Realistic Layouts: Use the Art of Illusion to Model Like a Pro

I have read a lot of model railroading books / magazines and I will have to say this is the best one yet. The quality of writing is second to none. Explanations, diagrams, and visual aids are plentiful. If you are looking to jump up into the next level of scenery for your model railroad, then this is the book for you!

I really wanted to like this book; published in 2020 it should have been filled with updates and new material but there are too many missed opportunities. There are too many words and not enough helpful instructions or data. It would have benefited from simplifying the language and adding more data. There is too much insistence on prototype simulation (going so far as to attack freelancing) at the expense of other aspects of modeling. For example, the beautiful work of Troels Kirk, the fantastic detail work of Brian Nolan and Chuck Doan, the wonderfully imaginative work of John Allen, the recreation of a historic time and place by Scott Robertson (and many, many others).There are contradictions in the book. Sometimes praising John Allen and sometimes mildly disparaging his work as too fanciful. The foreword to the book, written by Tony Koester, states that: “the art of illusion comes in as we try to convince the viewer that something only a fraction of the “prototypes’s” size is a suitable stand-in for the original. As CJ [the author of the book] implies, the farther we walk out on the limb called “freelancing,” the more difficult it is to convince anyone that we aren’t merely playing with nice toys. [Nice. My comment]. Turn the page to the book and it says “prototype or freelanced – there is no right or wrong here.”If you want a good book on realistic operation, the works of John Armstrong would be a good start. His books are absolutely filled with data and helpful charts and graphs and useful examples. If you want a good book on building a model railroad, the books of Dave Frary and Lou Sassi come to mind.One example of missed opportunities (and there are several) is the section on the use of mirrors. Longer than most other works in this regard, it would have benefited from step by step examples. Some of the examples in the book are difficult to see.

After reading this, I have to say that it is chalked full of useful information. A must have for any railroad modeller. Another great book from a great author! I'm glad I purchased it.

There is some good information in the book, and the author is clearly a knowledgeable and skilled modeler. However, the good content could have been encapsulated in far fewer pages, and to get it you have to read a lot of material where the author clearly is passing judgement on others while claiming he is not. I should have anticipated what I was in for when the "about the author" info said, "[he]... describes himself as 'an elder statesman of the hobby of model railroading'." Anybody who calls himself "an elder statesman" of anything is pretty likely to be puffed-up and self-impressed, and that holds true here.I was also disappointed the photos did not give a better view of "this is what it looks like in real life" and "this is one way to replicate it." Instead, in many of the photos, the item being discussed was a small portion of the overall photo. If the important information is in the bottom right 20% of the photo, the other 80% of the photo is just wasted opportunity to deliver useful information.I understand why it was not a techniques book - the subjects covered could fill a dozen techniques books. But the information they set out to convey was often not particularly clear or well-presented.I really like the Kalmbach books as a general rule, but this one, I think, was a swing and a miss. (I purchased the book directly from Kalmbach.)

Great reference book with loads of great ideas and how to info.

This the worst produced book I have ever seen by Kalmbach. The pictures taken by the author are badly lite, and colour saturated. The book its populated by lots of small photo's which makes it even harder to understand exactly what his point is. Some of the photo's look out of focus. Obviously no one at Model Railroader proof read this book, its way below their normal standards. Don't buy it. Master Model Railroader? Obviously does not apply to photographing model railways up to publishing standard, a total waste of money

This book was returned, because in the advert it gave the impression that this book dealt with UK layouts, however, this was not the case the book solely dealt with US layouts with not mention of UK scenery.If you want help with UK scenery, this is not the book for you in my opinion

Bought by mistake in UK. This is aimed at American model railroaders.

Slightly misleading title, though it does feature (smoke and) mirrors, this is just a really good book on how to ensure your model railroad is as good as it can be.

Although an excellent book, I was disappointed as I needed a basic how to, not look what I did.