Individual Modular Presentation (IMP). Sounds intriguing, can you enlighten us (or maybe just me) further please?
I was fascinated by your novel Walker Marine presentation.
Tony
You will probably be familiar with modular layouts where different modellers or groups build sections within a perscribed set of dimentions with connecting tracks at set points so they can all be joined up in different formats for running. Fun on some sence and pretty spectacular when you see some of the massive gatherings the societies involved can put on (especially in the US).
However what doesnt always work with that idea is the clash of differing scenic styles and ideas (says he who once saw a flat desert section on a 2mm scheme right next to a snow covered mountain one)..........but hey ho its all part of the show!
What had me thinking in France was a four sided presentation of reasonable sized modules (each consisting 2 or 3 boards by the looks of it) but which were aranged so that the scenic area were completely devorced form one another. (ie the nice Parisian suburbs in the evening area (with lights going on and off in various appartments as a backdrop) wasnt right next to the bright springtime country station).
What differed on this set up was that each of the scenic sections was seperated from the others by hidden areas (blank boards if you will - hiding straight or curved tracks).
Now the Holcolme layout as we aquired it consitsed of a 12ft section of Holcome Brook station, 8ft for Tottington, 4ft for the viaduct and several more 4ft boards to link the 3 main areas with little but plain single track passing through fields.
Hence I took the French idea for linked but divorced scenes (in this case the 3 main feature area of the exisiting layout of a single prototype branch) and reformatted them in correct geographical order into a far shorter and more exhibition friendly L shaped format by way of a pair of hidden 45 degree curved sections (making the nice viaduct the feature of the middle of the corner).
On the French scheme the blank frontage was full height to the lighting and backsenes of their modules however we kept it low as it was limited by the height of the exisiting backdrops. It worked well and caused much comment and discussion at the shows we took it to. A format we might investigate again should a project that might work with it arise at some point.
As for Walker Marine - most photos of the real thing were taken for the road looking down over the site - hence the model was aranged to give a similar viewpoint.
Outwell here is done similarly. Alan and Neil's design offers the same angles to the viewer as most of the classic views of the site. Though if you know the real area and think about it logically the canal at the front of the model has a road and row of nice building arange parallel to the same over the other side which would make a superb backdrop to a model of the site and put the yard nearest the public - (though if built that way round it wouldnt be half as reognisable!
.............. thats the dilemas of layout design and presentations for you.