king derelict

Thank you very much Ken - and you are exactly right Alan

I see what you mean about all those wheels. I look forward to seeing them building up the diorama alan

Beautiful work Jav. The paintwork is excellent Alan

I experimented with basic background colours for the grass areas. These will be predominantly covered in dry grass with greener shades where there is more shade or water. I decided on a green grey mix for the base and added some dry grass to assess the effect I think that is going to work so I painted in all the grass areas. Its dried a bit greener than I expected but from a distance it looks quite good without going further. At least its an indication of what the finished model may look like I added a few more rocks and found that I had forgotten the cliffs at the back corner so they were built up and painted. Trees and bushes get added to the back side so I kept the lower cliffs fairly simple. Ready to add grass I think Thanks for looking in, all the comments and helpful tips and likes Alan

Thank you very much Mike. The landscaping is a fun exercise after all the brickwork. The model is going to 26"L x 24" W and 16 " high. And its heavy. I'm rather puzzled wondering where to display it. Alan

Thank you very much OC. I was a bit nervous about the quantity of cliffs that needed to be worked but I'm really pleased with the result. Using Sculptamold as the material to glue all the cast cliffs into place worked much better than using straight plaster. I think I will need some bare patches amongst the grass. I'm thinking some of the Mig saand effect might be worth trying. It can be buried under the grass if it doesn't work. Alan

Thank you very much EG. I made some trials and ended up with green - grey. It seems to have dried a bit greener than I planned but I think it will still work under the grass. Alan

Great recovery Craig. Skill to obtain a deep gloss on a car intimidates me alan

Thank you Jack. I appreciate the help with the scenery Alan

Work intruded so I had less time than I wanted to move on with the landscape. I was pleased with the results of the experiments on the plaster rock faces so I mixed up some large jars of light grey and dark grey washes and worked on the rocks and cliff faces. I was a bit restrained with the brown accents, only added a very small amount of the beige and then washing it into the greys. Tomorrow I will add a base colour to the areas to be grassed. I am still think of what to use for the ramp and path. The kit shows using broken tiles embedded in plaster but that's not how the real thing looks. It looks more like gravel and I also need to add a few shallow steps. I have some gravel like material which I may add to the Mig terrain material and see how that works out. Figures will need to be added before then. I think that I will need a case to display this safely so I need to finalise the lighting lead out and order the acrylic sheets. This is going to be a heavy piece of work. Thank you all for looking in, the encouragement and helpful comments and likes Alan

Thank you Ken I'm thinking of painting the whole area to be grassed prior to adding the grass in case I get any thin areas. I'm trying to decide between a very light grey (to compliment teh rocks) or a khaki / beige (or even a grey warmed up with a bit of beige) Thanks for the help Alan

Thank you Craig. This bit is really fun too. I watched a bunch of (mostly railway enthusiasts) landscaping and its a whole new world. Some fantastic stuff and as usual another big rabbit hole to go down. Alan

Thank you very much Waitoa. It feels like its all coming together. The landscaping is a whole new adventure Alan

Thank you for the kid comments Andrew I think the colour scheme will work for the model as a whole. I plan to aim for something like the lighter stones. I can always add a darker wash later if it looks necessary. I have a whole wilderness of grasses, brambles, bushes and creepers to throw at an imperfections. From the drone video there is quite a lot of growth on the rock faces and there is a wood around one side. I'm hope 70 tree armatures will cover that. Alan

Thank you Andy. I think I have some matte medium; I'll hunt it out. Alan

Looks like this is going to be a beautiful model Your bike has a lot mor Regazza appeal than my old BSA Bantam back in the day Alan

A day of experimentation. I came back from the dentist to find a package from Woodland Scenics so I think I have everything I need to add grass, bushes and trees. \ I want to pint the cliffs first and get a grey wash on the ground before starting the turf so I used a handful of surplus plaster rocks to experiment using craft acrylic paints. I've learnt that very weak washes work best with maybe a darker wash in the crevices. I added a light touch of beige and yellow for mineralisation in the rock and ended up with results as below. Bottom right is an early effort and is horrible. Too much pigmentation. The two on the left are I think a reasonable attempt at limestone. I welcome thoughts on changes Many thanks for the advice, comments and likes Alan

Thank you very much EG. I'll be using your (and Jacks) suggestions Alan

Thanks OC. I'm a bit concerned about getting a shine from the glue. I will experiment with the diluted white glue but the spray can may be another option Thanks again Alan

Thank you very much Jack. I'll stick with water as the diluting agent and the dish soap is a good tip too. Hopefully I will get started in the next few days. Alan

I finished adding the rock faces and blending them into the landscape with the Scupltamold. I have to work with small batches because the setting time is very short; I only seem to get about ten minutes before it becomes too difficult to work. I added the spur and the rock plug that are featured in the drone video. The rock plug is a bit too close to the end of the wall but I don't have any more depth on the baseboard. Cliff effects were added to this too. Finally rocks were added to the slopes and the edge of the pathway roughly in line with the real landscape. This will be left to dry for a day. Work calls tomorrow and the Woodland Scenic parcel should arrive then too. I think the next task will be to add the grass. I have the Woodland Scenics fine yellow grass for the majority of the landscape with some green added in shady areas. This will be a new experience for me. I have used the material on small areas and brushed adhesive on to the base. This time I'm thinking about using a spray bottle loaded with what seems to be commonly called "scenic glue". Woodland Scenics make their own but I have also read that the same adhesive can be arrived at by diluting white glue with four parts water or four parts alcohol (isopropyl variety rather than the maple bourbon). Does anyone have any experiences or preferences with these varieties. It also seems that once applied the grass should be sprayed with the scenic glue to bed it down. The alcohol based variant is claimed to have better wetting and penetrating power. Some tests are going to be necessary. I am going to need to be fairly careful with these next steps. I don't think I dare invert the model to get rid of excess loose turf. It would use this years and next years allowance of bad language if the towers parted company with the base Thank you all fotr looking in and all the comments Alan

Thank you very much OC. This feels like the fun bit after all the brick work. I'm still a bit nervous about it though Alan

The landscaping continues. The lay up of kitchen towels soaked in diluted white glue was completed but the pattern of the towels was too visible so I added a layer of toilet paper which also had the advantage that it could be moved around with the brush to create undulations and contours in the basic shapes. Once dry I gave it a coat of gesso to give it a good surface for adding plaster or paint. I had made a series of rock face formations using plaster of Paris and crumpled kitchen foil which turned out quite nicely. I have started building up teh cliff faces with them. I am using Sculptamold to stick them to the formers and also to fill in and blend the pieces. \ The cheap artists palette knives are working really well. I'm glad I bought them I had originally planned to do the grass effects and then add the boulders to the hillsides but I think that is going to look a bit artificial and the boulders will look too separate so I will add them as part of this current activity. I will try to mask them while the grass is being added. Another shipment of Woodlands Scenics is expected shortly I'm also trying to decide on the base colour for the areas beyond the cliffs. I plan to use yellow grass and thinking a light grey base might work better than tan or brown. Darker green bushes will also be added and the limestone rocks will rise out of the grass Thanks for looking in, all the likes and comments. Its starting to feel like I'm actually achieving something. Alan

Thankfully the severe thunderstorm here never materialized and the tornadoes avoided us. Just torrential rain for a while. alan

That sounds thoroughly nasty Jack. A recipe for a lot of flooding. I hope you are staying safe, dry and warm alan