Sandy Lake & Northern misc builds, etc.

[deemery]

Are you working on steep slopes?  Most of the bushes on my layout are clumps of spongy "foliage" placed on a dot or smear of yellow carpenter's glue.  I make taller weeds by drilling a hole, putting a drop of yellow glue on it, then inserting fibers, usually the light yellow/brown color. I poke some down low, leave others vertical and trim after the glue has dried.

Yeah, but I also want taller trees on the slopes.  Hence the 'forestry' project.

dave

[deemery]

The Cripplebush 'rubber rock castings' are the best on the market.  The owner is a geologist, and has a bunch of products for each kind of rock.  I'm using 'slate' pieces.  The long piece didn't quite fit the space, so I had to cut and piece it, leaving some gaps to fill. 

It was attached to the plaster wrap using hot glue.  Then I spray primed flat black (a technique I learned from Dave Frary).  After the primer dried, I went back and started filling in the gaps with plaster.  This'll take several sessions to get the gap filled without spreading to either side, and then probably some carving to match the strata.

I did make a bit of a mistake by not more precisely lining up the strata.  They should be parallel across the face, but there's a slight angle between the left casting and right casting. 

Then I'll paint to match the surrounding rocks.  As you can tell, this is in the front of the layout, so that's where the best stuff goes. 

update: Here's the cliff, after filling, shaping (steel brushes to add strata texture) and repriming:


This edge doesn't have the rubber rock, so it will need more work to get to match better.

My thought for this is to start with aluminum foil to add texture, pour a bit of plaster into the crumpled foil, then apply to the surface.  I'll add the strata (wire brushing and carving) after that plaster sets.  At least that's the plan right now.

dave

[jbvb]

Looks good. It's been a long time since the area you're modeling was under an ocean; The slight crookedness is very much par for the course in sedimentary rocks I've seen in Vermont and between Binghampton and Albany in NY.

[deemery]

Looks good. It's been a long time since the area you're modeling was under an ocean; The slight crookedness is very much par for the course in sedimentary rocks I've seen in Vermont and between Binghampton and Albany in NY.

Yeah, about 300m-400m years ago...    This area is geologically more like Western PA/Allegheny Plateau than it is New England.  

dave

[deemery]

Today, I peeled off the foil, then added strata with a wire brush:

I'll need to do a bit of work at the 'black/white joint' but overall this should work.  I might add a bit more relief by chipping out more 'chunks' from the plaster.

dave

[deemery]

First coat of paint over the black primer.

This color is 'My Color" "Tan".  It's applied thinly, so the black peeks through and adds shadows.  The brushstrokes all go with the grain/strata direction.

dave

[Vietnam Seabee]

Looking great, Dave
terry

[deemery]

The second coat, applied after the first coat is dry but not cured, is an Apple Barrel color called "Country Grey"  This is a light grey that's pretty neutral.  Again, I applied a think coat brushing with the strata.  Then after about 15 minutes, I went back over with a damp brush and removed some of the paint:


The step after this is to apply strata color, so I'll let this set overnight.  I want sharp edges for the strata, so this coat should be completely dry.  

dave