Chuffnell Regis

[Graham T]

I haven't had much time for playing trains developing Chuffnell Regis today, and so the oak tree idea will have to wait I'm afraid.  But I have progressed a little with building the rock face.  I wasn't happy with how the top of it finished, so added a few more strata (?) with some scrap castings that I fortunately hadn't thrown out.  Then more of the ever useful Das to add some earth to the top.  There's also a skim of polyfilla very much in evidence to the left, where I reduced the angle of the gradient going into the cutting.

 

So everything looks a bit weird at the moment, but I'm hoping that once I start in with the paint and the static grass that it won't look quite so much like a rectangle jammed into the landscape!  The swans have already let me know that they are distinctly unimpressed, so I'd better get a move on if I fancy keeping my arms un-fractured...

 

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by Graham T

[Graham T]

Oh yes - I'm also toying with the idea of adding a peregrine falcon's nest to one of the ledges.  Very Wye Valley

[Graham T]

And really as much a note to myself as anything else, I'll disguise the left hand end of the rock face with some bushes and so on.

[Graham T]

That's a bit better, I think.  The next step will be some static grass, which I hope might cover a multitude of sins...

 

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by Graham T

[Graham T]

In the odd break from working at the computer, I've been tinkering with the rock face.  It's had a few washes of dark grey, browns, and greens.  I think it needs some more work though, and to be a bit lighter in colour overall.  I'd be interested to hear what others think about that - thanks!

 

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by Graham T

[Graham T]

Seems that the site has had another upgrade - the handy little up arrow to take you back to the top of the page appears to have gone...

[Graham T]

1 hour ago, Graham T said:

Seems that the site has had another upgrade - the handy little up arrow to take you back to the top of the page appears to have gone...

 

And now I can see it again - weird.

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, Graham T said:

Seems that the site has had another upgrade - the handy little up arrow to take you back to the top of the page appears to have gone...

 

It's there for me, but I think one has to scroll down a bit before it pops up. I'd never noticed it before so thanks for mentioning it!

[Graham T]

I've been experimenting with the hedges this evening.  Yesterday I cut the horsehair into rather more random sized and shaped pieces, then gave them all a spray of mid-brown acrylic.  Tonight I sprayed them with hairspray, and then dusted with various different flocks.  I tried to sprinkle them from above, so that there would be a thicker growth of leaves on the tops of hedges/bushes, and sparser growth lower down where they get less sunlight.  Then they were sealed with another squirt of hairspray.

 

The first pic was done using WWS seasonal green tree foliage mix.  The second is Hornby dark green - I think it's probably too dark for hedgerows, but might be ok for brambles and so on?  The last pic is of a mix of the two flocks, which works quite nicely I think; better still when you can vary the proportions of the mix slightly between different sections.  As ever I'd be really interested in views on this lot - thanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry about the less than brilliant focus, but hopefully you can at least see the different colours!

Edited April 5, 2022 by Graham T

[chuffinghell]

All look great, I particularly like the last one using the mixture of the two

[Neal Ball]

1st and 3rd I think, the Hornby colour in the 2nd version certainly looks too dark and uniform.

 

I wonder if, having set the foliage etc. should they then be cut with scissors as if the local farmer has recently trimmed them. Just a thought.

[Graham T]

4 minutes ago, chuffinghell said:

All look great, I particularly like the last one using the mixture of the two

 

3 minutes ago, Neal Ball said:

1st and 3rd I think, the Hornby colour in the 2nd version certainly looks too dark and uniform.

 

I wonder if, having set the foliage etc. should they then be cut with scissors as if the local farmer has recently trimmed them. Just a thought.

 

Thank you both, I appreciate the comments!  I think I will probably use a mix of the first and third, and try to have them looking random when I place them on the layout (which I find easier said than done...)

 

I don't think I will try to make them look trimmed though, as a lot of the hedgerows I recall from my childhood in Herefordshire looked pretty unkempt, and I don't think it would have been any different in the 1930s (I'm not that old, in case you were wondering!)  I especially want them to look a bit sparse, and see-through in places, if you get what I mean.  As if they had grown up almost randomly at the boundaries of the field, rather than having been actually planted.  Anyway, we'll see how they turn out in due course.

[Graham T]

The grass has also been started at the top and bottom of the rock face.  So far it's just had some 2mm grass and then a sprinkling of blended turf on top of that; it still needs some longer layers added to mask the joins, especially at the top.  And then I'll have to add some bushes here and there.  I need to think of something to hide the top of the mysterious cave towards the left as well   Any suggestions very gratefully received (preferably on the back of a used tenner!)

 

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by Graham T

[MrWolf]

Hedge number three looks most convincing I think. A darker layer of leaves followed by a dusting of lighter colour gives the impression of fresh growth.

[Neal Ball]

8 hours ago, Graham T said:

The grass has also been started at the top and bottom of the rock face.  So far it's just had some 2mm grass and then a sprinkling of blended turf on top of that; it still needs some longer layers added to mask the joins, especially at the top.  And then I'll have to add some bushes here and there.  I need to think of something to hide the top of the mysterious cave towards the left as well   Any suggestions very gratefully received (preferably on the back of a used tenner!)

