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UKGuy
Fireman
USA
5427 Posts |
 Posted - 08/11/2012 : 4:18:22 PM
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Fantastic Bill, that really just brought the whole pond to life with activity and motion, nicely done!!
Karl.A |
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TRAINS1941
Fireman
USA
4885 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2012 : 5:42:06 PM
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Excellent Bill. That is one of the most realistic ponds I've seen.
Jerry |
Jerry
How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are. |
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BillMichaels
Engine Wiper
USA
249 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2012 : 9:24:50 PM
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Thanks much Dallas, Karl and Jerry. I'm very flattered by your comments!
I think it took about 9 or 10 coats of Mod Podge to complete the ripple effect. One interesting thing I learned is that if you apply the Mod Podge in a very thin layer and allow the impression from the brush to show, you'll get a frozen water look. It's pretty neat...seems as if the lake had just skinned over with a fragile layer of ice. Not what I was looking for, but it may be useful to someone modeling a winter scene. Here's a look at the rest of the pond...
I also fooled around and made this log that looks like it's falling into the water from the log brow. If you've seen how Dave Frary makes a waterfall using a plastic bag, this follows pretty much the same method. I streaked gloss gel medium onto a plastic bag in the shape of the splash, then epoxied strips of plastic from a clear Solo cup to give it the curved shape. I built up more and more of the gel medium, colored it with a light wash of dark green and brown, dry brushed some white on the tips and added a final layer of Mod Podge.
It's not glued in place since I doubt I'll leave it there permanently. The log is hollowed out and filled with lead fishing sinkers on one end to make it defy gravity.
I still need to add the stream feeding into the pond, but other than that, all the major elements are complete. There are several miscelanous odds and ends to take care of and scenery details to touch up and finish.
From where I stand, the punch list looks to be getting smaller! |
Edited by - BillMichaels on 08/17/2012 05:33:57 AM |
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JoebTX
Engine Wiper
USA
152 Posts |
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djdutch
Crew Chief
Netherlands
517 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2012 : 02:32:31 AM
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looks realy great :)
DJ |
DJ |
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BillMichaels
Engine Wiper
USA
249 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2012 : 05:33:21 AM
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Thanks DJ!
Thanks Joe, and that's a good suggestion about the green chain. I added 1 coat of Mod Podge but I think you're right in that it needs to look wet (or more wet). |
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brownbr
Crew Chief
USA
698 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2012 : 05:51:09 AM
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| Outstanding! |
Bryan |
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George D
Moderator
USA
9902 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2012 : 07:30:01 AM
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Excellent looking water!
George |
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ETinBH
Fireman
USA
4239 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2012 : 10:00:38 AM
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| [:-thumbu][:-thumbu][:-thumbu][:-thumbu][:-thumbu][:-thumbu][:-thumbu] |
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TRAINS1941
Fireman
USA
4885 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2012 : 12:05:41 PM
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A great idea. Excellent work.
Jerry |
Jerry
How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are. |
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runner
Fireman
USA
1066 Posts |
Posted - 08/18/2012 : 2:13:23 PM
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| Bill- the pond looks wonderful, and congratulations for taking log ponds to the next level. I'm not sold yet on the splashing log- it will grow on me. |
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BillMichaels
Engine Wiper
USA
249 Posts |
Posted - 08/20/2012 : 12:29:52 PM
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Bryan, George, Elliott, Jerry and Mike, thanks for the feedback!
Mike-I'm not 100% sold on the splash myself. I made it so that it's free standing and isn't mounted in place permanently. Just something to fiddle with while waiting for layers to dry. |
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BillMichaels
Engine Wiper
USA
249 Posts |
Posted - 09/29/2012 : 12:57:57 AM
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I finished up the wood for the loading dock and assembled the little log buggies. For the "fresh cut" wood, I expanded on what I did with the wood in the drying shed. Still using Gold Ochre 231.3 and Burnt Umber 409.7 chalks to color some of the edges and ends, I also lightly scribed in some grain and knot holes into the top boards. I made a thicker slurry of gold ochre and alcohol and dabbed it onto the surface then, wiped off most of it. That gave me boards with a fairly believable grain texture without an aged look.
It probably seems like a lot of work on minutia. But when viewed in context, I think it goes a long way in selling the illusion:
For the log buggies, I wanted to make a way to tie down the lumber based on this picture in the Pino Grande book:
It's a little tough to see, but each buggy has 2 wood ribs with a bolt/hook type of harwarde that the chains fasten to. Each chain connects to the bunks that are mounted on the deck. I made the hardware out of thin brass wire and added a NBW at each corner. Here's how the first one turned out:
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Frederic Testard
Engineer
France
16438 Posts |
Posted - 09/29/2012 : 04:52:08 AM
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I love what you've done on this drying wood scene, Bill. As you say, it sells the illusion.
The buggy is very nice, and features your will to build a detailed and very convincing model. My only comment will be about the chain that looks heavier than that in the picture, but I'm not used to working in HO scale and I suppose even the tiniest chain looks a bit heavy in 1:87. |
Frederic Testard |
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dallas_m
Fireman
USA
2991 Posts |
Posted - 09/29/2012 : 2:44:37 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by BillMichaels
It probably seems like a lot of work on minutia.
No, no, NO! Er, well, yeah it probably is a lot of extra work, but ...
quote:
Originally posted by BillMichaels
When viewed in context, I think it goes a long way in selling the illusion.
Yes, yes, YES! Plain, un-doctored basswood, etc. looks like what it is ... yours looks great! In the scene, the "weathered wood" of the structure, dock/deck, etc look like they've seen the elements for a while ... and the fresh lumber looks ... um, fresh? Well, don't let the lack of clever words there disappoint you ... looks great! Well done, worth the extra effort.  [:-thumbu] |
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Topic |
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SWSM Twin Mills...one more time!
