Unlike the larger scales, the one thing you can't avoid when modeling in NZ120 is that life exists well outside the normal railway boundaries. In fact, its what sets us apart from the neanderthals larger scales. With a renewed interest in Paekakariki I have been looking at the surrounding town to see what I need to add.
Fortunately (again) there is a good White's avation photo (these guys should have been knighted) of the wider area. My interest is the sea-side of town.
While I'm not planning to model all of it, the block of houses on the railway side of Tilley Rd are an obvious choice. And that means we need to take a closer look at the houses themselves.
So, from left to right we have:
-The single mens compound.
-Several W&MR cottages (they are present in photos from 1909).
-A group of 3 NZR railway houses.
-What looks like a stationmasters house (though I'm now leaning towards a double bay villa which still seems to be in position today)
-Another railway house
-2 small cottages
-The signal and traction depot
-A bowling green. I'm pretty sure no-one has modeled one of these before.
Moving just south we come to the buildings on Beach road.
- The pub
- The Holtam buildings, and possibly the buildings next to it (of a similar vintage) depending on just how long the road on the baseboard is.
As always the buildings that make it into the scene will be a juggling act between the footprint of the buildins and the shrunken space on the layout. In addition I've made a rod for my own back a long time ago by choosing to have the layout viewed from both sides which doubles the amount of modeling and research required.
3 comments:
Research is risky. It can lead to a requirement for more models. Research takes less time than modelling; it is so much quicker to identify a building that needs modelling than it is to model it.
I do research as my day job. I find historical research far more relaxing. And once you accept its never going to be quite right, its much easier.
Need any photos of Holthams building, I have a few.
Model on my layout based on it.
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