 

Sorry no tenner included…. But how about a few runs of your hedge like material running down the rock face. Or simply a small tree growing up in front.

 

You posted a photo of the rocks in the Wye valley a while back and that had greenery running down the face…

[Neal Ball]

8 hours ago, Graham T said:

The grass has also been started at the top and bottom of the rock face.  So far it's just had some 2mm grass and then a sprinkling of blended turf on top of that; it still needs some longer layers added to mask the joins, especially at the top.  And then I'll have to add some bushes here and there.  I need to think of something to hide the top of the mysterious cave towards the left as well   Any suggestions very gratefully received (preferably on the back of a used tenner!)

 

Sorry no tenner included…. But how about a few runs of your hedge like material running down the rock face. Or simply a small tree growing up in front.

 

You posted a photo of the rocks in the Wye valley a while back and that had greenery running down the face…

 

Just found this on line…. Maybe something similar

 

[Graham T]

48 minutes ago, Neal Ball said:

Sorry no tenner included…. But how about a few runs of your hedge like material running down the rock face. Or simply a small tree growing up in front.

 

You posted a photo of the rocks in the Wye valley a while back and that had greenery running down the face…

 

Just found this on line…. Maybe something similar

 

 

Thanks Neal, that's the sort of thing I had in mind; just wondering how to actually achieve the look.  More experimentation needed I think.

 

Don't worry about the tenner - I expect it's held up at customs!

[Neal Ball]

1 minute ago, Graham T said:

Don't worry about the tenner - I expect it's held up at customs!

It gets very exciting when you actually receive a parcel these days!

 

Good luck with the rocks…. Less is more.

[Graham T]

Here's a short stretch of the hedge just temporarily in place.

 

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by Graham T

[Gopher]

14 minutes ago, Graham T said:

Here's a short stretch of the hedge just temporarily in place.

 

 

Graham - looks good but I think a tad more flock is needed on the side of the hedge in the background.  I'm not sure what time of year you are modelling but if late Spring/Summer I think the hedge will show more all round foliage.   I like the light green flock on the hedge  - I think the idea of using two flocks is good, but I'd be careful of having a big contrast in the shades of the two greens.   

[Neal Ball]

Hedgerows in the 1930’s

 

I was hoping that a Google search for just that might provide some images to guide us all…. Sadly not.

 

However, I found some interesting articles from the likes of the RSPB and countryside groups, but all illustrated with images of hedges today.

 

My next port of call was Pendon and surprisingly, there are very few hedges…. Maybe that’s the answer… in the distance of a shot at the junction, there is a road and that has a very small hedge at the side.

 

https://pendonmuseum.com/about/the-vale-scene

 

Therefore I think it’s a case of what we think is right…. Are you happy with the way it looks / does it look right… in which case that’s probably the right answer fir our models. I will revisit my hedges at Henley on Thames and change some of them…. In the fullness of time!

 

This is one of my favourite scenes at Pendon and shows the largest hedge:

 

 

 

[Neal Ball]

Hedgerows in the 1930’s

 

I was hoping that a Google search for just that might provide some images to guide us all…. Sadly not.

 

However, I found some interesting articles from the likes of the RSPB and countryside groups, but all illustrated with images of hedges today.

 

My next port of call was Pendon and surprisingly, there are very few hedges…. Maybe that’s the answer… in the distance of a shot at the junction, there is a road and that has a very small hedge at the side.

 

https://pendonmuseum.com/about/the-vale-scene

 

Therefore I think it’s a case of what we think is right…. Are you happy with the way it looks / does it look right… in which case that’s probably the right answer fir our models. I will revisit my hedges at Henley on Thames and change some of them…. In the fullness of time!

 

This is one of my favourite scenes at Pendon and shows the largest hedge:

 

 

 

[Nick Holliday]

1 hour ago, Neal Ball said:

Hedgerows in the 1930’s

 

I was hoping that a Google search for just that might provide some images to guide us all…. Sadly not.

 

However, I found some interesting articles from the likes of the RSPB and countryside groups, but all illustrated with images of hedges today.

Distant views but these may be of interest, both taken from https://www.vintag.es/2017/09/29-incredible-color-photos-that.html 

 

The second one is actually from the fifties, but I don't think things changed much in the countryside.

[Neal Ball]

4 minutes ago, Nick Holliday said:

Distant views but these may be of interest, both taken from https://www.vintag.es/2017/09/29-incredible-color-photos-that.html 

 

The second one is actually from the fifties, but I don't think things changed much in the countryside.

 

Lovely photos Nick.

 

That second one has some very well clipped hedges in the distance.

[Neal Ball]

4 minutes ago, Nick Holliday said:

Distant views but these may be of interest, both taken from https://www.vintag.es/2017/09/29-incredible-color-photos-that.html 

 

The second one is actually from the fifties, but I don't think things changed much in the countryside.

 

Lovely photos Nick.

 

That second one has some very well clipped hedges in the distance.