The Atlantic and Southern Build, Part 1

[ACL1504]

In the photo below, you can see a few cracks in the dirt. To me this looks natural and occurs in Mother Nature. Let's call this a little erosion crack.




To remove the crack, here is what I did.

I sprinkled on some of the fine dirt at the bottom of the affected area. I then used a soft bristle brush to pull up the dirt onto the cracks.

[ACL1504]

This is a photo of the same area. You can see the erosion cracks are filled in and the darker color is also gone. Basically you could say I dry brushed the dirt after the glue thoroughly dried.

The darker spots in the eroded area is light shadow.




The cracks can also be covered with weeds of some sort of other type grass. In the photo below you can see weeds growing on the slope and the eroded cracks in the dirt/clay.

[S&S RR]

This area is really coming along Tom.  I agree that mother nature doesn't like to work with one color of dirt.  I have been using chalks to get more variation. Same process as you are using with the brush and real dirt, but I add streaks of slightly different colors.  I have also been collecting dirt that is different colors to help with this effect.

[ReadingBob]

This really is turning out quite nice.  I can't wait to see it up close and personal.  My calendar is quite full between now and mid July but I'd like to squeeze in a visit one of these days to check it out.   

[ACL1504]

This area is really coming along Tom.  I agree that mother nature doesn't like to work with one color of dirt.  I have been using chalks to get more variation. Same process as you are using with the brush and real dirt, but I add streaks of slightly different colors.  I have also been collecting dirt that is different colors to help with this effect.

Thanks John,

Appreciate your thoughts on the subject. I've not tried the chalks on the dirt but sounds like it would work.

Tom

[ACL1504]

This really is turning out quite nice.  I can't wait to see it up close and personal.  My calendar is quite full between now and mid July but I'd like to squeeze in a visit one of these days to check it out.   

Bob,

Thank you Butty, much appreciated. The Judge and I are here every Saturday, well, the calendar Saturday anyway.

I'm here on Thursday nights. Pretend you are going to bowling and come on down. You are welcome anytime.

Tom

[ACL1504]

 I've been up to my bench doing scenery the past two days. I'll have an update tomorrow or Wednesday evening at the latest.

Tom

[KCS Trains]

Tom,  personally I like the cracks in the dirt because they do occur in nature, especially if it is really dry.  At the end of the day, when applying scenery you may get some nice effects that you didn't anticipate, but like and keep as is.  That's ok.  Phil

[ACL1504]

Tom,  personally I like the cracks in the dirt because they do occur in nature, especially if it is really dry.  At the end of the day, when applying scenery you may get some nice effects that you didn't anticipate, but like and keep as is.  That's ok.  Phil

Phil,

Thanks for stopping by and posting a comment. I like the cracks as they appear natural to me and I also think they look good. I was just showing everyone how to cover them if they desired. Mine are open and will stay that way.

If I didn't say this already, I was really great meeting you at this years EXPO.

Tom

[ACL1504]

I've finished about 93% of the scenery on Eaton's Curve. As soon as I can get all the photos ready to post, I'll post a photo update. Hopefully I can do it this afternoon.

Stay tuned to this channel. LOL!

Tom

[ACL1504]

Some of the scenery extras I use are from Mother Nature vs. Woodland Scenics/Scenic Express.

The photo below shows some ground up oak leaves and stems from the yard.



This next product is sort of from Mother Nature by way of Midwest Cork. I sanded the cork and kept the shavings. It makes great forest rot and looks good. Combined with the leaves it looks very natural.



I will sometimes use the sawdust from Masonite. I also makes great ground cover. No photo of the Masonite saw dust.

Continued in a few.

[ACL1504]

After applying the initial ground turf, I sprinkle on some of the cork shavings or cork saw dust.



I then add the oak leaf mix. By adding these two by products, I get a nice textured ground surface.



I then start building the forest with super trees by Scenic Express.



Continued in a few.

[ACL1504]

In the next photo you can see where I've added many more foreground trees around the photo backdrop.



The two open areas are where the two Cracker Houses will be placed.

I moved on to the next sand hill and painted some white glue on the top. I then piled some Woorland Scenics Earth Fine Turf in the middle and spread it out over the white glue.





More in a few.

[ACL1504]

When the glue dried, I saturated the area with matte medium and started planting more trees against the photo backdrop.



While the second sand hill was drying I planted some corn for the Cracker House folks. Notice there is no access to the corn field. You see, the Cracker's don't have the owner's permission to use his land for their garden.



While the turf was drying and the corn growing, I turned to the dirt road.

Continued in a few.

[ACL1504]

The dirt road was built pretty much the same as the sand hills. I used the vinyl spackling over the blue foam. I again used white glue to paint the road and then sprinkled on the Fine Scenic Express dirt.





I put the dirt on heavy and let the glue absorb what it could.



More in a few.