Looking for help from a North Lincolnshireman (or woman)....

[mjolnir]

Friends,

Several years ago, whilst looking for something else, I cam across this image on Wikipedia

and filed it away in the event I ever wanted to model it. Recently, I decided it would make a good subject for my exploration of "virtual brickmasonry" using Blender, and investigated the image more thoroughly, finding first that the building was located at Medge Hall, Lincolnshire, England, and discovering more specifically that it is on West of Crowle, on Chapel Road, east of Jaque's Bank road at co-ordinates (53°36'2.70"N, 0°52'13.14"W). More thorough research shows first, that the buiding, as of 2015, has been renovated

and that it is visible from the rail line that runs through Crowle.

Unfortunately, both of the images are of the same view, so I'm hoping that there might be a Trainzer in Crowle, or the vicinity, or who knows someone who is, who might get me two additional images: one from the Southeast looking NW, that is, looking at the other end of the front of the building, and perhaps one from the NW looking SE which might show the backside of the building. Contact me by PM for more information.

ns

 

[cascaderailroad]

I got on my hip waders, and walked all the way across the "Great Pond" and found this: https://www.google.com/search?q=Med...UICCgC&biw=1200&bih=639#imgrc=R0fggfMxVlcDoM:

 

[pcas1986]

One wonders how the goat got into that collection of pictures.

For Noel. Clicking on the picture takes you to a real estate page that has dimensions of the building not including the height. Given that it was a chapel then it is likely there is a country manor nearby.

 

[mjolnir]

Paul, the image of the goat was made in the vicinity of Medge Hall, a former station on a still active rail line, and "Medge Hall" is in the title of the image provided by the one who uploaded it. Thanks for the lead on the real estate page, too; I consider the dimensions given on the real estate page to be insufficiently precise for my purposes; I'm getting dimensions by counting bricks--I'm assuming the bricks are the historical size of bricks in the UK--9 inches long, 4.5 inches wide, and 3 inches high. WIP Blender screenshot to follow.

ns

 

[KenGreen]

Do you need to allow for the mortar joints - 3/8"

Ken

 

[mjolnir]

Friends, here's the promised screenshot of the WIP:

ns

 

[rumour3]

Google Streetview from 2009 shows it before it was renovated. Not sure if this link will work:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.6...XXOYQv61wk0rAfuAkPBQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

R3

 

[KenGreen]

Friends, here's the promised screenshot of the WIP:

ns

Are you creating the brick courses in mesh? Or are you creating a mesh from which to create a texture.

Ken

 

[mjolnir]

Ken, before addressing your questions, please note that the primary purpose of the building of the model of the chapel is not the chapel itself, but rather better knowledge of the workings of the Blender Array modifier.

As to the questions you pose, I don't see those as "either / or" questions. Some of the brickwork is individually placed units, but most of the brickwork visible makes use of one, and sometimes more) array modifiers assigned to single brick objects. And while the "base model" might eventually be brought into Trainz on a highly limited basis, the more likely appearance of the model as a Trainz asset will be by means of the technique you suggest, creating one or more image textures to apply to much lower poly model.

I see this method as providing the Trainz community with a means of getting more accurate brickwork in general. For example, there have been a number of assets I've downloaded in which I see the brickwork on the side walls not match the brickwork on the end walls. Now, I know this happens in real life; a building has two sides and the back made in concrete masonry units, and a front which is made of standard brick. But that's not what's made in the models I'm talking about. What I refer to is buildings in which the bricks on the sides appear to be the same height as the bricks on the side, but are about 10 percent longer. But I've also seen a number of buildings with really interesting brickwork, for example the building at 420 Throckmorton Street, in Fort Worth, Texas (cf. <https://goo.gl/maps/jiDLpwvvQ5J2>). I doubt that a pre-made texture of that brickwork is to be had, but the technique I'm exploring will allow me to create one.

rumor3, when I used both Google maps and Google Earth to try to view the building from the Southeast, the bits I'm looking for clarification on were obscured by trees and shrubbery at the time the Google camera vehicle passed by (March, 2009). I've contacted the estate agent who listed the property to see if perhaps they might have an image of the Southeast corner of the building where the view is unimpeded by flora. If they cannot provide something, then perhaps the street view imagery will be updated in the near future allowing me to see that view after the removal of the shrubbery.

I started this thread with a "Man of La Mancha" moment, if not an impossible dream that some members of the UK trains community lived close enough to the current building to could pop over, snap some photos of the requested views with a smart phone or camera, and pop it off to me, then at least an unlikely one.

ns

 

[KenGreen]

I was curious as I regard you as one of the Blender experts and did not know if you were researching a different method of setting out brickwork or was laying it out precisely to bake a sample for later use.
I look forward to your posts on this as I've used the array modifier on outside steps but never thought of using them on bricks.

Ken

 

[mjolnir]

A more recent peek...

Friends,

Work has come along on my building inspired by the erstwhile Methodist Chapel at Medge Hall, in North Lincolnshire. This building is likely to be of special interest to anyone modeling the LNER and predecessors in North Lincolnshire, as it was close enough that it might have been visible from the Medge Hall station, formerly the first stop (geographically) west of Crowle.


as can be seen from these front and back views.

