"Oops" paints are great! Every time I go to Home Depot, I buzz through to see what colors are in the pile...
My goodness, its been over a week since the last update?! See what happens when boys find a girl to chase around. Never fear, I have returned to the rock work on Thunder Ridge. I was highly satisfied with the technique of using chalk for coloring the rocks, but the more I look at them, the more I find fault in them. I'm now going to experiment with a half and half technique using washes and chalk. First I'm going to wash on the base colors with highly diluted acrylic, then I'll go over the top with chalks to pop out some highlights. Here's the only new photo I have. New colored rocks with a few pinches of ground foam and shrubbery. Enjoy.
Great job so far Mark! Of course since I am biased towards more modern times, I would have to say the scene would look better with a couple diesels up front. Craig
Thanks Craig. That's whats so great about Thunder Ridge, there's no telling what you'll see. While hiking back up to my car, I herd a rumbling and turned to catch a diesel lash-up exit the tunnel.
Yup, grungy Tunnel Motors would fit right in! Nice work so far, mark. I'm at that stage you are with rocks, so I'm watching intently...
I'm catching up after an absence. I'm still really jealous. I love the rocks. The edges look sharper and cleaner. With some pinks and yellows and streaks, they'll look just like your photo I think. Really, really good job. You know, most rocks in the Rockies actually do look just a little glossy to me. Not a lot, but a little. I was interested in your rock mold travails--getting two that were of weathered, smooth rock--because I noticed in the Rockies that one often sees the two types of rock right next to each other. As you might know, all rock is laid down in layers. In the Rockies, those layers get pushed on end or close to vertical, meaning that one type of rock that weathers quickly is all smoothed and rounded, while next to it is rock that is rough and jaggedy. It looks purely strange. You might not want to have to explain that to your layout visitors, though.
New photo today! With all the tourist activity, it's easy to forget that the High Line of Thunder Ridge is still an active freight route through the river valley.
Wow. Nice pics again Mark. I was just about to send you a PM reminding you not to forget to have some fun being a college kid while you work on the pike, but apparently you have that taken care of. Oh... I'd love to see your Pops layout over the break. I work for UNL so I have the whole break off. Let me know.
Oooo, beautiful, Mark! How did you manage the effect of brilliant sun? Hack a hole in your roof? Drag the whole thing outside?
Thanks Steve. I feel honored. Definitely! Hey, did you also hear that UP 3985 will be headed your way at the end of the month? Thanks Chaya. Nope, no sun. Just a simple desk lamp positioned off to the right and a few adjustments in Photoshop.
Looking good!! How about a pic from a few steps back so we can the whole layout!! PLEASE!! Aww come on I said please.
Ok, since you asked. How about two wide angle shots. The first one, I fired up my airplane and took to the skies. Then, I inflated the raft and went for a float down the river.
I really didn't intend to scare everyone away with my begging! I was just wondering what the whole layout looked like. Ok well keep up the good work!
Here's the alternate I photographed for this weekends photo challenge. I ended up with two that I liked, but this one didn't make the cut. See the other photo here. A familiar resident of Thunder Ridge watches the river valley from his favorite high perch as a string of boxcars snakes its way through the valley below.
Who was scared away? :bat: Thanks for the compliments. One of these days I'll get the rest of those rock castings done so I can make some more progress. Don't you just hate it when things like jobs and schooling get in the way of having fun!
