “shiny” does look good with the contrast of the base. Thanks for lookin’ 

Cheers, Steve

[vincen47]

Works very well. I find the best dio bases are simple, yet realistically proportioned and detailed. Placing vehicles in their natural environment. Something that takes your eyes to the model. This does that well.

[Steve H]

Thanks vincen47, I appreciate the kind words. It can be a challenge to know how much is too much sometimes. With this, I figure I can add more later, whether it’s landscaping or oil stains on the asphalt, etc. Better to start simple. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

By your avatar photo I’m guessing you spend time in the big rig section of the forum. I don’t venture over there much, but I do have a “rat rig” idea in my head that will surface over there eventually….

Cheers, Steve

[Claude Thibodeau]

Hi Steve!

Wow, what a great parking spot for your "fleet". Very neat and convincing. I see you even threw in the rear oil seal "leaks" in the various stalls. Bravo!

Ah, you lucky west-coast types... barely a few cracks near the rain drain. No east-coast potholes... That's what dreams are made of!

CT 

[vincen47]

On 5/29/2022 at 8:03 PM, Steve H said:

Thanks vincen47, I appreciate the kind words. It can be a challenge to know how much is too much sometimes. With this, I figure I can add more later, whether it’s landscaping or oil stains on the asphalt, etc. Better to start simple. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

By your avatar photo I’m guessing you spend time in the big rig section of the forum. I don’t venture over there much, but I do have a “rat rig” idea in my head that will surface over there eventually….

Cheers, Steve

True, I do spend most of my forum time hanging out with the big rigs, but I venture out from time to time. Looking forward to seeing your Rat Rig in the future. 

[Steve H]

13 hours ago, Claude Thibodeau said:

Hi Steve!

Wow, what a great parking spot for your "fleet". Very neat and convincing. I see you even threw in the rear oil seal "leaks" in the various stalls. Bravo!

Ah, you lucky west-coast types... barely a few cracks near the rain drain. No east-coast potholes... That's what dreams are made of!

CT 

 Claude!! You found me over here. You don’t miss much do you? I did throw in a few rear oil seal leaks, or perhaps if someone had backed in. To be fair, the contractor did a really good job on the parking lot base prep, so asphalt cracking is minimal so far…. I don’t want to be cheeky and gloat about our west coast weather, especially since we have been averaging about 5-6 degrees below seasonal for months!!! I did consider a pothole, also a patched pothole with a different grit of sandpaper and slightly different colour. Thanks for checking in Claude, always nice to hear from you. Did you talk to the VP about Duece Days yet?!

Cheers, Steve

[Steve H]

2 hours ago, vincen47 said:

True, I do spend most of my forum time hanging out with the big rigs, but I venture out from time to time. Looking forward to seeing your Rat Rig in the future. 

Thanks vincen47,  I will need all the help I can get with the rig project. I’ve only built one rig and that was about 41ish years ago. I believe I was about 12 when I built it.

[TNT]

That is super sharp. And your builds look great.

[Claude Thibodeau]

10 hours ago, Steve H said:

 Claude!! You found me over here. You don’t miss much do you? I did throw in a few rear oil seal leaks, or perhaps if someone had backed in. To be fair, the contractor did a really good job on the parking lot base prep, so asphalt cracking is minimal so far…. I don’t want to be cheeky and gloat about our west coast weather, especially since we have been averaging about 5-6 degrees below seasonal for months!!! I did consider a pothole, also a patched pothole with a different grit of sandpaper and slightly different colour. Thanks for checking in Claude, always nice to hear from you. Did you talk to the VP about Duece Days yet?!

Cheers, Steve

Hi Steve!

Yes, we had a "planning session", but the fact that I already stated that I intented to attend the last GSL next may have kind of "depleted my credit". So, the Deuce Day may happen, but for 2024 I'm afraid...

CT 

[Steve H]

On 5/31/2022 at 4:33 AM, TNT said:

That is super sharp. And your builds look great.

Thanks Anthony. I have wanted to do something like this for years, it was good to finally create a place to photograph my builds. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
 

 

On 5/31/2022 at 6:27 AM, Claude Thibodeau said:

Hi Steve!

Yes, we had a "planning session", but the fact that I already stated that I intented to attend the last GSL next may have kind of "depleted my credit". So, the Deuce Day may happen, but for 2024 I'm afraid...

CT 

Hi Claude, don’t worry, I will send you some photos!  The good news is that I might be at the last GSL too, still figuring that out with my lovely wife. 
 

Cheers, Steve

[TransAmMike]

I have a bit on envy going here Steve??

[Claude Thibodeau]

3 hours ago, Steve H said:

Thanks Anthony. I have wanted to do something like this for years, it was good to finally create a place to photograph my builds. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
 

 

Hi Claude, don’t worry, I will send you some photos!  The good news is that I might be at the last GSL too, still figuring that out with my lovely wife. 
 

Cheers, Steve

Good! Hope we will both be able to make it!

CT

[Steve H]

10 hours ago, TransAmMike said:

I have a bit on envy going here Steve??

Hi Mike. Are you wanting to come to Duece days? Open invitation sir. It would be great to see you here!

[Jim B]

That really came out great.  Well done.

[av405]

Very nice! 

[Steve H]

On 6/3/2022 at 4:29 AM, Jim B said:

That really came out great.  Well done.

Thank you Jim. 

 

On 6/5/2022 at 12:14 PM, av405 said:

Very nice! 

Hi Alberto, I was glad to see that after it was built in my shop, once outside in natural light, it still looked somewhat “real”. 
 

Cheers, Steve

[Anglia105E]

Nicely done parking lot diorama, Steve . . . Without a doubt, your models will always photograph really well when they are in a realistic diorama setting. This is why I wanted to get into dioramas in the first place, in order to bring the scale model cars to life. Even small details are important, such as your cracks around the manhole cover, and any model builder who can produce realistic figures will be able to enhance the scene further still. Figures have to be done very carefully though, because as you know, if they are not of a high standard they appear ' toy ' like and not real.

Brilliant . . . Well done  !

David

[slusher]

Excellent parking lot Steve! I was admiring all the greenery and landscaping also my friend..

[ewetwo]

That is a really nice diorama Steve.

[Steve H]

On 6/16/2022 at 2:30 AM, Anglia105E said:

Nicely done parking lot diorama, Steve . . . Without a doubt, your models will always photograph really well when they are in a realistic diorama setting. This is why I wanted to get into dioramas in the first place, in order to bring the scale model cars to life. Even small details are important, such as your cracks around the manhole cover, and any model builder who can produce realistic figures will be able to enhance the scene further still. Figures have to be done very carefully though, because as you know, if they are not of a high standard they appear ' toy ' like and not real.

Brilliant . . . Well done  !

David

Hi David, I agree that models photograph better in some sort of “scene”. There are many outstanding dioramas on this board, including yours, and the models just look more real somehow. As for figures, you are absolutely right, and painting a realistic figure is outside of my skill set. Thanks for having a look and for your kind words.

 

On 6/16/2022 at 6:50 PM, slusher said:

Excellent parking lot Steve! I was admiring all the greenery and landscaping also my friend..

Thanks Carl! The greenery and landscape was enjoyable to create.

On 6/17/2022 at 7:36 AM, ewetwo said:

That is a really nice diorama Steve.

Thank you David.