10-17-2022, 06:31 PM
My homage to one of the greats....
I read a one-page article in Model Railroader magazine in 1996 by Bill Henderson on the "The Almost-flat hill" (I scanned the article and it resides on my website at the bottom of my links page: https://morristhemoosetm.wixsite.com/rainbows/links). It's subtitled "Tricks for building scenery where there's no room for it".
It's a pretty funny story and a good quick read, but the thing that stuck in my brain was the genius of it. 15 years later I had a similar problem. There's a corner in my room that runs really close to the tracks - I have backdrop up, but I wanted a seamless group of hills like you get running in the bottom of the gorge. Got to thinking about that article and spent the afternoon trying to find it (if you have a stack of old Model Railroader's you know how a quick search for an article becomes an afternoon of reading and looking at great pictures.
Found a piece of posterboard and painted it dark green and then took Bill's advice. Popped a beer and started by spreading painted polyfil fiber and then hit it with some dark colors of spray paint on the lower regions, uppers in lighter colors and then hit the drying polyfil with a variety of leftover scenic elements (ground foam in a bunch of different colors, remains of trees, leaves, etc.)
My own "almost-flat hill" fits right in with the rest of the scenery and unless I tell someone, they really don't realize that I used a different technique to create it.
So, today's donation to "Weekly Photo Fun" is my homage to Bill Henderson. My "Almost Flat Hill" is between the rock in front of the green GP39-2 and the tail end of the 2nd RS-36. Total distance from the backdrop there for any scenic element is less than 1 inch. Thought I'd share the tip I stole... Remember, you can actually put scenery where there's no room for it!
I read a one-page article in Model Railroader magazine in 1996 by Bill Henderson on the "The Almost-flat hill" (I scanned the article and it resides on my website at the bottom of my links page: https://morristhemoosetm.wixsite.com/rainbows/links). It's subtitled "Tricks for building scenery where there's no room for it".
It's a pretty funny story and a good quick read, but the thing that stuck in my brain was the genius of it. 15 years later I had a similar problem. There's a corner in my room that runs really close to the tracks - I have backdrop up, but I wanted a seamless group of hills like you get running in the bottom of the gorge. Got to thinking about that article and spent the afternoon trying to find it (if you have a stack of old Model Railroader's you know how a quick search for an article becomes an afternoon of reading and looking at great pictures.
Found a piece of posterboard and painted it dark green and then took Bill's advice. Popped a beer and started by spreading painted polyfil fiber and then hit it with some dark colors of spray paint on the lower regions, uppers in lighter colors and then hit the drying polyfil with a variety of leftover scenic elements (ground foam in a bunch of different colors, remains of trees, leaves, etc.)
My own "almost-flat hill" fits right in with the rest of the scenery and unless I tell someone, they really don't realize that I used a different technique to create it.
So, today's donation to "Weekly Photo Fun" is my homage to Bill Henderson. My "Almost Flat Hill" is between the rock in front of the green GP39-2 and the tail end of the 2nd RS-36. Total distance from the backdrop there for any scenic element is less than 1 inch. Thought I'd share the tip I stole... Remember, you can actually put scenery where there's no room for it!
Check out my "Rainbows in the Gorge" website: http://morristhemoosetm.wixsite.com/rainbows