Today at Badlesmere Geoff gave his talk on how to go about creating a diorama. Before starting his talk however, we were sad to learn from Geoff that EKOGG member Peter Vickery is very ill with motor neurone disease, and we obviously wish him well in his fight with this. Geoff told us that he had built many dioramas over the years often recycling bits and pieces from earlier layouts. In Geoff’s view many layouts are too pristine and do not show the general dirt and grime seen on railways in real life. One of the signature pieces on Geoff’s dioramas over the years has been a dead oak tree that he has used time and time again. Geoff urged people to look at photos of real-life railways and see how much clutter there is around and to try and incorporate some of that into their own layouts.
Geoff usually scratch builds buildings using cardboard from cereal packets. Geoff had some of these buildings on display and they have stood the test of time with some now being over 50 years old and still serviceable. Cereal packet cardboard Geoff said is quite resilient, can be scribed to produce weatherboard and other effects and does not need to be treated with shellac or anything to maintain its integrity. Geoff also repurposes all sorts of bits and pieces that he picks up cheap at shows without any immediate use for them but knowing that eventually they will come in handy. His approach to diorama building is to start with a general idea and see what bits and pieces you have and see where that takes you. Paul had brought in and talked us through the GWR Coaling Stage that he has been building over the last year or so. Paul is a big fan of dioramas as you can easily put them to one side or bring them out to work on. They are also relatively cheap and don’t take too long to build unlike a full-size layout. They also don’t need a big heavy baseboard, and Paul finds that a piece of 6mm ply is usually sufficient for most dioramas. After questions of Geoff and Paul, we thanked them for a most interesting afternoon and headed off home. Chris
