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My Street

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  • Member since
    April 2004
  • From: Boston MA
My Street
Posted by vespa boy on Monday, November 5, 2007 10:02 AM

Here is a diorama of the street outside my house from late 2004. I live the New England, and it gives you an idea of the ravages of seasonal temperature change of bitumen

Here is an overall view (about 18" long)

a detail of the manhole cover

 A ground level shot of roadwork cover and kerb

And a shot along the kerb. You can see a broken coffee cup and if you look carefully a squashed aquafina bottle near the edge of the metal plate.

 

Like the others, this is all scrathbuilt, 1/24 scale. It won't have a vehicle on it and I dispaly these dioramas hanging on the wall.

http://public.fotki.com/nkhandekar

This ain't no Mudd Club, or C.B.G.B.,
I ain't got time for that now

  • Member since
    October 2005
  • From: Yuma, Arizona
Posted by Brumbles on Monday, November 5, 2007 10:19 AM

Your work, Vespa, is beautiful and original!  Imagine the possibilities if you combined talents with The Doog or one of our other vehicular masters!

 

 

  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by the doog on Monday, November 5, 2007 12:25 PM
You are just TOO MUCH man! Wow, what impressive, unique talent! Make a Toast [#toast]
  • Member since
    February 2007
Posted by Boomerang on Monday, November 5, 2007 2:40 PM

   That last one looks like you have just gone outside and taken a picture! That leaf litter in the gutter is so convincing. Amazing work Vespa Boy......Bow [bow]

   Boomer...

  • Member since
    October 2005
  • From: Warwick, RI
Posted by Kolschey on Monday, November 5, 2007 5:41 PM
Brilliant work...Cool [8D] I am really enjoying your builds!

Krzysztof Mathews http://www.firstgearterritories.com

  • Member since
    March 2004
  • From: Spartanburg, SC
Posted by subfixer on Monday, November 5, 2007 6:45 PM
I know what you're doing, you're taking photos of real streets and photoshopping them to look like a diorama. Pretty sneaky, vespa.

I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Newport News VA
Posted by Buddho on Monday, November 5, 2007 6:53 PM
What incredible work you do, Vespa boy. Your works of art need no object added to them...because you have made what is usually the background or base the main subject...what a twist on things!

  • Member since
    November 2006
  • From: Coastal Maine
Posted by dupes on Tuesday, November 6, 2007 8:21 AM

WOW. That is some amazing work! And all scratchbuilt to boot. Thumbs Up [tup]Thumbs Up [tup]

Any chance you could tell me what materials you used for your base? Any techniques? Anything? Bow [bow] Because I for one would LOVE to put a vehicle on there...Wink [;)]

  • Member since
    April 2004
  • From: Boston MA
Posted by vespa boy on Tuesday, November 6, 2007 9:26 AM

 Buddho wrote:
What incredible work you do, Vespa boy. Your works of art need no object added to them...because you have made what is usually the background or base the main subject...what a twist on things!

 

You nailed it Buddho. Its like using the road to make a colour field painting.

 

Dupes: The techniques are not very complicated, its all stuff that has been discussed over and over again in Fine scale modeller, model railroad books and in Ken Hamilton's and Shep Paine's excellent books on dioramas. The most important part is realizing that nothing is flat, and that you have to spend a lot of time working out why something looks the way it does...what is it that makes the essence of that thing, whether it is a tree, a brick, a plane's trim tab, a tank's track link whatever, and then thinking about how you want to capture it in miniature. And it all tells a story. Everything is there for a reason, a crack is there because stresses got released, a patch in the road shows roadowrks were there, the utilities mark-outs show that road works are under way etc etc...All stuff that has been outlined for decades. The best part about scratchbuilding is that if something goes wrong you can easily make it again...its not like ruining a part from a kit.

 

Thanks for all of your comments.

http://public.fotki.com/nkhandekar

This ain't no Mudd Club, or C.B.G.B.,
I ain't got time for that now

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 6, 2007 10:09 AM
Are you an artist by trade?...you seem to have lived all over the place!
  • Member since
    April 2004
  • From: Boston MA
Posted by vespa boy on Tuesday, November 6, 2007 10:47 AM
Mr Rvenge:  I am not an artist, I am an organic chemist by training and work in an art gallery analyzing pigments, binding media etc. I have lived all over the place, you are right.

http://public.fotki.com/nkhandekar

This ain't no Mudd Club, or C.B.G.B.,
I ain't got time for that now

  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: Saginaw, TX
Posted by rubaru on Tuesday, November 6, 2007 12:27 PM

Vespa --

I think the next logical step is to model what lies UNDER the pavement.  Water lines, sewer lines, storm drainage, electric, phone.  The opportunities!!!  If you need details like dimensions or construction standards, let me know.  I'm a civil engineer and deal with that stuff everyday.

Jason

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Baton Rouge
Posted by mr moto on Tuesday, November 6, 2007 12:32 PM
Really fabulous work! I believe you are 100% correct to display your work by hanging it on walls without vehicles, etc. While I'm a dedicated automotive modeler myself, I think that by de-empasizing the vehicles you point out to the observer that art is being created when a model is built. There is no doubt that your work is art!
The modeler's rule of thumb: The worse it smells, the better it works!
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 6, 2007 2:59 PM
 vespa boy wrote:
Mr Rvenge:  I am not an artist, I am an organic chemist by training and work in an art gallery analyzing pigments, binding media etc. I have lived all over the place, you are right.
...thanks for the info---gives me better insight into your art...it is sublime...
  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: The Green "Mountains", Vermont
Posted by IanIsBored2000 on Tuesday, November 6, 2007 6:06 PM
Absolutely incredible, from the cracks in the pavement to the little line sof spraypaint on the curb.  It's refreshing to see something other than bombed out apartment buildings and crater strewn fields from world war II.
"Scanlon: work your knobby hands on the table in front of you, constructing a make-beleive bomb to blow up a make-beleive world."
  • Member since
    April 2004
  • From: Boston MA
Posted by vespa boy on Wednesday, November 7, 2007 9:06 AM
 rubaru wrote:

Vespa --

I think the next logical step is to model what lies UNDER the pavement.  Water lines, sewer lines, storm drainage, electric, phone.  The opportunities!!!  If you need details like dimensions or construction standards, let me know.  I'm a civil engineer and deal with that stuff everyday.

Jason

I may take you up on that Jason. Thanks for the offer.

http://public.fotki.com/nkhandekar

This ain't no Mudd Club, or C.B.G.B.,
I ain't got time for that now

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 7, 2007 9:12 AM
...compile enough of these works and I see a very good idea for a "coffee table" book...
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