Behind-The-Scenes look at the
layout changes and useful tricks I used during
the making of Hero of the Rail.
(I used my phone to take the first couple of pictures for the behind the scenes)
- I usually like to use household products as I like to Reuse, Rebuild, and Recycle.
- I had to make many changes to scenes that were not possible to do for TOMY/Trackmaster engines. Some were possible, but I realized that I would have to sacrifice the quality.
- I like my layout to be realistic and large; which is why I use real water and dirt.
Top 10 Questions:
1. Why did you destroy Patchwork Hiro?
A. For the good of having a quality remake. The chase scene with Hiro and Spencer needed to the best. Although, Hiro doesn't have many parts that are easy to remove or even able to be removed.
2. How long did it take to make Hero of The Rails?
A. About a month, where one week I spent every hour working on the filming and editing. Basically, near 14 hours out of 24 hours (1 day) for a week was spent on this project.
3. How do you simulate an engine moving with that background for example, in the chase scene with Hiro and Spencer?
A. Now that someone figured it out, I use a treadmill with a ho scale background attached to the tread mat. The treadmill is on its side as you see below. I believe after search for a week or two that there is no single ho scale background long enough to cover this treadmill completely over without using another ho scale background.
4. Why did you make the Sodor Steamworks like this?
A. I answer that below keep going down the page.
5. Why are your tracks dirty?
A. My layout is in a basement that is surrounded by dirt and landscaping grass turf, that sits on the floor, and I have to walk over the tracks to get places. Cleaning it all the time would be a waste of time. Also, it make the tracks look sort of real.
6. What is the next Thomas and Friends movie remake?
A. I'm not thinking about the next movie anytime soon.
7. What was the hardest scene to do?
A. Spencer falling into the mud. Spencer's weight wouldn't break through the wood properly like how see in HOTR with him crossing over a bit, then falling. The narrator said wooden bridge, so I got a real wooden plank for the bridge. Working with real water can be dangerous (for the camera) considering I need to be close to the engines to get an eye level and personal view.
8. Why did you choose to remake HOTR? Why not King of the Railway or Day of The Diesels?
A. HOTR is my favorite CGI Thomas and Friends movie. Hiro is probably one of my favorite characters in the CGI series. King of the Railway, Day of the Diesel, Blue Mountain Mystery, and Misty Island Rescue are more expensive to do considering materials needed. Also, some characters are not TOMY/Trackmaster/Plarail products yet like Norman. Misty Island Rescue is pretty boring to me maybe sometime in the future though.
9. Why is Thomas pulling three flatbeds rather than seven Victor says in the remake?
A. It wouldn't work out pulling seven flatbeds. Three is just enough for Thomas and is easier for him pull around curves.
10. What happens to Patchwork Hiro and Trackmaster Hiro (One used as scrap Hiro)?
A. I'll use them in scrapyard scenes for future remakes.
The making of the
new forest (Later on, I rebuild that
forest to become Hiro's Hideout) and lake with bridge
right above.
Clear blue at
beginning, but muddy brown for Hero of the rail
Materials Used:
- Water (Obviously real!)
- Soil (Real!)
- Fake Tree ordered from china
- Trash bags
- Shower curtains (Not shown in pictures)
- Spray paint
- Duct Tape
- Green towels (Sometimes I prefer to use a towel for grass than a grass mat since a
towel can take in the water).
I still need to finish spray painting it green for background, but the spray paint can leave a heavy odor for days in the house. I will get to that eventually.
Beginning to End Order of Photos (Camera was a phone so quality sucks)
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| Pond Liner from the first lake I made (In black). |
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| You can see the green shower curtain right next to the blue track above. |
I cleaned up the main tender engines for the movie.
Thomas at the water tower scene (Beginning of the movie)
I suction out the water and held it using my finger to keep it squirting over Thomas till Spencer passed.
Sticky Jelly Thomas
I used two different Thomas trains for when Thomas got covered in jam and tree/bush shrubs. I washed him after those scenes and it should be clear that he still works. How would I've made the rest of the movie without my main hero?
Used real jam and ho scale bushes.
The Sodor Steamworks
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| The design is very unusually, but practical for me to film (Filming inside the steamworks was easy since the material was thin and removable. Also, I'm very tall so I need all the room I can get.) . The color of choice was weird, but was the only thing I had to work with. |
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| The Sodor Steamworks uses engines rather than the humans you see working in the work scenes. It's to allow random engines to have a scene in this movie. |
Hiro's Ship (Lego Ship) Cost: $39.99 USD
Real Plants in Hiro's Hideout
For the first couple of weeks after I made Hiro's Hideout, little plants started to grow in the soil. They all eventually died out after a couple of days.
Poor Spencer
