The Little Rock Line (N)

[Allen]

[Paul S.]

Thanks, Allen. Guess if there was a TV quiz show called "Who's Smarter than a Primate", I'd lose.😅😅😅

[Allen]

I finally have all the scenic material that I think I'll need to start working on the bog.
As I was gathering it up and started to play around with how I want to lay in the material, a thought crossed my mind.

I'd like to get some input and see what others might think.

The land and bog bottom colors I'm happy with, however, after laying down some tufts I don't think I can get the edges completely covered up with tufts and grasses? I'm not sure how much I can cover with the tufts, static grass or fine turf?

So it occured to me that if the edges don't get covered completely then I'd be left with a bright strip of ground showing through.
So I'm wondering if I shouldn't paint the edges of the land with a darker brown (but not as dark as the bottom) approximately 1/4" to 3/8" inwards to where the tufts would cover the line of color difference and try to blend or dry brush them together.

Here's what I have now.

[Russ C]

Not so much a 'paint' but more of a subtle stain or slightly darker wash could work? Try it in one spot and if you don't like it, cover with tufts.
If you do it a consistent distance above the waterline, it could serve as the original waterline, which has receded over time.

[Allen]

That's true Russ, I could try a slightly darker brown wash. Thanks.

[Paul S.]

What Russ C said. Perhaps there"s been a recent heavy rain, and water level has receded some.

[Allen]

Using Russ's idea here is what I came up with. I used some enamel wash I had handy.
I think looking back, I should have just painted everything with the darker brown.
As usual, I overthink stuff or I don't think for enough ahead.

[LorenC]

That looks incredibly realistic. Very, very impressive.

[Allen]

Thanks Loren! I hope it turns out like I have it in my head.

[Allen]

Ok, I went down after all the ghouls and goblins went home tonight and played around with the first little section.

I applied the glue base then placed the dark green tufts around the edges.
Hard to see but I did add some lighter colored tufts towards the middle and rear.
The large white flowered shrub is something I got from Scenic Express made by Martin Welberg. Before adding it I misted it with hairspray and sprinkled on some Woodland Scenics white flowers.

Next I mixed some 4mm dark green and 6mm autumn grass and applied very heavy around the entire area and sucked up the excess.
I then sprinkled on a variety of fine green ground foam and misted it all with more hairspray.
Before it dried, I lightly applied some Woodland Scenics yellow and purple flowers.
Then added some small bits of clump foliage and the Woodland Scenics Tall Grass and misted more hairspray to lock stuff in place.



I'm not sure how deep I'll pour the water, but it should be at least halfway up the edges.
This is just the undergrowth, I plan to add more small shrubs, trees and stumps along with some 12mm tufts to the bog bottom around the edges.

[Paul S.]

Well done, Allen.

Gave away last night all that Unitrak you found you'd had stashed away?🤣🤣

[davefoxx]

Love it!

[Russ C]

That's shaping up very well, looking good Allen.

[Allen]

Thanks for all kind props guys! I’m flying by the seat of my pants here.

So what does one do when their computer fails hard? You go work on the layout of course, and learn how to post to the forum using your phone.

I’ve spent the last two days trying to avoid the shakes of withdrawals from not having a keyboard to bang on or a mouse to clutch!
My new neighbor came over this morning and we determined that my hard drive decided to crash?

Hopefully his buddy can get it in his shop tomorrow or Tuesday?

In the meantime I’ve been adding vegetation to the bog. So far, so good. The tufts and the static grass, along with the larger bushes and brambles are pretty simple. But the tall tufts of light green grass has to be pinched and cut to length, then inserted one tuft at a time.

It’s a little time but I’m happy with the outcome. Once the glue dries (you can see the little white blobs of glue which were still wet if you close enough) I’ll come back and trim the tops so they aren’t so uniform.


I have to say that I’m glad I don’t have a big, basement empire that needs this kind of scenery…

[davefoxx]

I’m hesitant with scenery sometimes, because fear of screwing it up can be paralyzing. But, when you just dive in and grab it by the horns, it can be so gratifying as the scene comes together.

Keep up the good work . . . or I’ll come over and infect your layout with kudzu. 🤣

[Allen]

The doors open and be sure to bring lots of Kudzu with you!!! I’ll throw a couple of steaks on the grill and cool some drinks for us! See ya soon…

[LorenC]

Allen, all of the time and effort that you have put in so far certainly shows. That is one beautiful scene.

PS. Doesn't every scene need just a little Kudzu to tie it all together.

[Paul S.]

Looks great so far, Allen!

[Allen]

Still no computer, ugh.
But the withdrawals are easing.

I’ve slowly been making progress on the bog. Quin and made the trek to Spring Creek again today and I picked up a bit more scenery materials.

Nothing special, just some more varieties of vegetation.

The application of the main vegetation goes pretty quickly, the tall stand of light green grass takes a bit longer to separate, trim and plant. But once you get into the groove, it’s goes pretty quickly.

Once I get the base vegetation down, I’ll start to add the trees and stumps.

Loren, yes the Kudzu will be coming soon.
Thanks for the kind props.

Dave, I’m still waiting…

Paul, thanks

[Allen]

The vegetation is slowly filling in.

Trying another image with the phone image editor again. Damn I miss my computer.

[Russ C]

What Paul said!!
As a matter of interest, are trees on the agenda for the water's edge?

[Allen]

Thanks guys.
Yes Russ, trees will making an appearance once I get the land covered with vegetation. Still need to make them but they will some around the edges.
Plan to cover the area behind the tracks and some around the edges.

Will also make and place some dead trees and stumps closer to the edges and in the water.

I’m trying to get all the vegetation done first so I don’t have to work around the trees with the static grass machine and possibly break them off.

[Cody]

I’m trying to get all the vegetation done first so I don’t have to work around the trees with the static grass machine and possibly break them off.

That makes good sense. Won't be long now.

[Allen]

Yay for me!!!! I'm real close to be back 100% with the computer. I just got my main image editor loaded back on, so I played with the latest image of the bog.
Still need some practice with the editor.

This is where it stands for now. Most of the vegetation is in place, I still need to apply static grass on both sides of the tracks and road. The uncovered areas on the left side, I left alone for now as I picked up a cabin and I need to dig out the Woodland Scenics "family fishing" pack so I can add the little dock and boat. Then I'll finish with the weeds and move onto the trees and stumps.

[Allen]

Hey Alan! You're alive!!!! Yay!
You know I had that same thought as well. Some rusty part of a car/truck half submerged in the bog. Great idea!
Lord knows I have enough old vehicles to make that work.
Or!
What about a scene where a tow truck is trying to pull a recent swamp diver out? Hmmm

[Paul S.]

Paint "Sid"s Sorrow" on the half-buried car, and really make it stand out!

[Allen]

😂😅

[Allen]

After I had a chance to let the meal settle in and get a quick nap in, I headed down and got the static grass applied to both sides of the track that runs behind the bog so that I could finally start planting some trees against the backdrop. Wanted to get these in before I started working on the trees that’ll be in the foreground.

Luckily I had enough trees left over from the Whitewater Creek scene to cover the majority of the area. With a lot of open spaces between the larger trees, I started filling in with some leftover Super Tree pieces that I removed while planting them.

That still left a lot of open area space at the base so I started making some brambles and will eventually work in some smaller vegetation and some poly fiber bushes to give the tree base a fuller, thicker look.



After looking at this image for a bit, I'm happy I went to the trouble of painting the background trees on the backdrop. While you really can't see them with the trees in place, at least you don't see the blue sky behind the base of the trees.

[Cody]

Agreed on the backdrop, it adds to the effect. Looks great.

[Allen]

Thanks Cody!

[Paul S.]

This is turning out really, really well, Allen. You've done a great job!!

[Allen]

Thanks Paul, there is sooo much more to do yet.

[Allen]

I'm always looking for some new variation of vegetation to add to a scene, IMO the more you have, the less your eyes will see a repeating pattern.

On a recent trip to the hobby shop, I came across a product from Woodland Scenics called Briar Patch, which is supposed to resemble thick and or thorny bushes. I thought this would be a nice addition to the bog scene, so I grabbed a pack of it. I think it was about $9 each.



After getting it home and inspecting it, it looked like it was made from chunks of Super Trees with ground foam glued to it. Simple enough. It was tightly packed and was rather brittle. While trying to break/cut off a section, it wanted to crumble quite a bit. My first thought was that I could replicate this fairly easily by using a course furnace filter for much cheaper?

After digging through my scenery supplies I found a package of Natural Aire filter that I picked up a while back for another project. This should work nicely?



I cut off a small section to start with. There's a backing screen that helps hold the filter together, this I removed by simply peeling it off.



I cut the strip into a small block and stretched out thin then squashed it into a bush like shape and sprayed it with Krylon Dark Camo Brown paint (which was close at hand) so it was brown and not green.



While the paint was still wet, I applied a good coating of some fine burnt green or late summer ground foam to cover the filter fibers and shook off the excess. Next I sprayed it with a good coat of cheap hair spray and sprinkled on a light amount of some brighter green ground foam for a variance of colors (I do not like a monotone look for vegetation) and shot it again with the hair spray to lock it all in place.



Once dry, I trimmed it up and placed it in the scene up against the base of the tree line. I'll add some smaller bits and pieces of foam to help add layers to the scene.