Alley project WIP (Some pics of the finished box dio)

Narayan,

The completed build is just fantastic and so real. Great detail. I particularly like the scaffolding and the brick work. Am glued to your other WIP.

Cheers,

Richard

Narayan,

      It is as if the images are the interpretation of the Mental Picture you carry... much like what you see in a recurring dream.     A scene you can't really explain so you give us a look into your recurring dream; thank you for that!

     Great execution and presentation! 

Take care,

Frank

Love the final product, it really does look like some of the cheap motels I've stayed in- although none have had such an intriguing view as an inner city style fire escape.

As far as digital photography I agree. It's great to use as a tool to really get a nice, up close view.

Only problem is like you say, if it's off a little bit- that photo will really bring that out. You think you've finished a project only to have a photo taken that's so "close up" the model looks bigger than you- then you can really be in for some ugly surprises.

Taking close ups as you build helps for sure- one thing I've started doing is taking harsh, flash photographs. The way I see it, if the model looks ok under such harsh lighting, natural lighting can only improve the look from there.

Anyway I'm really looking forward to your next project! Nice work on the coffee stain and the cigarette burns. Wouldn't have been right without it, I wouldn't have noticed, but it just wouldn't have been right lol

The biggest help is having a digital camera. Anything that looks wrong, looks doubly wrong in a pic...and with digital pictures you get that feedback almost immediately.

Oh man, I agree.. What I wouldn't have given to have that capability 30 years ago...

Thanks RobH22. I haven't entered a competition since the mid 1980s....I just like building and build to please myself.

Thanks too Deafpanzer/Andy and SternO. I appreciate your comments. Kolschey thank you for your comment and coming from an artist I know it means a lot.

HVH, thank you too. This is very high priase coming from someone as particular as yourself. The gizmology part is an almost full time preoccupation during a build. The biggest help is having a digital camera. Anything that looks wrong, looks doubly wrong in a pic...and with digital pictures you get that feedback almost immediately.

This was a labour of love and I'm back to my usual programming...

I'm spokeless... I truly wish I had your eye for detail...  While I CAN see "miniature" in everyday objects lying about (which, IMHO,  is a "must-have" for a diorama-builder that's as cheap as I am, lol) and that allows me to find materials for dioramas in the damnedest places, but you truly have "THE EYE", VB...  Gizmologist extrodinare, as it were...  You detail areas that I would overlook every time..

If I didn't know it was a diorama, I'd swear it was a photo... Hopefully, someday,  I'll reach that level... Your work here is truly Awesome, above and beyond Outstanding....

Truly remarkable. Another outstanding build!

Outstanding work Vespa...hav'nt looked in on this in a while...SUPER Realistic..FANTASTIC JOB!!!!!!!

I don't know what to say... great piece and it belongs to a museum.  I'd blow up the best picture of your work and turn it into a wall... that will fool friends easily that the view was real.  No question about it... looking forward to more work from you as I have been following your current work.

Thanks  for you comments Indy, Manny and Jim. I'm glad that the saga is over.

Manny, nothing happens in this alley, not even a mugging...maybe a plastic bag blowing around but that's it. Don't let me stop you though, if you want to mug someone, you may just have to find a different alley!

Holy crap! That is AMAZING! It seems every picture I see on this web site is just incredible. Wow... have you folks like won a butt load of awards or contests?

~Extraordinary Realism Narayan!!

Just [ the finest kind of] work   --Congrads on it's completion !

I love your alley and want to mug someone in it...

Beautiful!

Just some more photos of the final model

The is another view through the window. To get the look of a framed pane I had to add framing and a black seal on both sides of the clear plastic. It seemed to work well as an effect.

A detail of the window sill which has a stain from a coffee cup and a small burn from a cigarette. I added the pull cords for the venetian blind from stretched sprue

And one more detail shot

Thanks Karl and Carl for the kind words. Kudos from both of you means a lot. Very appreciated.

Karl: I really love the tiny details that bring out the real nature of something, The stuff you don't remember but notice when its not there.

Carl: You are saved from vertigo by your peripheral vision. If there were some way of blocking it, like a velvet drape over your head like photographers use to use with bellows cameras, then you would definitely be reaching for something to steady yourself!

Hi N

An absolute master piece as always. But we have come to expext nothing less from you

When you look at it in person do you get a sence of vertigo when you look out the window and fown at the alley? It looks do real in your pictures that I would be suprised if you did.

Carl

Narayan, forgive my tardiness in checking in again on this wonderful, amazing project of yours--this is simply stunning once again! You have a knack for details that I envy and admire. The smallest things do not go unnoticed by our eyes!

FABULOUS!

I did make some progress this week.

The box is all together now and the "window wall" is in place. Its all a little trickier than you think getting everything to line up and be square and flush. All that's left to do is to make the lid...4 sides with a piece of Plexiglas held in with a rebate.

I'll post pics when its all done.

vespa boy

Thanks Bodge and Indy.

Bodge: ~AND JIM   I am afraid that there are no figures planned for this one. There is a plastic bag caught in the railing and an empty bottle, so there is evidence of life. Its kinda based on my experiences looking out of hotel rooms into alleys and I really didn't see any activity....its a crappy view from a crappy hotel!

~Don't you wish everyone would read through your whole awsome thread and not ask the same things over and over? _LOL_

Adam, I would update more often if I had more time...there are all the real life distractions that take you away from the bench, like your job and your family and the "honey do..." list!

~You ain't just whistle'n Dixie my friend! Six months on my W.I.P. I can relate!!

I really have final assembly and then its done, but I don't want to rush it. SHould be finished this month if the stars align.  I'm looking forward to completion----whenever it happens Narayan.

You could try modeling a cat--a scrawny, flea-bitten mangy one and test-fit it to see if you like it, but I like the diorama with no figures at all; not even a cat. It evokes a sense of loneliness and abandonment.

Thanks Bodge and Indy.

Bodge: I am afraid that there are no figures planned for this one. There is a plastic bag caught in the railing and an empty bottle, so there is evidence of life. Its kinda based on my experiences looking out of hotel rooms into alleys and I really didn't see any activity....its a crappy view from a crappy hotel!

Adam, I would update more often if I had more time...there are all the real life distractions that take you away from the bench, like your job and your family and the "honey do..." list!

I really have final assembly and then its done, but I don't want to rush it. SHould be finished this month if the stars align.

Outstanding Narayan

Only thing I ding you on points is taking For-Ev-er between updates

but the thing is   

Sorry i havnt been over here on dio,s for ages, just saw this and WOW, AMAZING work, Looks real. Are you gonna add any life form to this? A black cat at least?

A quick update. I have more or less finished the hotel room window through which the viewer looks into the alley.

Here is an overall view of the window. The idea is that there is a venetian blind fully pulled up and on the right is the wand that adjusts the angle of the louvres....a cheap replacement for proper curtains

And when I hold it in place, this is the kind of view you get. I haven't made the final assenbly but it should give a sense of what to expect. It's good for me to see that there is enough light that comes from above to light the scene, which was something I was a little worried about, but apparently for no reson.

Add a few minor dings and dents to the radiator and it would be easy to imagine it banging and clattering away so it ruins a good-night's sleep! We've all stayed in motel and hotel rooms with noisy radiators, dripping faucets, leaky toilets and so forth.

I love your alley and want to mug someone in it....

Beautiful work indeed, Narayan; true to scale and impossible to visually discern from the real things!

This gets more interesting as we go!

Take care my friend,

Frank

Here are some details I made this weekend for the hotel room "portal"

A radiator from strip styrene, copper tubing, aluminium tubing and wine bottle foil:

A radiator cover from a take-out container, styrene strip to make a frame and etched brass mesh. There is a little door on the top to give access to the radiator adjustment knob, which doesn't line up...just like the real thing!

And a test fit in place: