Its been so long since I’ve mentioned this that I’ll reiterate: my diorama is not meant to be a “serious” scale model along the lines of that which is commonly seen in model railroading; it is a showcase for my toys rather than an attempt to create reality in miniature, so while I do strive for some acuracy, I’m more interested in the mirth of “tableaus” and the kitch of reflecting that era of my formative years than acuracy and detail down to the last element.
Now, having said that, I have finally decided to delve in to a bag of goodies I’ve had sitting in the basement unused since last April’s Rocky Mtn Train Show. I had almost forgotten about these little things, but recently decided it was time to put them out on the layout, and although these are very small details, I think they deserved a post!
You may recall my last improvement: the little boxes of car parts that I was quite excited about, showcased here, which I think really added a great deal of eye candy to the melee around the track! And now, I’ve added a little something extra to that element (in a few areas), along with some other details you may find pleasing!
Most of these items were 3D printed and purchased from a vendor who makes good stuff, but sells it at what I consider to be very high prices. Of course the man deserves to make some profit and I wanted the stuff and paid for it, but seeing these little goodies seriously makes me consider getting a 3D printer of my own, and that is something that now is finally on the agenda for 2025 (along with getting a good Matchbox Speedtrack!) That’s still several months off, but I have my eye on a couple and have a place to put it; what I most need is to learn how to use the software: how to download the files I obtain or buy and load them into the “slicer,” and even modify them, to get the results that I want. Depending on how that goes, I may even graduate to trying to make some car bodies! But, I’m getting ahead of myself…
The next element to be added to the track is addition of this cool impulse buy I recently picked up a local hobby store: these silver, metal-looking guard rails, which I had never seen before until I bought this package. I plan to install this on of the track’s most challenging turns, the one that used to be the corkscrew but which still causes a lot of trouble for some racers trying to negotiate, with the frequent result that cars launch off the track into the paddock and knock over the peeps in my increasingly crowded environment!
We don’t want any mode death scenes like that where they can be avoided; however, what’s keeping me from installing these right now is that I will soon be masking off this area of the track in preparation to start laying down the glue and then all the grass for the carnival area. That’s coming up very soon, so stay tuned for some progress in that area coming up soon!
The details really really make things come alive. It’s incredible how even an ice machine or some boxes really liven up the scene. You certainly have created a perfect showcase for the cars and toys. Those guardrails were a super cool find! Those traffic cones are also a great addition and totally appropriate. I’m finally getting to this fun part of adding details and I think it makes the whole thing even more enjoyable. It’s so nice and easy to get lost in these dioramas!