The scenic work begins!

Today I started to build up some of the landforms on the Ashlett Creek board. The photos will explain my methodology, but its really very simple. As a side note, anything that isn't covered with clay will probably be covered in lightweight plaster. With all this weight being added, you can see why I didn't opt for fully plywood boards!

So then onto the beginning of the clay. I had quite a large quantity of left over clay from Calshot. However, this was from 2-3 years ago, and so the clay wasn't very malleable! Luckily I had bought some small (150g) packets of DAS clay at the model shop last weekend. So here is how I started on the creek bed using one of these packs.

I may be teaching you all stuff you already know, but here are a few notes that you may find useful when working with clay:

1. Take out what you need and put away any you aren't using into a sealed container ASAP
2. The edges of the clay, and any thinner sections will of course harden first - so I always add water on the edges to give me more time to work with the clay before it starts to harden.
3. Always have a small pot of water nearby and use it to join any gaps and mould it to the shape you desire.
4. It is easier to scribe, add details, and clean up whilst the clay is still wet! (Although for sharper lines such as brick courses I recommend scribing after it has hardened).

And so on to the progress from today:

Update: I think I may be very busy for a while: