2017 was a year that sadly did not allow for modelmaking, so Sandy Shores has sat completely untouched. I did move the layout up into my bedroom back in June with a view to working on it, but a day later I was suddenly asked to make an animated advert. After that came music composing, followed by other hobbies - all taking up my free time. But yesterday I saw the opportunity to begin working on the SSLR...
First on the agenda was to start to get some colour onto the layout - the muddy tidal area, pond, and most of the visible sea was still white. After much experimentation and research using photos and Google Earth, I convinced myself to take the plunge and start mixing emulsion paint together. The result is a vast improvement on the overall appearance of the layout. The painting of the muddy tidal area started with the dark blue of the deeper water, giving way to green and a murky brown as it reaches the level of the mud. I'm trying to depict it as if it's just after half-tide, so there's still a bit of water around, with the higher mud area just visible. Eventually I'll experiment with either PVA for water, or some commercial product. Oh, and you'll also note that for the first time ever, I've begun experimenting with painting the stone walls. So far it's a little too blue and grey, so there's still much more to alter before beginning work on the real thing.
As mentioned, I also had to finish the visible area of sea, as only the area to the left of the headshunt jetty was painted. It took a little bit of experimentation to get the colours to match, but I got there in the end. Darker blues in the deepest parts give way to light blue, then almost white at the tide line. This then merges into the cream of the sand. Those looking carefully will notice I've started to model the high tide mark on the sand - the faint green line follows the contour of the beach, and will eventually have dark green/dark brown seaweed modelled. I'll probably use a combination of ground cover to do this.
As you'll note, I still haven't replaced the headshunt trestle properly - I still need to fix the broken handrail, but I've included it in the photo to help give a feel for how the paint has lifted the appearance here.
Anyway, I'm still trying to get the right colour balance with the lighting rig, and every photo of the pond area I took seemed too blue, so I'll wait until I can take photos in daylight before I take any photos of it.
Anyway, that about sums up the progress the last couple of days, tomorrow (between errands) I'll try and get some more sleepers painted to get rid of the glossy black appearance.
First on the agenda was to start to get some colour onto the layout - the muddy tidal area, pond, and most of the visible sea was still white. After much experimentation and research using photos and Google Earth, I convinced myself to take the plunge and start mixing emulsion paint together. The result is a vast improvement on the overall appearance of the layout. The painting of the muddy tidal area started with the dark blue of the deeper water, giving way to green and a murky brown as it reaches the level of the mud. I'm trying to depict it as if it's just after half-tide, so there's still a bit of water around, with the higher mud area just visible. Eventually I'll experiment with either PVA for water, or some commercial product. Oh, and you'll also note that for the first time ever, I've begun experimenting with painting the stone walls. So far it's a little too blue and grey, so there's still much more to alter before beginning work on the real thing.
As mentioned, I also had to finish the visible area of sea, as only the area to the left of the headshunt jetty was painted. It took a little bit of experimentation to get the colours to match, but I got there in the end. Darker blues in the deepest parts give way to light blue, then almost white at the tide line. This then merges into the cream of the sand. Those looking carefully will notice I've started to model the high tide mark on the sand - the faint green line follows the contour of the beach, and will eventually have dark green/dark brown seaweed modelled. I'll probably use a combination of ground cover to do this.
As you'll note, I still haven't replaced the headshunt trestle properly - I still need to fix the broken handrail, but I've included it in the photo to help give a feel for how the paint has lifted the appearance here.
Anyway, I'm still trying to get the right colour balance with the lighting rig, and every photo of the pond area I took seemed too blue, so I'll wait until I can take photos in daylight before I take any photos of it.
Anyway, that about sums up the progress the last couple of days, tomorrow (between errands) I'll try and get some more sleepers painted to get rid of the glossy black appearance.
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