The weekend has been very productive. The entire forecourt has been remodelled and the compass added. Together, these two features make up what is one of the more tricky areas we have ever modelled. The steps were constructed in Hexagon by making a profile and then sweeping it along the double-dip plan. This was not the difficult part however - the real problems arose when we came to marry these steps to the sloping access paths on the left and right, for they had to be trimmed, one step at a time. It will be seen that there is still a little tickling of the graphics to do, but the the bulk of the work has been accomplished.
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Oh - and in case you are wondering, the compass was constructed in PSP, entirely from photographs. This was a little tedious, the only surprise coming at the end - when rendered, the compass was left-to-right. Fortunately, the compass rose had been saved to disk and it took just a few moments to switch.
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The prototype has several lines going off to indicate the direction of important lifeboat missions and rescues. I appreciate the thought, but I think that I will omit them in the model.
Maybe just the one line - pointing toward your house?
Naaah - I know where that is. Towards the pub, maybe? Wait - I know where that is, too.
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Actually, my objection to the lines is artistic - not being symmetrical, they do not look right. Mmmmmmmm. I may relent later.
I have to agree, when I first saw them I was wondering just what the hell they were. Seeing the explanation of them pointing to salient features/places of interest makes a good kind of sense, but still does not do anything to make them look ‘natural’ or good when viewed from above!
Right. Again, when does the artist stop? (Not me - the installation artist.) If the thought is to commemorate important rescues, then does he add a new line every time there is a new event? If “yes”, then not only will it get pretty crowded over time, but there will also be considerable expense for each new addition. If “no”, then folks not so honoured since installation (or their relatives) will likely feel aggrieved. I think that there must be a better way of doing it; a roll of honour (or board with painted details) on display somewhere is usual.
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Finally, there is the thought that the compass looks fine just as it is. If we have users who download and want the lines, then it will be easy for them to add to the texture .jpg. Any child could do it.
Thanks for that, Wilmap. I’ll stick by my original decision and leave out the lines.
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Turning now to the cliff paths, I have come across the photo below, giving undeniable evidence of the type of safety rails in use - precast concrete posts and two rails made of steel tube, probably galvanised. That’ll do for me - I’ll get on with it.
Here’s the cliff with the new safety rails. VERY tedious, but to my eye at least, there is a new and satisfying air of reality. I may put a telescope on a stand up here before turning my attention to the beach and surf.
Thanks Simon. I laughed heartily at your comment, but of course one should not - it’s not funny, being the victim of a flood. I am an old man and I cannot remember a worse British summer. Again, the traders at Cleethorpes, another seaside resort very close to me, rely heavily on summer trade and they are all deeply worried. It is very likely that many will go out of business. That’s what we get for having an oceanic climate. Heigh ho.
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I have been looking at the numbers associated with this model and have decided that the large demands made by all those railings really preclude the developments I had in mind such as icecream stall, deckchairs, crab stalls and so on. In the circumstances these are just not on. I may make them later as separate add-ons. Right now, I intend to do only the surf and then tidy everything up for issue ASAP.
If you have any other ideas, now is the time to shout.
In no particular order ...
Sharks
U-boats
Pamela Anderson in her Baywatch outfit
Houdini jumping off the end in chains
I’ve been playing around with some Battle of Britain scenes recently, and one I’ve been thinking about since I downloaded the original pier (and tried to work with it in Bryce…) is a scene of the pier during/slightly after the “Operation Sealion” scare is the pier as it might have looked like during the early 40s when all of the Channel beaches were closed and mined, and then again after the invasion scare, when the Bomb Disposal Sappers of the RE were cleaning up the old mines and booby traps. See the Masterpiece Theater series, “Danger UXB”.
So if anyone has any photos (sources of photos) showing some beach/piers with warning signs and barbed wire, I’d like to know.
That is very interesting. I was a boy at the time, but remember it well. Cleethorpes pier had its centre portion destroyed as a precaution against German landing forces occupying the end and fighting their way ashore. It was never repaired and is still just a stump of its former self. I guess that similar things happened elsewhere.
Not much done, these last few days. I managed to produce a coin-op telescope (below) but fear that I will have to re-do it; I cannot rid myself of the thought that it looks like a WW1 machine-gun!
