Scenic update for Sweethome Alabama

[Jon Grant 4472]

A few more photos of the ground cover












Now to add some bushes and trees


Jon

[Steamtrains]

Absolutely stunning...!!!

[torikoos]

Great work Jon, I realy admire the way you create your scenery and create a realistic look, it realy seems a matter of blending a lot of colours and textures, as opposed to too much of one colour/texture. Am I right? What's the secret, or did I hit the nail on the head?

Cheers!

Koos

[Genetk44]

i hate repeating myself...but...AWESOME!!!!!!

[Jon Grant 4472]

Koos, nail....head....hit

I added a few trees to the bare hillside tonight to give some height to the scene. Tomorrow I'll add some bushes, flowers and weeds













Jon

[Ralph]

Gorgeous. That last shot in particular looks so real to me.
Ralph

[ocalicreek]

Very nice, Jon! Did you lighten the backdrop or did it come that way? The foreground colors seem much more intense than the backdrop. Super job on the turf.

Galen

[torikoos]

Koos, nail....head....hit

Jon

Ha ha , thought so. :-) I've experimented a bit myself on some trial bits, but not quite happy yet. What are your brands and colour ranges, and where in the UK do you buy it?
Cheers! Koos

[Jon Grant 4472]

Koos, nail....head....hit

Jon

Ha ha , thought so. :-) I've experimented a bit myself on some trial bits, but not quite happy yet. What are your brands and colour ranges, and where in the UK do you buy it?
Cheers! Koos

Koos,

I use International Models in North Wales for my Silflor mats and other scenic stuff, such as ivy, grass tufts, flowers etc

http://www.internationalmodels.net/index.htm

I tend to get the summer and autumn shades of matting, forest floor and arid scrub - go into the section called 'mininatur'

I also used some straw coloured grass from Gaugemaster, which can be pulled off in small clumps - very useful for mixing in with the darker shades.

Jon

[torikoos]

Great Jon, thanks. I had looked on their website previously, but haven't ordered from them yet. I will do so in the near future, getting some stuff from Sillflor and Anita Decor etc. Thanks for the Gaugemaster tip, I didn't know they did scenery products!

Koos

[Jon Grant 4472]

I made a start on scenicing the slope in at the front of the layout today. Usual method of gluing grass mat to the base and adding some bushes












Jon

[Jon Grant 4472]

I have added a few more foreground trees to the west board before commencing scenic work on the Eastern end of the layout.

CSX GP38-2 switching cars in the west yard










Jon

[Jon Grant 4472]

The next big job on the layout was to separate the two main boards on the layout. The first task was to remove the lighting, the backscene and the small end board from the West Yard board, so I could 'jiggle' it loose from the East board









The joining bolts and wing-nuts were then slackened and the boards loosened apart. I had been careful not to lay the polystyrene blocks and plaster bandage across the board joints, so the two layout boards separated quite easily




Jon

[Jon Grant 4472]

Moving further eastwards, I have added the ground cover to the east yard and am just waiting for the diluted white glue to dry on the ballast, wood chippings and static grass, before starting on the hills with the Silflor grass








The hills de-nuded of the temporarily-added trees, enabling me to affix the ground cover and forest floor








Jon

[cn nutbar]

Beautiful work Jon