Gedward

Sadly, I lost many colleagues over that time. I was very fortunate and willing to take the leap. But many were either too old or could not see that this was the future of graphics. For so long art studios were places of specialists. Retouchers, lettering artists, illustrators, visualisers, paste up artists and designers. Then along came the Apple mac.

On tree #1, an Artex and PVA glue mixture.

On the airbrush debate. I used one extensively back in the 80s, working in an art studio. Then it was an essential tool for retouching and general colouring. When PS arrived, we all went over to that and the airbrush became rather obsolete. So coming back to the hobby I didn’t think I’d need one. But then there’s the painting of track and there’s the weathering of rolling stock. So we had second thoughts.

Yes, but I thought that was something to do with skirts in Victorian times.

Wonderful memories right there.

Getting there.

Here we go again with specimen #2. This time we're using 10 amp fuse wire as this tree is a lot smaller and more fiddly. Will be closely followed by its sibling afterwards.

And now in mono.

Many thanks Alex. This time of year is perfect for early morning bike rides. Have taken loads of pics of trees, bushes and weeds etc. As alll will end up on here at some point. It's always good to look for trees that are solo if poss. I then attach a small piece of tape as high as possible (approx 6 feet) to act as a height indicator. Using PS, I push the levels and contrast sliders to get rid of unwanted clutter. This creates a much clearer reference pic. I then print it out at the size I need. Hope this helps. And yes, I always remember to remove the tape after the shoot.

Many thanks. It's quite special, as it's #1 on Bovey Tor. Hoping to have a wealth of vegetation on here eventually, so thought I'd better make a start. The main reason for switching from N to 00 was because I wanted to scratch build all structures. So did lots of trials using all the usual suspects. Starting with the station building which is based on Crowcombe Heathfield. I started this in styrene, basswood and card covered with Das. But none of these methods gave me a realistic stone finish. Then I watched a couple of videos about structure building on Pendon and thought we'd give that a try. As you say, it does take godlike patience. But it is surprisingly easy providing you take your time. And card is such an easy substrate to work with.

Many thanks Nick, that's very encouraging to hear.

Many thanks really good to hear that.

Next day.

Love it to bits. Now there's a challenge.

Thanks but I'm thinking that shed is beyond repair and will just gradually merge into the landscape.

Spring is here.

An oak up in smoke.

We've seen some new growth over the last few days.

Many thanks for taking the time to walk through the whole thread. Your remarks are very encouraging.

I did exactly that with most of my paintings. But even that can be a pain especially if you've varnished it. The weave in the canvas can create a nasty moire effect.

Once more with feeling.

Thanks, sometimes, no all the time, it looks quite different on screen. Hence me playing with lighting setups.

Apparently the police are looking in to a break and entry.

And again.

Think that's stage one complete.