Warren Branch

[chuffinghell]

Started to add more ‘stuff’

 

[Rowsley17D]

Looking more unkempt each time, Chuffers.

[Winslow Boy]

It's looking good Chris.

 

Having returned from dog walking this morning, part of which was along canal path I wish it had been in as good as condition as yours.

 

There were brambles, grass and assorted other undergrowth all encroaching onto it.

 

Yes I know in your timeframe it was probably better controlled but it does give you an idea as to what they would have had to contended.

 

Anyway doing a grand job keeping the OCD in check.

[chuffinghell]

Put the first two layers on the opposite bank, my intention is to make this side particularly rough…..
 

 

….so bear with me

[Winslow Boy]

2 minutes ago, chuffinghell said:

Put the first two layers on the opposite bank, my intention is to make this side particularly rough…..
 

 

….so bear with me

 

I refer the Honourable Member to my previous post. 

[chuffinghell]

Before adding more static grass I’ve decided (right or wrong) to attach clump foliage on the edge.

 

 

I’ve tried to apply it so it over hangs the edge

[Rowsley17D]

Really looking the part as more baseboard disappears, Chris.

[MrWolf]

Really looking good Chris and it's great to see you getting busy with Warren once more. For some reason this dropped off my follow list around the time we had the last batch of advertising that blocked the page controls.

Greenery is about to become a challenge with my layout too, but I've plenty of excuses yet! 

Enjoyed the Jerry Anderson retrospective, all that got revived in the 70s when I was a kid too, as did Blue Peter's Tracy island. 

Of course those shows inspired lots of childhood games of the "Bang you're dead!" variety, (I'm not dead, I'm a tank!) 

There was an abandoned farm on the edge of the village with a couple of very rusty old cars dumped side by side (An Austin Devon and Wolseley 6/90 no less) and these became variously SPV's, Shado's, Starsky and Hutch's Ford or Kojak's Buick as the mood took us.

All bulldozed and built over now of course, bar one area and when I went visiting last Christmas, Miss R and I took a walk through there. The big oak tree clearly hadn't been climbed in years, the wooden steps and tyre on a rope long gone. There was a group of young children up there though, sitting silently on a bench, staring at their phones! 

Whilst on the subject of 60s sci-fi puppetry, does that impressive rack full of trains disappear into the layout at the flick of a switch, a la Stingray?

 

Anything could happen in the next half hour! 

[chuffinghell]

Well that turned out better than expected, I’ve applied a random length and colour over everything including the clump foliage…..

 

…….I quite like the effect

 

Unfortunately I’ve done the grass much better this side than the other so I might have to add a little more onto what I’ve already done

[chuffinghell]

Think I’ve gone a bit mad….

 

 

…with foliage

[Rowsley17D]

I think you've done well to go mad.

[chuffinghell]

3 minutes ago, Rowsley17D said:

I think you've done well to go mad.

Thanks Jonathan

 

Although some would argue that I went mad long before I started the layout

 

Edited January 15, 2023 by chuffinghell

[KNP]

Not mad at all, just a scenic modeller....messy and random!

 

Really starting to look realistic now

 

Canal looks messy???

[chuffinghell]

Bit of a difference

 

 

Unusually I’m pleased with it so far, looking forward to getting the ‘water’ in….but I’m going to wait till everything has dried then I’m contemplating using the airbrush and giving it a spray of Matt varnish in an effort to seal any loose bits as I don’t want loose fibres or bits in the resin while it’s curing

 

[MrWolf]

Nature is as nature does and it's all looking very realistic, so much so that I realise that my own greenery is far too uniform and I need to improve the untidiness of it all.

I think that you should be very pleased with it, I keep going back to the pictures to see how you built up the layers.

[Winslow Boy]

That's the ticket. As Rob said above nature is very rough and ready and this from someone who knows as he's spent much of his life trying to keep it in check. Excellent work.

[chuffinghell]

42 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Nature is as nature does and it's all looking very realistic

Thanks Rob

 

42 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

I keep going back to the pictures to see how you built up the layers.

I’m happy to list the ‘ingredients’ and ‘recipe’ if it helps although most of it was ‘throw it on and cross my fingers’

 

I’ve recently started to us woodland scenics ‘scenic glue S190’ instead of PVA and I must say it’s good stuff

 

I only started using it because if you use an adhesive that contains PVA near where you intend to add realistic water it reacts and makes the water cloudy. Apparently this doesn’t contain PVA and woodland scenics state it is compatible probably just a sales pitch to buy their products but it’s very good and does actually dry clear

 

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with woodland scenics but if they wish to do so please make cheques payable to…..

 

[Nick C]

That looks great Chris, it's captured the 'wild' look you often get on the far bank of a canal really well.

[chuffinghell]

Too much?

 

 

white will dry clear….fingers crossed

 

[Ponthir28]

Not too much for me. But if the right hand side if not being grazed. A little wildflower colour would look good in my humble opinion.

[chuffinghell]

10 minutes ago, Ponthir28 said:

Not too much for me. But if the right hand side if not being grazed. A little wildflower colour would look good in my humble opinion.

I do intend to deposit a hand full of ‘sheeps’ on that side where it levels out but I had considered some wild flowers (no idea how to do that though really)

[Rowsley17D]

36 minutes ago, chuffinghell said:

I do intend to deposit a hand full of ‘sheeps’ on that side where it levels out but I had considered some wild flowers (no idea how to do that though really)

 

Apparently finely grated children's wax crayons are good at representing flowers, not that I've ever done it myself.

[chuffinghell]

5 minutes ago, Rowsley17D said:

 

Apparently finely grated children's wax crayons are good at representing flowers, not that I've ever done it myself.

I’ve seen that too but no idea how to apply it without over doing it

[Tortuga]

I don’t think it’s too much. Looks like rough, overgrown grass to me.

 

Like the idea of some wildflowers though, just to drive home the idea of uncultivated ground.

[Rowsley17D]

1 minute ago, chuffinghell said:

I’ve seen that too but no idea how to apply it without over doing it

 

I think (and stand to be corrected by those who know or have remembered better) that you make individual grass tufts with static grass, apply a little PVA to the tuft ends and dip in the grated crayon. Best to experiment, I think.