Stairway To Nowhere, Part 2
The stairway to nowhere was just slightly more involved than I'd anticipated. Beyond its construction, the challenge that I faced was incorporating it believably into the surrounding scenery without relying on too much stone retaining wall. To break up the otherwise vast expanse of wall, I notched it and added several stone trim pieces cut from a casting left over from the viaduct project.
From the back, the assembly is the very definition of kludge, but of course it's what faces the viewer that counts. Construction was almost done; the railing was the finishing touch. Made from .010-inch diameter brass wire, it wound up looking remarkably like John Allen's—it even has the same odd ending at the top, presumably done to clear passing trains.
All that remained was to paint everything and install it. Starting with a primer coat, I hit random stones with accent colors, as before, and brushed light tan acrylic paint on the stairs themselves. A light India ink wash finished the job, and it was time to secure it in place. To blend it into the scenery, I used a small chunk of rubber rock and bridged all of the bits and pieces together with Sculptamold.
Once the Sculptamold dries in a few days (or more, given that it's quite rainy at the moment), I can complete all of the scenery around the viaduct, and turn my attention to the Gorre station platform.