Golf driving range

[ben_issacs]

Folks, 

A feature often seen alongside a railway line is the golf driving range.

A flat, grassed area, say 150 by 150 m, with at the railway end a giant net, say 50 m high hung from tall lattice masts, at the other end a two level roofed gallery on which the golfers stand and make their shots from.

Probably also at ground level an office and toilet block (and vending machines!)

Likely too big for the average layout, but the big net and its structure and an area of grass, with a painted back scene might be possible.

Photo etch brass masts, the net could be a problem.

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

 

[cteno4]

Actually many In cities they are much smaller, more like 75m long and at times very narrow (makes you learn not to slice the ball). I have some Picts saved of rooftop ones and ones tucked in between some high rise buildings.

 

there are some very very light tulle cloth materials out there that might work, but may be a sickly wedding color green...

 

jeff

[railsquid]

In Japan you can get filter nets for kitchen sinks (a setup which I have not seen anywhere else) which are very thin and fine and would make excellent representations of nets in N scale (I was going to use one sprayed blue to represent the nets used to cover refuse put out for collection, must find somewhere to fit that in).

 

One side of the enclosure up against an urban backscene would certainly add a bit of depth to the backscene.

 

Schools usually have yards surrounded by (at a guess) 15~25 metre high nets to prevent baseball balls sailing off into the neighbourhood.

[ben_issacs]

Folks, 

Could the masts be tubular, I think that I've seen one or two that way, would be simpler than the lattice masts.

These masts would need bracing guy wires, not difficult.

The next thing is the bloke who goes around the range under a net dome on wheels, picking up the golf balls.

And one would need plenty of golf balls scattered along the range, pretty small in N scale, possibly tiny dobs of white paint could work, toothpick applied.

Regards, 

Bill,

Melbourne.

 

[cteno4]

Yep our local in town range has large round metal poles (look like the big transmission line tapering poles). There is a park to one side and a 15 story building on the other and a road at the end (you can aim for cars if you want I guess).

 

Doubt you could dab paint to scale as they would need to be about 0.2mm in dia. For n scale and also keep them even in size. No hole Micro beads would probably be the thing as you can get them down to about 0.4mm. But you wouldn’t see much from a couple feet away which would be scale like 100m. Pretty hard to see golf balls at that distance. But bit of exaggerated size and number would help with the mind’s eye trick even if you don’t see much at scale.

 

jeff

[railsquid]

If you want to model a golf ball in close proximity to a railway line which will be visible in N scale, look no further than here (Google Street View):

 

https://goo.gl/maps/9J6iCwDmEtQaJph37

 

The line in the background is the Yamanote Line and the level crossing is the only one it crosses (though there is one on the Yamanote Freight Line aka Saikyo Line just south of Yoyogi).

 

As an added bonus, there's a coin locker-based "vending machine" selling an eclectic mix of fresh food products almost right next to the golf ball.

 

Only in Japan....

 

[cteno4]

very cool! heres the ball about 8' across

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Club-Keychain-Alloy-Metal-Pendant-Simulation-Sports-Golf-Ball-Keyring-Key-Chain/153534293053?hash=item23bf5b643d:m:mrW2UDVy94we5WrzKOus2mQ

 

perhaps the club could go on the roof or up against the building.

 

jeff

[ben_issacs]

Folks, 

The key ring golf ball could be mounted above the admin. building as an advertising feature, along with the shortened club.

For the golf balls on the range, it's not so important that they be of the correct scale size, but they should all be uniform in size, even if in scale they are tennis balls.

Micro beads, how does one paint them, or do they come in white, and how would one place them on the grass?

Sprinkle, perhaps, then they have to be kept in position, spray with a matt clear varnish, or even hair spray.

Or does one take the easy way out and say that the range is closed for the winter (Are they seasonal?), with the nets still up, but no golfers or golf balls?

Have I opened Pandora's Box here? (Alt., Can of Worms)

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

 

[cteno4]

Yep at times you need to play to the mind’s eye as many details you would never see at 2’+ viewing a scene. It’s amazing how much detail our minds fill in from memory (and why eyewitness testimony can be iffy at times), so at times you need to cheat to make things seem right looking at scenes from further away than we usually do.

 

No-hole Microbeads do come in white, no way to paint individual ones. Even painting a bunch glued down (like fruit in a box) will wipe out the detail if not done with think washes and better to just get the desired colors in the beads themselves. They make great fruit for produce displays or on trees. You can find them on ebay, but for the really tiny ones (like 0.4mm) especially in white you need to look elsewhere. Some of them lie as well on their size. There use to be a great site on ebay and a web site (I think it was the same place) that had a great selection, but sadly the disappeared a few years ago. Once you have some you are set for many lifetimes, I’ve been doling mine out to friends as well for many years now!

 

yep small amount of matte medium or hairspray will hold them in place. You have to be careful on your sprinkling as a tiny pinch goes a long long long way. Dipping out tiny amounts is best done with a tiny spoon which you can fine on ebay as earwax pickers of all things. One of those odd items on ebay repurposed to hobby use!

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Folding-type-Golden-Earwax-Cleaner-Ear-Wax-Removal-Tools-Ear-Spoon-Attached-IG/233240299190?hash=item364e3486b6%3Ag%3A5i8AAOSweqNcwIIf&LH_BIN=1

 

sadly I don’t think anyone makes golfer figures currently. Merten (no longer around) I’m pretty sure did them and I may have a few as I bought a scad of them on closeout a decade ago (tennis players, ping pong, beach musicians, etc.). Might have luck bending Chinese architectural figures around by dipping in very hot water. Using software like poser and 3D printing is something I’ve wanted to try. There are some decent 3D printed figures on shapeways at 1/144.

 

another golf related scene you can do on a rooftop of a larger building, putt-putt! Sadly mini golf courses in japan seem to be a bit more aesthetic and abstract or clean and not the animated vomit of kitsch we get here (a place where animation could really be fun), but you could roll your own and I bet somewhere in japan there is a wild mini golf somewhere!

 

this one would be easy to model, even shrunk to 9 holes and tighter for a smaller rooftop.

 

http://acoupleofputts.com/2014/07/22/burn-golf-yokohama-japan/

https://images.app.goo.gl/BEqd3kFegeCwiJih7

 

cheers

 

jeff

[cteno4]

turns out presser makes a set of golfers. looks a bit oos most places though.

 

also golf cart at shapeways and others i bet would rescale to 1/150 for customers 

 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/69PR5G3NZ/n-scale-1-160-modern-golf-cart?optionId=58351543&li=marketplace

 

in looking around i stumbled on this little compressed course this guy did

 

https://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/successStory/219

 

quite fun.

 

jeff

[ben_issacs]

Jeff,

The golf course mod is a goody, and Woodland Scenics do make golfers, so the figures can be got.

Surprised with your comments about Preiser figures, they usually seem to be pretty close to correct scale.

And a mini golf course is another possibility, simpler than a driving range, and taking up less space.

Regards, 

Bill,

Melbourne.

 

[cteno4]

Sorry oos is “out of stock” not meant as out of scale.

 

jeff

[ben_issacs]

Jeff,

Good old initialisation!

Just the thing to confuse people!

Bill,

Melbourne.

 

[cteno4]

I usually don’t do military speak, but oos and oop (out of production) are ones folks use sooo much in train hobby lists and forums over the years that they stuck. I should not use them as they can easily confuses as demonstrated!

 

jeff