hi all, this post just to add some info on the Maserati 151 and 151/1 versions that may assist
some of you on your builds / variations















regards, Ron

hi all, here is the first of a multi part post to assist a friend with his ferrari swb project

as time permits i will get around to posting some of the chapters from this great little book!















Graham, hope you find helpful!!

stay tuned for more - although concise, this book gives a good history of the car by car production with descriptions on the variations
and evolutions, a few pages of color shots and some good competition coverage as well -

stay tuned for more

regards, Ron

just an update on some progress with the first 'component' model for my 'Smallville' diorama

not much in the way of 'built progress' yet other than finalizing the n scale track layout for the freight yard

took a fair bit of fiddling to get the track sections laid out just as i want - to have an interactive and functional 'switching yard' as
stand alone on this one model, and when plugged with the (future) adjacent two (and more) components, a much larger type
loop for plenty of scale model railroading fun in and around more of smallville

on this model will be one of 3 or 4 freight depots (yet to be named - in rendering 'Depot' is place holder for now)

the following shots show some more detailed / resolved massing and positioning for the structures intended for 'component 1'

here again the computer and google sketchup allow me to explore scale, site lines, and over-all 'balance' of the
various pieces for thissection and ultimately how they will relate to the rest of the diorama



the Smallville Electric Co. (coal fired power station), Otto Bahn's beetlerod factory, one of the Freight Depots and the water tower
elements are now fairly well sorted - all grouped together to work with the n scale railyard - and i added a short section of
g scale rail to allow for a spot to get some 1/32ish freight in the picture too
(i liked how it helped with making the layout a bit looser and more dynamic)



the auto factory was inspired (very very loosely) by an old photo of a vw factory in Germany i came across with plenty of whimsy / tongue in cheek architectural styling added in - my take on some 'what if ' early modernism...
the adjacent freight depot ended up adopting the same language -
so it looks like an adjunct or part of the same complex - plenty of auto parts to ship out and receive from there

water tower and power station pretty basic but as with all of the elements imbedded with plenty of stylized recollections from my past experiences - an stuggling with placing the water tower a bit closer to g scale rail, so n scale rail runs under the water tower structure ... will see when i get it built for real and start to place ... power station has a full interior in the works as well ...





obviously nothing too serious here, just trying to lay it all out together in a visually interesting manner to create something fun
that hopefully seems to make a bit of sense too

several spurs on the n scale rail line will allow for switching and organizing of various freight for recipients in smallville and
to be shipped to points beyond ...



and finally - in the renderings you might also see one of Smallville's resident cable cars -just to prove this will all get
past the realm of computer graphics, and yes i can do some degree of model making other than on a computer



and in the middle of the n scale track setup ... the beetlerod hauler, just like in the renderings too



anyhow there's another long ramble, if for nothing more than to keep my thoughts organized for myself -
for those of you who made the read to the end hope it entertained you!

regards, Ron

just a few more photos from 'Motor Racing 1950' - Raymond Mays

some reference photos for a fellow slotter scratchbuilding a version of the Baron E. de Graffenried maser









not as pretty as the color cover, but still great period shots for reference

regards, Ron

Hi all, it has been quite some time since i have posted any updates on my 'Smallville' diorama, but like many of my projects
it gets attention here and there when i find the time and interest

enjoying some much needed and appreciated holidays lately i decided to finally get the first of 9 or so 'component' models
underway -

In summary - to display in an a playful manner, and act as a tie-in for various interests (slot cars, g scale garden trains, vintage plastic vehicles and other oddities 1/32ish etc) i decided to challenge myself with designing a '50s / '60s' mid-west rural city center diorama to some day display my collection or work into an indoor / outdoor garden rail system with several other 'points of interest' connected to ...



no 'prototype' or fine scale modelling here - plenty of whimsy and intentional fun with scale to keep me entertained - essentially trying to creat a feel of density and activity for a portion of a downtown core by distilling all elements to the minimum necessary to best convey the 'essence of' and like any good toys let the imagination fill in the blanks or paint the rest of the picture - in this world, unlike the day job i can make my own rules and do as i wish!

