Scenic update for Sweethome Alabama

Jon Grant Apr 25, 2011

  1. Jon Grant

    Jon Grant TrainBoard Member

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    I have been working on a few trees recently and am now ready to plant them. however I needed to add some grass and forest floor before I could plant the trees.

    The area I chose to treat first was the small hillock to the left of the silos, being only a couple of feet long by 5 inches deep. The first task was to bed the silos into the scenery with 'Das' modelling clay.

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    I also made a couple of retaining walls using 'Wills' random stone sheet, to represent the road access to the loading area behind the silos. I also covered the clay with Woodland Scenics 'earth blend'

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    Jon
     
  2. Jon Grant

    Jon Grant TrainBoard Member

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    Once the silos had been bedded in and the track inside the shed ballasted, I added a few mud landslips from the Das modelling clay which, when dry, resembles the colour of Alabama clay.

    I also tore up various Silflor grass mats and glued them to the sub-base in small patches, varying the colours as I went. The next job will be to blend in some forest ground cover before adding some bushes and trees.

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    Now, fetch me a shrubbery....Ni!

    Jon
     
  3. Jon Grant

    Jon Grant TrainBoard Member

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    I added some forest floor scatter, weeds, bushes and some dead trees to the grassy hill. The scene is starting to come together.

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    Next job will be to plant some trees.

    Jon
     
  4. gregamer

    gregamer TrainBoard Supporter

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    This looks real good Jon.
     
  5. Dannyrandomstate

    Dannyrandomstate TrainBoard Member

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    I want you to cut down the biggest tree in the forest with..... A HERRING!!!!!!

    That scenery looks great! Even more inspiration for my layout.
     
  6. GeorgeV

    GeorgeV TrainBoard Member

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    John,
    Great work, once again! And thanks for the tip on using modeling clay. I have used a variety of things to ensure buildings sit in the scenery instead of on it but an air-drying modeling clay was not one of them. My experience with clay begins and ends with Play-Doh. So, thanks!

    George V.
     
  7. MOPMAN

    MOPMAN TrainBoard Member

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    That looks like snake country. Keep up the good work.
     
  8. Jon Grant

    Jon Grant TrainBoard Member

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    I got the trees and temporary backscene added late last night, so the scene is pretty much complete, although I may darken the clay erosion slightly. I also added some flowers to the grass and have a few other plants to make and add later.

    Details will be added to the yard area later, but for now, I want to concentrate on the tree-lined areas at the back of the layout

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    Jon
     
  9. ratled

    ratled TrainBoard Supporter

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    I love looking at your progress work like this thread. Simply amazing, thanks for sharing Jon. It looks stunning!

    Steve
     
  10. Jon Grant

    Jon Grant TrainBoard Member

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    Taking the bull by the horns, I am going to jump straight to the next board that butts-up to the area just forested. It is only 21in x 15in but includes 2 roads, a bridge and a stone loading platform.

    The first photo shows the board from the back - the backscene will cover the white area

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    The next photo shows the part of the board that joins onto the area just next to the silos - just visible are the brass aligning dowels.

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    This photo shows the whole area to be scenicked - the wood bridge will sit at the far end, as a view block for the hole through the backscene into the as-yet unbuilt fiddle yard

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    The last photo shows the front of the board (maroon) and the stone loading dock

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    Now to lay some tarmac

    Jon
     
  11. luckerby

    luckerby New Member

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    John, just as always, incredible. Ever since discoverying "Sweethome Chicago" and looking closely at the photos to understand how *does* he make it look so real, your work does not seize to amaze me, and it's a real inspiration.
     
  12. Mudkip Orange

    Mudkip Orange TrainBoard Member

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    Niiiiiice.
     
  13. Jon Grant

    Jon Grant TrainBoard Member

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    I added a dirt/gravel access road using torn up pieces of Silflor scenic matting, glued down with household glue. I had earlier added some DAS modelling clay to simulate bare patches, but these seem to have been covered up

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    I'll continue with the grass until the area is covered, then add some bushes and weeds. The bridge has only been added temporarily, as it is easier to work without it in place.

    Jon
     
  14. cmstpmark

    cmstpmark TrainBoard Supporter

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    Jon,

    I am constantly amazed that you hit Midwestern flora and fauna so well. I live in Southern Michigan, so we see similar plant life here. The bare patches get covered up in the 1:1 scale landscapes, too. Really, we go from snow/grey skies to brown+muddy/grey skies to olive drab+brown/grey skies to some sun and everything turns Testors green, overnight. Bare patches are covered in green within a week, unless the ground is too toxic to support life. What you have going on here is dead on to the Grand Trunk line between Imaly City and Attica, MI, circa 1985...mid July. The bridge survived until the late 1980's and was a blast to fly over in my friends 1974 Lincoln Mark V doing about 50 MPH (80 KMH). Yes, you can get a 5000 Lb car airborne..it's just simple physics.

    Sally forth!

    CMStP Mark
     
  15. Jon Grant

    Jon Grant TrainBoard Member

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    I made a bit more progress on the grass, completing the coverage on the small board. I also bedded in the bridge and started adding bushes and shrubs

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    Now to continue with the bushes before adding weeds and trees

    Jon
     
  16. fireball_magee

    fireball_magee TrainBoard Member

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    Love it! I am amazed at how you hit this dead on all the time.I feel like it should be 90 and humid as all get out!Wodnerful work Jon.
     
  17. Jon Grant

    Jon Grant TrainBoard Member

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    I've added some trees, flowers and a colour light signal to the small board. I originally had the trees much more tightly packed, but removed over 15 of them as I couldn't see the wood for the trees.

    Here are the latest photos

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    Jon
     
  18. verse2damax

    verse2damax TrainBoard Supporter

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    Awesome!!!

    Love the scenery details Jon. The variety of trees are fantastic!!!
     
  19. stewarttrains98

    stewarttrains98 TrainBoard Member

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    Looks great on the scenery. really like the fine small details that where added first then all the bigger trees. So when viewing the overall scene, its awesome. thanks for sharing with us.
     
  20. Jon Grant

    Jon Grant TrainBoard Member

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    Into June, and the work on Sweethome Alabama begins again, after a short hiatus while Sweethome Chicago was prepped for exhibiting a couple of weeks ago.

    I chose the area just to the right of the silos for treatment, to continue the scenic progress along the back of the layout from left to right. So far, Silflor scenic matting has been glued to the hill base and loose leaves have been glued in place.

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    Jon
     

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