Book Just in time for Christmas!

[Dan Randall]

Due for release on 26th November is a new book from Paul Bambrick and John Ellis on creating a backscene....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creating-Backscene-Railway-Modelling-Companion/dp/0711038422

(I wonder if it will also be available from a certain book emporium in Bath too?).

As my birthday is actually two days after the book's intended release date, Santa might have to come up with another idea for my Christmas treat!

Incidentally, Paul's web site is a very inspiring way to while away some time....

http://bambrickstudio.co.uk


Regards

Dan

 

[Steve Cook]

Dude, you mentioned the C word and its only September!
Bad form
Looks like the book will be an interesting read though, looking forward to it.
Steve

 

[Dan Randall]

Dude, you mentioned the C word and its only September!
Bad form
Looks like the book will be an interesting read though, looking forward to it.
Steve

My apologies, but as a father to a 3 year old and 4 year old, it can't be avoided - my wife's already been buying presents!


Regards

Dan

 

[40126]

Dude, you mentioned the C word and its only September!
Bad form
Looks like the book will be an interesting read though, looking forward to it.
Steve

Steeeeeeve, It's less than 3 months away now . My mrs asked me today, What do I want for Xmas ?. It will be nothing to do with modelling railways, if I haven't completely sorted the garage out & started a workbench area / Layout !!!!.

Steve

 

[Stumpytrain]

I've preordered so I've now got a good reason to look forward to Christmas!

Is it just me or have Ian Allan been a bit cheeky with the cover design? I thought it was a Wild Swan publication at first!


Alex

 

[Overseer]

I've preordered so I've now got a good reason to look forward to Christmas!

Is it just me or have Ian Allan been a bit cheeky with the cover design? I thought it was a Wild Swan publication at first!

View attachment 48422
Alex

Not sure about being cheeky, definitely uninspired. The Wild Swan covers are understated but distinctive and definitely designed as part of the overall design of their books. Hopefully Ian Allan have put more effort into the design of the contents than the cover. The lower photo in the cover mock up, a close up of a model building, doesn't seem to relate to the topic of the book very much. Heather would be able to provide some proper professional advice but from a lay persons perspective it would seem a better looking, and eye catching, cover could have been designed using a more closely cropped version of the upper photo over most of the cover, and it would then look like other recent Ian Allan published books.

 

[Osgood]

The lower photo in the cover mock up, a close up of a model building, doesn't seem to relate to the topic of the book very much.

At first sight I'd agree. But then looking closer, I suspect it illustrates a very skilfully created backscene. So good that it is not easy to know exactly where the 3-D model becomes 2-D vertical.

If it was a 'Guess the Joint" competition I'd say between the two red crosses?

 

[djparkins]

At first sight I'd agree. But then looking closer, I suspect it illustrates a very skilfully created backscene. So good that it is not easy to know exactly where the 3-D model becomes 2-D vertical.

If it was a 'Guess the Joint" competition I'd say between the two red crosses?

View attachment 48427

I'd agree with that - I don't like backscenes at all really as you are only modelling a 'slice of life' as it were, so why pretend otherwise - but I thought that one was paricularly well done.

 

[Overseer]

At first sight I'd agree. But then looking closer, I suspect it illustrates a very skilfully created backscene. So good that it is not easy to know exactly where the 3-D model becomes 2-D vertical.

If it was a 'Guess the Joint" competition I'd say between the two red crosses?

View attachment 48427

I realised the lower image had a painted backscene in it but the point was that the building in the foreground is so prominent and dominates the backscene which is only about 1/4 of the image. I suppose it does make one wonder how it was done. I realise my opinion is irrelevant and it doesn't matter but I still don't think the two images work together on the cover. I put together another possible cover just using copy and paste in Apple Preview to show what I meant in the previous post, but it still looks just like a Wild Swan cover. A different font and the upper sky continued to the top of the page would help make it look less Wild Swan like, but presumably that wasn't the aim.

