3. The Scenery

There's not much to the module other than the great big rubber casting, so the scenery work consisted of painting the rock, adding vegetation, and ballasting the track. Although I'd also wanted to make the falling rock fence, I left that as an option for later, if I had the time and materials. There was also a small cascade of water that I'd also wanted to make, assuming I had the time.

Knowing I was going to use Krylon sprays for the rock coloration, I sealed the exposed insulation foam with acrylic paint first to protect it. The real rock comprises a multitude of dark colors, so I broke out the greys and dark browns. Then, after getting the base coat down, I applied rusty washes made from thinned gouache.

Next up was a rapid-fire application of earth textures (dirt and finely chopped leaves) and fine ground foam vegetation glued in place with spray cement. After brushing away the excess, I applied a flat clear coat, then added shrubbery pulled from WS foliage clusters. I was working at such a breakneck speed that I didn't stop to take progress photos. Time spent, about two and a half hours (26 May 2019).

Next up was track ballast, talus, and weeds. Just prior to starting this step, I masked off the scenery and painted the track: I sprayed on ruddy primer a low angle to catch the rails; then I sprayed straight down with dark brown for the ties. Time: about an hour (28 May 2019).

The very final step was blending the rusty track and talus with powdered chalks, at which point the module was "conditionally complete": that is, it could be considered "finished" assuming I elect not to add the rock slide fence.

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