Mike, your modelling is an inspiration. Have you thought of writing a book on your techniques, both for modelling and photography? There are a lot of us interested in modelling winter and so little has been written on the subject. -Jason
The dirt road is about 9 ft long and was done in two sections. I used water putty with fine sand rolled into it while it was setting. I worked some ruts into it with a small paintbrush handle. Some of the ruts were too deep, so just as the putty was hardening I scraped it back with a craft knife blade. Also, to get very slight undulations, I scraped putty from some places and piled it up in others, figuring the ruts would mostly be in the wetter depressions. That was another good reason to scrape it back with the blade, because initially I was a bit too enthusiastic with the ruts. The second pic shows it after I had tried some paint for a pretty poor result. After scraping it back I had to add more sand, saving it mostly for the middle and edges... Side view showing the undulations... I think this shot was taken after I had added some paint. Then I painted it with acrylics
Paint was probably a mix of burnt umber, raw umber, black and white. With a thin brush I ran darker paint along some of the ruts The paint ended up ok, but I felt it needed more, so I powdered plenty of pastels and rubbed them on once the paint was well and truly dry. The pastels gave it an earthy look that I hadn't achieved with paint. I made a point of adding the same pastels to the road's surrounds as well, to help it to belong there. I hope this gives you some ideas. Mike
Your modeling is above and beyond what most of us could ever hope to achieve. How do you what method to use? Is it just trial and error? Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191
Seeing how well you do with winter keeps me wondering what the fall color season would look like, after your magic touch.
Thanks Jason but no I haven't given it any thought. If some people find my posts useful - as I do theirs - that'll do me, I think. Mike
Yes Matthew it's pretty much trial and error, and I have to make corrections. I often rely on paints and in this case pastels to bail me out I like the water putty, but I well remember the first time I used it. I found it pretty unforgiving then, but it gets easier with practice. I prefer it to plaster because it's tougher and resistant to knocks. Boxcab I'd like a crack at Autumn. Maybe one day I'll change the theme of the layout. I don't think I'll ever get the chance to construct another. Candy you're welcome. Mike
I have planning permission to extend the layout around the corner which will be about 10 feet or so. It'll only be a narrow shelf, maybe a foot wide at most, but I hope to include some sort of low relief industry with a runaround siding. That will give trains a reason to head down there. Now I know where the main can go, I have to see about sorting out the remaining line that comes from the double-track bridge. Something like this, I suppose. There's no room for anything elaborate. There's a passing siding just the other side of the bridge which should come in handy. I can reclaim the gap between layout and temporary backscene, giving enough room for a couple of fifty-footers. Main to the right, end of the bakery line to the left. I plan to split the bakery line with a left hand switch, just like the prototype. Perhaps a printed or painted bakery as well. I'd like to screen the bakery line from the rest of the layout, maybe with double-sided flat buildings, or loads of pines, or a mix of both, or maybe I'll just place a backscene in there whenever I want to take photos. All suggestions welcome!
Well ok then :funny: I made a dirt road from Agnew's water putty [Aussie brand] 2nd photo shows it after it was partly set. 3rd pic I'm scraping it with a wet blade. 4th pic is how I left it.
Next came the paints Jo Sonja's acrylics Chestnut, Red Earth, Black and Warm White. Pic 3 shows crushed shellgrit glued on. Pic 4 shows it after more painting, darkest tones in the damp hollows, with earthy pastel dust to finish things off and to kill any sheen.
Class A work Mike, and I thank you for making me think cold thoughts here in AZ for a moment while I looked at these pics.