Landscaping – A Little Bit Every Day

This week has been full of short work sessions to get a little done each day and it’s paying off. I was able to make some shrubs, tress, and ballast the Industrial Lead track.

Landscaping

Foreground Trees
Landscaped area between the SIG driveway and Seattle Lighting.

 

First Tree
I used a natural tree armature and sprinkled it with static grass and ground foam.

 

Last tree
I used a naturals armature and sprinkled Noch leaf material on this tree.

 

Evergreen tree
I purchased this beautiful custom evergreen tree at a train show a couple of years ago and have been itching to get it installed.

 

A berm for the Odom track.
I made this landform berm as a car stop for the Odom track. The prototype just track just kind of dwindles into the dirt. I wanted something that would be a little more functional.

 

Shrubs
A closeup of the shrubs. These were made by gluing ground foam to lichen.

 

Overgrown landscaping
I used static grass tufts, weeds and ground foam to depict the neglected garden area.

 

Trees drying
I found the natural tree armatures at The Electric Train Shop. They were pretty dry brittle and deformed. I boiled them and hung them to dry to reshape and revitalize them.

As with everything I do, it’s pretty much a running experiment as I progress. I started making trees by spraying glue, sprinkling with static grass, spraying adhesive again then sprinkling with ground foam. This makes a pretty nice tree. I eventually settled on making trees by spray painting a little khaki on the trunks, spraying adhesive on them sprinkling with Noch leaves. They come out a little more airy that way.

Ballasting the Industrial Lead

I found a bottle of Scenic Express Natural Soil and Dirt at The Electric Train Shop. It was pretty coarse for HO ballast, so I strained it into 3 sizes; fine dirt, HO ballast, & too big for HO.

I used all of the HO suitable ballast on the Industrial Lead. It is was a little off color; the prototype has a large amount of pink rocks, the Scenic Express product was more light brown. I airbrushed the ballast with MIG Shaders Light Clay color to give the ballast a more pinkish hue.

Light Clay Ballast Shade
I used MIG Shader Light Clay color to give the Industrial Lead ballast a pinkish hue.
Ballast Shading Light Clay
I used MIG Shader Light Clay color to give the Industrial Lead ballast a pinkish hue. The ballast on the left is shaded.

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Author: Greg Amer

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