I do enjoy seeing your work. In particular the way you weather to get that true to life look. It is giving me a push to start working myself.
It is nice to hear that my work might be inspirational. I did some progress with terrain - it is still in development stage but I think it is good to show the technique and materials. All styrodur material I got free of charge as a scrap from advertisement asgency. For the ease of work the bridgeheads are still separate - they will be installed after the terrain is ready and the grass is planted.
I really enjoy the side by side prototype photo and your diorama. You’ve captured the scene very well!
The ground was glued on diorama base. I made sides using thin plywood to make it look better and protect the sides. I used wood filler to fill in spaces between plywood and the terrain. The whole diorama was painted and prepared to make grass and water.
Grass was planted. Due to the fact that it is going to be autumn diorama some plants are already dried.
I need to invest in a static grass applicator. It is coming along fine. Thanks for the updates. Be well. Jim
I tried steel wool technique for creating bushes and small trees - some will be used od diorama: Starting point: Final results:
I think that this material have a great potential in case one want to make some areas of low bushes creeping over the ground:
I do hope you are NOT using steel wool for scenery material... It's extremely flammable, AND a spark can set it on fire. If you do not believe me, touch a 9v battery to a piece of it outside and watch what happens. I just am thinking about safety. I used to have a junk drawer in the kitchen, where we kept batteries and flashlights, and my wife threw some steel wool pads in there years ago, and we had sparks and fire. That's when I learned steel wool is dangerous. If you mix steel wool scenery with DCC, there will be fire for sure. I had to keep my steel wool out in the tin shed after that. I do use steel wool, but only for making Sweet and Sour. What is sweet and sour? It's and old technique my grandpa taught me where you put a steel wool pad in a mason jar, pour to just cover the pads with white vinegar, and let stew behind the shed for a few weeks stirring daily, in the summer till the pads disintegrate and the vinegar is evaporated. You will have rust powder at the bottom. Pour the powder in a small paint jar, fill with 25% water based Varathane and 75% Water, and when you need to rust something on your layout, just shake and paint the rust on. It's easier to just buy the stuff now, but in oldskool days you made your own. The Vinegar is Sour, the Rust looks Sweet!
I would also be aware of the microscopic metal splinters that will surely be shedding off of them. They may be nice on a static module but I wouldn't risk any valuable locos near them. Visually they are better than most other products but may not be appropriate for practical reasons. Jim