The beginnings of world building
I’ve wanted to build several 1:64 scale dioramas for a while now. I’d planned to build something around a city block setting. But, the idea evolved into a post apocalyptic setting with some minor cyberpunk undertones. Originally, I planned to do several small models.
However, I was looking for reference photos of old, abandoned factories and came across a few photos of the Piper Cinder Block Factory. I liked the silhouette of the building and started thinking, what if, the the not too distant future, people reclaimed the abandoned factory and repurposed it? What if the community that sprung up around it developed like a shanty town? What if people built housing on top of the old factory? What if they divided the factory into sub-sections? What if someone opened a strip club? A garage? A pizzeria?
This was the concept behind Whiskey River (named after the Willie Nelson song) Project. I decided the catalyst for the project would be the driver of the 6-leg, tow truck mech, Augustus C. Earnhardt – better known as Ace. Ace sets out in search of fast cars and hot women. Being a mechanic, he opens a garage in an old, abandoned factory in Whiskey River. Ace’s Garage becomes a community gathering place, and more people begin to move into the area and a community forms around the old abandoned factory.
I’ve designed the project in two initial stages. The first is the interior of Ace’s Garage. I originally planned to have the back of the garage on the diorama open so I could use it as a photo set. But, after some experimentation with a cardboard model and camera angles, I decided to make the garage interior a separate set. The roof and four walls limited my camera angles so much that it made using a building interior impractical.
The second phase of the Whiskey River Project will be the street level diorama. I’ll build this in two or more stages. The first stage of Phase 2 will be the actual factory building based on the few photos I have of the Piper Cinder Block Factory. The main businesses will be Ace’s Garage, a warehouse (this business will have a covered gantry crane over the road, I used FOS Scale Models Red Hook Wharf for inspiration on this), the Toy Box Gentleman’s Club, a pizzeria, a small apartment building and a general goods store.
The Toy Box, pizzeria, general goods and apartments will have an open back to the building. I’m going to devise a method where I can remove the interiors of those building from the back of the diorama. That will enable me to change the inside look of the buildings by changing out people or switching up the interior. I’ve also considered the possibility of making several different interiors for each building. I’m considering a drawer-style system in which I could just removed one interior and replace it with another.
The second stage of Phase two will be adding additional wooden structures to the roof of the factory. I’ll need to solidify the design for the factory before I can begin work on the roof.
The whole diorama will be a photo set for die cast cars and 1:64 scale miniatures. I’m going to spend a good bit of time on the design of the whole diorama so I can maximize the potential for telling different stories about Whiskey River through photography.
While I’m working on the design, I’ll be painting a lot of 1:64 scale figures as well as working on props for the building interiors.
Boondock Bight 