for instance, the veritcal car park only holds 5 cars, the 30's skyscraper is only about a car length wide, the Smallville power station is tiny with huge stacks , Smallgate Bridge not even a train car long ... but all together hopefully they work as a whole and will serve as a wonderful backdrop diorama for dozens of great cars, trains etc etc

the doodling, planning and experimenting have gone on intermittantly for several years (and will continue to do so) via sketch pads and google sketch up, which i find is a great tool for massing and designing before actually building ...

buildings planned so far ... and in the renderings if you know where to look

Atomic Burger drive-in restaurant

Smallgate Bridge

Smallville Diner (on mainstreet bridge)

Tiny's Auto Sales (c/w filling station in rear)

Mother 'F' and the sisters of speed headquarters (smallville's resident superhero - Mother Superior with an attitude ... drives around in a '52 Bentley Continental S named Gabriel, sisters of speed all on Vespas )

Smallville Police Station

Flapjack's car park

Smallville City Hall

un-named 30's tower ... Smallville Railroad headquarters (c/w Smallville Zoo in rear)

Smallville Shipyard / Smallville Freigh Depot (second storey)

Union Station passenger terminal

Smallville Power Company

Otto Bahn's Beetlerod factory

Smallville Water tower

... and yet to be shown - n scale ride along-passenger platform (at working end of freight yard by beetlerod factory/water tower) and secondary freight depot across river behind Atomic Burger

the massing and organizing so all bits relate to each other properly and with the intended vehicles to be displayed is like a huge puzzle, but a good escape for me - i keep playing with striving for a sense of density while leaving enough room for everything to breathe and be viewable too - will look much busier with several dozen vehicles, the large trains and freight, boats and hundreds of people in there .. and who knows what else some day!



always a work in progress and always evolving ... but quick massing renders like these remind me of all the things i need to fix and add! windows, fire escapes, more signage ... the list goes on and on

older renderings are useful to remind me of previuos 'versions' or ideas, sometimes abandoned or sometimes revisited ...

a couple of 'working' images from months or maybe even years back ...







so back to the first 'component' model actually being built

2'-6" x 7'-0", it consists of Smallville Power Plant (c/w the two huge coal burning stacks - considering hooking up some g scale steam units inside those ), Otto (and brother Valter) Bahn's 'Beetlerod' factory, the Smallville water tower and the one end of an n scale model train loop (kato n product c/w electric switches - great stuff!)

here are a couple of much older images showing the early intent for a series of models to 'plug together' ... this works well as space right now is limited and i can work on portions or component models a bit at a time as stand alone projects ...





wanting to have a working freight yard / switching station, and model some 'industry and distribution' type scenery, or at least my fun take on it ... and g scale obviously being waaay too large (a box car is about 17" long ...) i decided to use an n scale set up for working rail - it will have two trains with 1/32 figures on them (1 like a park ride-along live steam kiddee ride, the other a fun 'mini-freight' system for Smallville - with loads of gondolas with containers to run around and organize)



running right through the center of the overall diorama will be a large EMD E8 passenger locomotive pulling a consist of 4 or so passenger cars (USA Trains 1/29 extruded aluminum rpo, coach, vista dome and boat tail observation cars - total length approx 15') eventually packed full of 1/32 passengers and entourage - it and the n scale tracks both cross Smallgate Bridge (inspired by Lionel's classis tinplate Standard version decades ago), the n looping back on its own mini girder bridge,
past several branch spurs and freight depots

- i am having fun with the obvious contrast between the g and n scale stuff

anyhow that is my long ramble on the latest plans for Smallville, now finally under construction and sure to be for many years to come ...
the ultimate goal, good health and fortune willing, to some day down the road enjoy this with some grandchildren (or my children too if i can move it along before they are too grown up!!)

watch out for more progress reports here and there

as always, comments, critiques and suggestions welcime

cheers, Ron