(Dummy image to illustrate a point only)

 

[PJBambrick]

Thanks to all thunderers for the interest and comment, this is my first post on here, and also my first book, which certainly has taken a while bringing the content together into a good sequential order. I have had to fit all this compiling time in between other work deadlines, but it has been delivered to IA now, with an inevitable delay. The result will unfortunately be a post C*******s release, so my apologies for underestimating the job.

The cover was generated at contract as a draft to allow intention of release, but it will have some image changes before final print. When everyone agrees on the final appearance, it will be updated on Amazon, and in a few days time I can put it up here too.



It has about 90,000 words including caption copy and hundreds of images and diagrams, so there has been quite a bit of ground to cover. It begins by looking at influences, landscape study and other illusions like panoramas before moving on to horizon lines, artificial perspective, map plotting and reference. The chapters lead to photographic guidelines, and medium choices before dealing with seasons, colour matching, light representation, textures and practical methods for both two and three dimensional projects. From there we look at natural cover, trees and buildings both in paint and relief, before other elements like farming, roads and water.

To avoid repetition, the content deliberately stays away from areas covered in other volumes, like specific railway subjects, layout scale structures and so on, this study really turns away from the railway, looking the other way over the boundary fence and into the distance.





Some more pics we might still use for cover images. Get back to me if you have any feedback while the page design process takes place.

Cheers ......Paul

 

[oldravendale]

Metropolitan Railway!!!! Multiple

Brian

 

[Osgood]

Welcome!

You will no doubt be pleased to learn that your description, combined with the additional pictures, have just caused a copy of your book to be ordered

Do you discuss in your book 'variable viewing height' as an aspect of backscene design? I imagine height variation creates specific challenges to overcome in achieving good results?

Tony

 

[PJBambrick]

Thanks chaps

Tony, I hope your copy turns up ASAP! A horizon line datum fixed on an artificial rear panel can't be persuaded to move relative to the layout in the same way that a natural horizon does because it's too close, so the only way to control it at short distances is to fix the actual viewing height instead. This can be helped with pelmet type view blocking, but any variance from the ideal is an inevitable compromise. The optimum view height is useful as it can be measured and expressed as a contour (above the line height) at layout scale. This determines the height relationship to the surrounding topography, and a map will then tell you how far you can see.

 

[Dan Randall]

As a first posts go Paul, that'll take some beating - welcome to Western Thunder!

It's a shame about the delay, but it's worth getting it right and it'll certainly help to cheer up the post-Christmas blues when it does turn up. I'm really looking forward to getting my mitts on a copy and hopefully, putting some of the advice within, to good use in the future.


Regards

Dan

 

[PJBambrick]

Thanks Dan

I got the revised cover from IA just now, and the other pics will go on the back leaf.

 

[Osgood]

Oh heck - just received cancellation of my advance order from Amazon, stating book no longer available.
I cannot find any information on the web on this eagerly awaited publication ??

 

[adrian]

How bizarre Ian Allen Direct says it was published June 2016 and is out of stock and no pre-ordering
Ian Allan Direct - Creating a Backscene: A Railway Modelling Companion

Yet Waterstones claims a 20th October publishing date
Creating a Backscene by Paul Bambrick | Waterstones

 

[Osgood]

I've just PM'd Paul - hopefully he will have some good news for us?

Tony

 

[PJBambrick]

Thanks for the interest Tony and other thunderers. Apologies for the long delay, but there is very good news about the book, and funnily enough tomorrow I am going to visit Nick Grant at Ian Allan with the very last tiny tweaks. All the page design work is now done (example layout attached), and all that remains are just dotting i's and crossing t's, along with adding a list of people to thank at the end. There are 224 loaded pages, so it has been a very complicated document to do, catching all of us a bit by surprise, especially me! It still has to go abroad for print and of course, shipping back by sea will take a few weeks as well. Please do re-contact me if you would like to know anything else at all, Cheers........Paul

 

[Osgood]

Great news - thanks for the update Paul!