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Building Castle Rock
The (not-yet-completed) framework
If you have been following my projects for awhile, you know that every new model usually starts with my quite-familiar struggle for a coherent concept. After all, the model's outer form, arrangement, and atmosphere should finally make up a harmonious whole that is true to the story it is based upon. Yes, sometimes it can take quite awhile until a rounded idea has emerged.
This is why also the construction of, «Everything's for Sale,» was preceded by more than a year of idea development, although the basic theme for my frame concept was decided quite early. In my adaption of the story, from the very beginning, I wanted to focus on its parable-like character of the story, on its transferability and timelessness. The question of how to realize such an idea in the most effective way, however, was much more difficult – especially because I didn't want to alienate the story beyond recognition. So, after much toing and froing, the idea of a double project finally evolved: To provide the necessary contrast, there will be not one – but two – model adaptations in the long term. One in the «classic» version that is true to the book and one in a significantly modernized version. Once completed, the two of them will finally form a whole, when placed back-to-back. In my eyes, this is a very worthy finale for my King series.
However, a double project, such as this, not only means a longer building time, but also a staggered end presentation (at least if the viewers are not supposed to wait two full years for a result). The first part, meaning the classic version, has now been completed. The work on the modernized version will follow next.
But at least: You know the direction this project is going to take ;)
Planing Castle Rock
Of course, basic design considerations do not end with the framework concept, especially when an entire town has to be built. In fact, the actual work is just about to begin with the design of the floor plan – as in the case of «Castle Rock.»
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While planning the city, it was most important for me to bring the viewer's perspective in line with the narrative perspective of the novel. That is why the stories of the city and its inhabitants are foregrounded in my model – metaphorically, as well as practically.
Their houses are arranged on the outer edge of a semicircular base plate, while the dubious Needful Things store is placed much farther back in the city setting. In this way, it literally operates from the background, out of the shadows – and yet at the same time is the center of the scenery.
Since foreground and background are separated by the main street, the fassades of the foreground's buildings do not face the viewer, but point in the opposite direction, towards the model's center. Consequently, the viewer also does not look at the buildings' fronts, but at their gardens and backyards. Those are central locations of the story, where all the hidden conflicts between the citizens more and more intensify as the story unfolds.
The permanent lack of space
When it comes to building different scenes of a long and complex story, a chronic problem is the lack of space. And if (as in my case) there is simply no room for more than a handful of houses that should represent a whole town, then you have to rely on one or two technical tricks to create a maximum of optical depth. When building, «Everything's for Sale,» I leaned mostly on two techniques: Illusion painting and perspective distortion.
To create the illusion of a wide-ranging background scenery, most of the background's buildings (and environment) were painted directly onto the rear board. They were all painted in such a perspective that they would blend in with the real buildings that were later built. To further increase the depth effect, all real buildings were also built distorted in perspective, which means that they shrink to almost half their size towards the back wall (whereby the vanishing points used for the construction are the same as for the painted houses).
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This method is already a bit older, but it increases the depth effect enormously. I developed it when building, «Derry,» where I also described it in great detail. For this reason, I will skip further explanations on this point.
Well, and with that, the basic planning and construction features of, «Everything's for Sale,» are roughly outlined. However, those who would like to read more about it are welcome to take a look at my blog, where I documented the building process in much more detail.
To all others who have persevered until this point, welcome to the WIP Gallery! Thank you for your interest!