What do these three have in common? A visit from Bruce! Our schedules have been hectic the last couple of months but he was able to stop over earlier this week and as usual, his perspective and suggestions inspired me to get cracking on some of the scenery that I have been putting off.
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| Hills outlined on the backdrop between Herminie and East McKeesport |
We went through some ideas and then Bruce just started sketching. I think I spent more time looking for a piece of chalk than we actually spent on the broad brush sketch for the hills. Actually, Bruce's first attempt was nearly perfect and we just adjusted a couple of the hills to balance the scene a little better. After he left, I carved the river in front of the tracks and the next night I added some Sculptamold - an excellent plaster material - and some left over rock castings I had. After this dries, I will paint the riverbed, add some details like talus, sand, tree limbs, etc. and pour the "water".
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| After adding rock castings and Sculptamold to the scene |
Back to Bruce's visit, I was so pleased with how the sketch looked, I said we needed to do something similar in the other corner. Here I just wanted some grassy hillsides behind the barn and an eventual ranch house that masks the scenery divider that the outside mainline runs behind. I think Bruce captured it rather well.
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| Roughing in the backdrop to the farm |
Obviously, Bruce's visit inspired me to continue on the scenery, doing the Sculptamold last night. I will wait for the next visit before we actually start painting the walls but in the meantime, I hope to have the rock castings stained and some of the surrounding scenery more complete, like the tunnel behind the trestle bridge. Also, I started thinking about some more permanent structures that I need - the ranch house and the industrial building that will mask the left end of the East McKeesport scenery block. Also, I have some ideas for making the whole Uniontown scene more complete. Maybe I will have some time to work on that this weekend?
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