This is an ultra-detailed model at this point, as shown by the stats: 293,390 vertices / 215,164 faces / 429,336 tris spread across 877 different objects. While the size of the building is, in most respect, accurate to within a few inches, the cupola and ridge details are something of an invention of my own conceit. It is clear from the photos of the structure before being re-purposed to a residence that the building had a cupola, but details of what it originally looked like have thus far eluded me. It's also not clear to me when the building was first constructed, nor what the details of the original windows and door were. My current plan is to use nine (or twelve) pane windows for the rectangular bits of the windows, and something else for the semicircular tops of the windows.

ns

 

[cascaderailroad]

How many poly's is that asset ?

A simple image could replace all those thousands of individual bricks

I am disappointed that the reconstructed building does not have the original scalloped woodwork, but instead has generic HomoDepot siding

 

[mjolnir]

How many poly's is that asset ?

As pictured, 215,164.

A simple image could replace all those thousands of individual bricks.

That's the plan. Although I suspect that it may take more than one image. I anticipate that the first LOD will take the poly count down to about 650 to 700, but I'll still be able to get a reasonably good facsimile of this part

of the chimney.

I am disappointed that the reconstructed building does not have the original scalloped woodwork,...

Well, I tried, but I could not manage to get the original woodwork to scale down correctly, so I had to settle for a reproduction. The good news, though, is that the newer product doesn't rot.

As I noted in an earlier post in this thread, though, the technique is not so much about creating the "ordinary" brickwork in this building. My real reason for exploring the technique is demonstrated in the blue bricks, especially bordering the header fans at the top of the window, and the bit of the chimney I showed in this post. That is to say, to use the technique of "laying" a wall in Blender to generate an exact masonry texture one needs, but is unable to find on any texture site. Further, while all of the bricks presently have the exact same hue, since they are at the moment individual objects, or at least, individual meshes, I can go a couple steps further in this model, and change the hue of individual bricks to get an even more realistic bit of brickwork.

ns

 

[JCitron]

You are doing a nice job there, Noel.

I would see something like this building being repurposed for a railroad lineside building more than a residence. Given the architecture of the original building, I would date it around the 1870s or 1880s since it's very Victorian looking.

I agree though it's too bad they didn't reproduce the original fancier trim and woodwork, but that's typical of today anyway. It's details like this that get stripped away when the vinyl siding is put on. We had that with my old ca. 1875-76 farmhouse. We removed the vinyl siding and found all kinds of fancy trim underneath including the scalloped shingles up on the second storey of the house.

John

 

[mjolnir]

John, the re-purposing to a residence is not my doing, rather that's what happened to the original. My model is more as it looked in its original use. I suspect that the original building was a simple rectangle, with the original door next to the entryway. I suspect that this original rectangular building was earlier--perhaps much earlier--than your proposed 1875 plus or minus 5 years. I think that the 1875 time frame was the time period during some remodeling, in which the original door was converted to a window, and the entry way constructed, and the fascia on the end and entryway constructed to the building.

I am trying to make contact with an historian who might be able to fill in some of the gaps in my knowledge of the building: when it was constructed, and by whom, and who may have made changes, and when it might have been made redundant. I'm also trying to find photos, if possible, even of the interior, to get even more information.

One of the things that attracted me to the building was the fact that the building was that the simplicity allows the building to be adapted to a wide variety of structures from about the same time, and usable not only in the UK, where the building still stands, but in large parts of the US, and perhaps Australia, as well. Besides being adapted to various places of worship by changing some of the details, so, too, it could be modeled to be the a fraternal organization hall, a small school house, or even a small pub, just to name a few of the many possibilities.

ns

 

[JCitron]

John, the re-purposing to a residence is not my doing, rather that's what happened to the original. My model is more as it looked in its original use. I suspect that the original building was a simple rectangle, with the original door next to the entryway. I suspect that this original rectangular building was earlier--perhaps much earlier--than your proposed 1875 plus or minus 5 years. I think that the 1875 time frame was the time period during some remodeling, in which the original door was converted to a window, and the entry way constructed, and the fascia on the end and entryway constructed to the building.

I am trying to make contact with an historian who might be able to fill in some of the gaps in my knowledge of the building: when it was constructed, and by whom, and who may have made changes, and when it might have been made redundant. I'm also trying to find photos, if possible, even of the interior, to get even more information.

One of the things that attracted me to the building was the fact that the building was that the simplicity allows the building to be adapted to a wide variety of structures from about the same time, and usable not only in the UK, where the building still stands, but in large parts of the US, and perhaps Australia, as well. Besides being adapted to various places of worship by changing some of the details, so, too, it could be modeled to be the a fraternal organization hall, a small school house, or even a small pub, just to name a few of the many possibilities.

ns

This could very well be a much older building which was renovated and updated, which is so common everywhere then and today. The architecture does fit in well up here in New England as it is similar to many of the industrial buildings associated with the once thriving textile and woolen industries. In fact even as a church hall, or meeting house would probably fit right in as well. Where I live, the next largest city a bit west of me, Lawrence, MA, was one of the planned cities in the region, and there are such buildings built by the mill owners for their workers.

Good luck contacting the historical society. I am interested in hearing the results as projects like this fascinate me.

John