Walkaround Layout Tunnels

[ljudice]

I've gotten pretty good at carving out scenery - hills, mountains, etc. with a natural look. But on my last go-around - as well as this one, I am going nuts over tunnels near the edge of a walkaround layout area.

With long isles (23') I planned to use a couple of tunnels to break up scenes, etc.  In about 15" of depth (it's a 30" island broken down the middle) I have no issue doing scenery until I come to tunnels.

- Should they "bleed" off the edge, or naturally end on the edge?
- Why do they always end up looking boxy and unnatural?

I've looked at doing some tunnels which would be easy to end at the table's edge - ie. a tunnel skirting a mountain with a steep hill of rocks, essentially an enclosed rockshed - but that doesn't look right either.

What am I missing? How do you design these types of tunnels in small depth spaces???

Thanks,
Lou

[up1950s]

The edge of the aisle / end of the layout should be as if a knife cut vertically through the world . There should be no regard as to the edge as far as mountains are concerned . In fact the more the scenery appears to continue if the aisle wasn't there the better . Have a mountain rise toward the aisle , but get abruptly cut of by that knife edge makes the scene better . Tunnels are no different . Imagine there were no aisle at all . Build the mountain and tunnels that way , but when you get the the edge use fascia or whatever that weird word is to create that knife edge end of the world .

[wm3798]

Take a picture of the situation, and let us have a stab at it.


This is at the edge of my layout, the fascia being about an inch and a half to the left of the portal.
There are lots of situations that call for a tunnel on the prototype.  The old B&O mainline has lots of short ones that cut through rock outcroppings.  I suppose it all depends on what you're after.

If you're looking for "scene dividers" you could use a backdrop disguised with a grouping of buildings or a highway overpass instead of a tunnel.

Lots of ways to skin the cat.  Post some pictures of what you're struggling with so we can have a clearer image of what the problem is.

Lee

[Erik W]

Lou,

Richie's advice was spot on.  When designing your scenery, do so like a giant knife cuts through it where the edge of the layout is.  Don't think in terms of making the scenery fit into the space on the layout.  The layout represents a chunk of a much larger landscape.  Here are photos of a tunnel through a ridge I designed to be a scenic divider.





Erik

[TrainCat2]

That looks GREAT Erik. I like, I like.

[ljudice]

Great ideas - and thanks for the photos!  You made me realize my mistake - I was always tapering the ends after a certain level - which was creating a box-like look.  Let me do a little cutting and take a photo and post it.

Lou