Forced Perspective
Martin TärnrotDescription
Forced perspective—what is it? Let’s find out with MRA Contributing Editor Martin Tärnrot.
On most model railroad layouts, the depth is limited due to the limited space in the home. But there are a few tricks you can use to enhance the appearance of the actual depth. You can create the illusion that you have an almost infinite landscape in front of you, even if it’s just, for example, your bookshelf. Here are Martin’s tips:
SELECTED SCALE IN THE FRONT, SMALLER SCALE IN THE BACK
Martin shows a layout with two bridges—a tall one in the front and a smaller one in the back. The actual distance between them is about one foot. However, it looks like there’s an eternity of space between the two bridges. Martin accomplished this by building the small (farther back) bridge in N scale, which is 1:160, while the large bridge up front is standard HO scale, 1:87.
LARGE TREES CLOSE, SMALL AND LESS DETAILED TREES IN THE BACK
Similarly, large trees in the front of the layout can be twice as big as the trees toward the back. They are assembled almost parallel on the layout. This is a great advantage with building your own trees as opposed to buying them—you can custom size them. The trees in the back should be very small, or even puff balls.
Here on MRA, we have numerous videos about trees and how to make your own.
VIVID COLORS IN FRONT, MUTED COLORS TOWARD THE BACKDROP
Another way to enhance the effect of near and far is by using vivid colors up front and muting the colors toward the back. Do this in combination with brighter lights near the back. Martin takes measurements with his smartphone—at the front, he has 1850 lux of light. At the back, he has almost twice as much illumination.
We also have several videos about lighting, including Enhancing Your Scenes With Model Train Lighting.
Hello and welcome to a Model Railroad Academy video. In this video we'll talk about forced perspective. What is that? Well, in most cases, the width of a model railroad or actually the depth, is kind of limited because of the limited space you have at home. But there are a few tricks to enhance this, the appearance of the actual depth so it looks really, really depth. And the illusion that you have an almost infinite landscape in front of you, even though it's just your bookshelf. Here's some tips on what you can do. Like with most a round model railroad, it's about creating an illusion. And I have a few methods I use to do that. The distance you see here from the bridge, the tall one in the front and the small one in the back is just one foot, but it looks like an eternity of space there. And I accomplished that by building this small bridge in N scale, which is 1 to 160, while the large bridge up front is standard HO scale, 1 to 87. Here's the same thing, you have a large tree up front and a small tree in the back there. These trees are almost assembled parallel on the layout, but the large tree is more than twice as big as the small one. This is a great advantage with building your own trees that you can adapt the size. So trees that are upfront on the layout should be really large, and the trees further back should be really small or just puff balls. Another thing you can do to enhance this effect of near and far is by using vivid colors up front and then further towards the back, you mute the colors somewhat. This in combination with brighter lights towards the backdrop. You see here I take a measurement using my smartphone and I have 1,850 lux here on the front side of the layout. Whilst in the back here I have almost twice as bright illumination, meaning an excess of 3000 lux. All right, so adapting the sizes of the trees and maybe some of the houses is kind of easy, as well as muting some of the colors in the rear, also, kind of easy. Whilst adapting the illumination of the room might be a bigger challenge, especially afterwards. So, but that's at least something you can do to enhance the overall appearance of your layout. Thank you very much for watching this video. See you in the next one.
I love Martin Tärnrot's approach. He has become my favorite contributor.