First post of 2009...Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap!

Hi to all...I must get on here and post more often! As the title alludes to, I have started to work on the scenery component for the layout. Some photos to show what I've been up to (with the help of our round-robin 'FRED' mini-group members...)

This is a 'before' photo of the Winfield (British Columbia) area. As you can see, I have done some more backdrop painting.

Some close-up photos of the backdrop...I might tone down some of the autumn colors, especially to the left of the log cabin in the 3rd photo...just a little too 'bright'!



A 'before' photo of the river mini-scene. I wasn't happy with the arch bridge, so I decided to remove it and place a through truss bridge in its place...


This helps to fill in the corner of the room. A modest tunnel with a swift outflow creek (with rapids, cascading water and a waterfall or two), draining into a small pond, which in turn will drain into the mountain river. This is plaster cloth on top of chicken wire, with another coat of plaster painted with a sandy 'dirt' color. I determined the creek flow and pond contour by pouring real water (with blue tint) down the creek and into the pond. Worked like a champ...


A closer shot of the outfall creek. Note the rock 'castings', made out of scrap drywall mud chunks!


I tried to do some moderate rock outcrops with SculptaMold, carved to look like rock strata (foded and mangled), with a diluted wash of India Ink. I would say the result is satisfactory!

The river scene looks good...at least the one bank does! I went and did some more plaster carving with a dental pick, along with another shot of india ink wash, to bring out more rock relief around the tunnel portal. The wing abutment was scratchbuilt, with 1/8" FoamCore board, with a thin coat of drywall mud and stained with the india ink wash.
An overall 'chopper' view of the project to date. Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Ken.