The stream bed is now painted. I used Folk Art Nutmeg, Folk Art Maple Syrup, and Folk Art Burnt Umber.
Next I add Woodland Scenics Talus. I used Coarse Gray, Medium Gray, and Extra Coarse Gray. Now comes coloring the talus.
I have started coloring the talus and added the highway bridge pier to the diorama. I also added talus around the pier.
For coloring the talus I dabbed different colors of paint on the talus with a brush. The order of the paints that I used is: Folk Art Clay Bisque, Folk Art Burnt Umber, Folk Art Raw Umber, and Folk Art Amish Blue. I did this process twice in the same order. After the paint was dry I went over it with a Raw Umber Wash (5 part bbwsf:1 part paint). I am not totally thrilled with the color. I feel it is darker than I wanted but talus stains differently than plaster of Paris or hydrocal. I think I am going to hit them again with at least one lighter color was mostly likely Raw Sienna and maybe a light gray wash. The last was will be a Black wash which will bring out the cracks and crevices in the talus.
Since I did not like how dark the talus looked I decided to go over with a wash made from Folk Art Raw Sienna (1 part) and blue windshield washer fluid (5 parts). Now I need to hit the talus with a black wash and then the turf can begin.
I finished coloring the talus by going over it with a wash made from Folk Art Licorice (1 part) and blue windshield washer fluid (5 parts).
I then began laying the turf. I used Wood land Scenics Earth turf under the bridges. For the first layer of green I used WS Blended Turf – Green.
Using Woodland Scenics Fine Leaf Foliage, Clump Foliage, and Foliage I added some more ground cover. For the tree trunks in the stream I used twigs I found in the front yard.
Next I took a look at the Atlas truss bridge I am using and decided it was too bland. I painted the ties and weathered the rails with Folk Art Asphaltum. I still feel that I need to do something to the underside of the bridge. It looks so blank and empty as shown in this picture.
The ugly plain underside of the trolley bridge is driving me nuts. So yesterday I took a trip to the LHS and bought a bunch of styrene strips and I-beams. Here the ugly plain truth. Now I added some I-beams Next I need to add some cross members.
I finished the underside of the trolley bridge. I glued some styrene I beams to the floor. I then used some styrene strips to act as cross braces. Since this was the era in which they used plates to hold things together I glue small styrene to the joints (also to hide them) to act as plates. Here it is with paint still drying.
Thanks Darren! I have now begun to work on the highway bridge approach. First I needed to extend the retaining wall so the level of the road meets the highway bridge. I did this by applying a layer of spackling. I then added a wood strip for the retaining wall.
I finally got around to adding “water” to the stream. The first thing I needed to do was dam the stream. For this I used a piece of scrap wood and a piece of scrap. I attached the dams to the diorama with Elmers Squeezable caulk. I let it dry for about 12 hours.
Once I was sure the dams were firmly in place I began to pour the water. I used Woodland Scenics Realistic Water. I poured it very carefully trying not to splash it on anything. I carefully poured it around rocks and the stream bank. I poured the water to the recommended depth of 1/8 inch. From experience I know the water will look a little cloudy until it dries.
I am trying to decide whether I need to add another 1/8 inch layer of water or not. Once I have the final depth of the water I will go over the surface with Woodland Scenics Water Effects to make waves.
