Well that's not entirely true. But my Ipod Touch does play music to keep me company (gen 4 for the nosy, and no I'm definitely not an Apple
Fanboy, I can't stand Apple the company - decent product though). Got the Touch so I could run trains wirelessly with JMRI and this
App. Its pretty cool. But I digress...
I spent the weekend working on the hills - at night and nap time as the twins demand (!) my attention during their waking hours of course I don't mind.
Painted the next section. Thought the first (the bit to the left in the picture) was a little too light grey, so I tried something different. Started with two intensities of black wash, then moved to a dark gray heavy wash, lightened that up then washed it out. Went to the umbers (raw and burnt) washes, added a bit of yellow to some areas, then went gray, light gray and a bit of white. I think it might be better than the first section. Also built my first scratch structure - a retaining wall but its a start. Came out looking sharp! Mostly this is thanks to my new chopper and a
metal gluing box
I also built a tunnel box for the portal I purchased from the LHS (Local Hobby Store).
For the over observant, yes that is a toilet roll tube. I painted the inside black and stuck on some cardboard sides (also painted black) with a glue gun. I got this idea from a good book,
Jeff Wilson's Bridges, Trestles and tunnels. The idea is to make it more a tunnel than a hole into the backdrop / scenic shell. You can, of course, take this to another level by added more details - like the brick pattern, or drill marks etc on the walls but I went minimal. I might regret this later if I every get a camera on a train.
Back to the hills for me...
This first shot shows all the sections that are (almost) complete. The bit in the middle is the first, the far right was done after that and the bit left (not far left that's not done) is the new batch. The blacks are stronger, there is more variation and looks better. I think. The next shot shows the two areas side by side (latest and first). The first is a bit washed out. The escarpment, though, has sections like that. Bleached and then it has the darker, earthier sections. So it should work out as I continue to scenic it with trees, dirt, bushes and wild life.
