Lineman Trucks

I’m working on some more linemen scenes. This setup has five different 1:34 scale Altec truck models. They are made by First Gear and available from the Altec company store. The truck in the back with the large corkscrew is called a Digger Derick.

Five Altec utility trucks on a ping pong table. Lighting courtesy of bike headlamps and inexpensive LED drawer lights.

Five Altec utility trucks on a ping pong table. Lighting courtesy of bike headlamps and inexpensive LED drawer lights.

I went on a walk through the woods collecting branches to use as fallen trees, but haven’t figured out how to work them into the composition. The problem is that you can only see the trees when they are in the foreground, but then they block the view of the trucks in the background.

The telephone pole is made of dowel and held in place with a piece of kneaded eraser.

The telephone pole is made of dowel and held in place with a piece of kneaded eraser.

My plan is to put people into this painting. With this in mind, I have become a student of construction sites and road crews, trying to learn authentic worker poses. I will probably make some two-dimensional cutouts of scale workers that I can place in the scene. This should give me the silhouettes and the shadows.

The same scene with the room lights off.

The same scene with the room lights off.

Another thing I need to work on is the background. My intention is to create a nocturne, but it should be possible to make an image that is much brighter and more chromatic. Adding some color to the sky and some sort of background, be it trees or buildings should help.

All these booms in the air lead to interesting compositions.

All these booms in the air lead to interesting compositions.

I am also experimenting with different formats, like this square crop.

I like this square crop.

I like this square crop.

Another nice thing about these truck scenes is that can paint the trucks any color I want. I’m still working on the composition, but am looking forward to choosing a color palette.

It is amazing how realistic these models are.

It is amazing how realistic these models are.