jfugate
Modeling SP in the 1980s
TOPIC THIS POST: Doing realistic rock faces
We'll start this post out with some prototype and model rock face photos ... of south Roseburg on the prototype SP Siskiyou Line in southern Oregon:
PROTOTYPE LOCATION
SAME LOCATION ON THE MODEL
Here's a couple photos of the same location on my HO Siskiyou Line:
I prefer to hand carve my rocks most of the time and it's difficult to describe exactly how hand carving is done other than to say just practice. I use a kitchen butter knife (one with a smooth edge, not one with serations) to do the work.
For this rock wall, I mixed up my standard vermiculite plaster mix (see previous posts for details) and then globbed it on in little bumpy globs, shaping it to look similar to the prototype photos. If you're hand carving and are new at it, it's best to work from prototype photos. If you aren't sure you can do hand carving, try working on a throwaway scrap piece of scenery first.
To get the most successful hand carved rocks, make sure you use plenty of plaster ... ideally 1/2" to 1" thick. This means you will have to plan as you are installing your scenery base to allow for up to an inch of thickness for any planned hand carved rocks, so you still have clearance for the trains.
I did the final shaping while the plaster was still soft -- the vermiculite mix has a working time of about 10-15 minutes, which is just enough time to shape it but fast enough it will hold it's shape without you having to constantly check to make sure something didn't sag on you while you weren't looking.
Once the plaster sets up for a few hours (overnight is ideal), I paint it with my earth-tan 50-50 latex paint mix (again, see earlier posts).
Then, I mix a thin black-brown stain of water and raw umber brown acrylic paint, and paint it over the rock face, letting it settle into the cracks and crannies in order to give the rock face more texture. Plus as you can see from the prototype photos, these rocks are dark volcanic basalt, so tending toward the darker side is correct. However, I avoid making the rocks too dark (erring on the side of slightly too light) in order to compensate for the lower intensity of indoor layout lighting as compared to the sun.
I let the stain dry for a few hours then come back with some dirt brown plaster mix (see the ballasting post) and dust that on the rock faces, giving them a nice weathered, dusty look. Then I mist the face with water to set up the dirt plaster mix.
Finally, I dry brush some very light tan almost white on some of the protruding rock faces to give them a bit of extra highlight and snap. Then I let everything dry thoroughly for a day or so before proceeding on to plant vegetation in the area.
After that, for these rock faces, I planted some silflor grass using a hot glue gun. In comparing the model to the prototype, it's apparent to me I could probably stand to plant even more silflor grass.
NEXT TOPIC: Doing realistic paved roads
We'll start this post out with some prototype and model rock face photos ... of south Roseburg on the prototype SP Siskiyou Line in southern Oregon:
PROTOTYPE LOCATION
SAME LOCATION ON THE MODEL
Here's a couple photos of the same location on my HO Siskiyou Line:
I prefer to hand carve my rocks most of the time and it's difficult to describe exactly how hand carving is done other than to say just practice. I use a kitchen butter knife (one with a smooth edge, not one with serations) to do the work.
For this rock wall, I mixed up my standard vermiculite plaster mix (see previous posts for details) and then globbed it on in little bumpy globs, shaping it to look similar to the prototype photos. If you're hand carving and are new at it, it's best to work from prototype photos. If you aren't sure you can do hand carving, try working on a throwaway scrap piece of scenery first.
To get the most successful hand carved rocks, make sure you use plenty of plaster ... ideally 1/2" to 1" thick. This means you will have to plan as you are installing your scenery base to allow for up to an inch of thickness for any planned hand carved rocks, so you still have clearance for the trains.
I did the final shaping while the plaster was still soft -- the vermiculite mix has a working time of about 10-15 minutes, which is just enough time to shape it but fast enough it will hold it's shape without you having to constantly check to make sure something didn't sag on you while you weren't looking.
Once the plaster sets up for a few hours (overnight is ideal), I paint it with my earth-tan 50-50 latex paint mix (again, see earlier posts).
Then, I mix a thin black-brown stain of water and raw umber brown acrylic paint, and paint it over the rock face, letting it settle into the cracks and crannies in order to give the rock face more texture. Plus as you can see from the prototype photos, these rocks are dark volcanic basalt, so tending toward the darker side is correct. However, I avoid making the rocks too dark (erring on the side of slightly too light) in order to compensate for the lower intensity of indoor layout lighting as compared to the sun.
I let the stain dry for a few hours then come back with some dirt brown plaster mix (see the ballasting post) and dust that on the rock faces, giving them a nice weathered, dusty look. Then I mist the face with water to set up the dirt plaster mix.
Finally, I dry brush some very light tan almost white on some of the protruding rock faces to give them a bit of extra highlight and snap. Then I let everything dry thoroughly for a day or so before proceeding on to plant vegetation in the area.
After that, for these rock faces, I planted some silflor grass using a hot glue gun. In comparing the model to the prototype, it's apparent to me I could probably stand to plant even more silflor grass.
NEXT TOPIC: Doing realistic paved roads
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