# Scenicking the Procrastenaten River...



## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

....4 1/2 years after I put the shell down...sigh...

My technique is fairly simple...buy lots of cheap half-full bags of Woodland Scenics ground foam at train shows for pennies on the dollar. Paint the shell with a generous coat of equally cheap Wally Weirld craft paint...then coat it liberally with various shades and coarseness of ground foams while the paint is still wet. Over spray it all with a mist of water with a bit of alcohol in it to help drying time, then dribble a 50/50 water and acrylic matte medium over it all...touch up as needed. 




























Now that all the messy work is done, I can bring it in the house and detail it at my leisure while watching LSU smoke hogs tonight....


----------



## xrunner (Jul 29, 2011)

shaygetz said:


> ....4 1/2 years after I put the shell down...sigh...


Oh dear ...

Well anyway it looks fabulous!


----------



## flyboy2610 (Jan 20, 2010)

That does look nice. I love the name of the river, too!:thumbsup:


----------



## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Nice work, Shay ... I especially like the ballast work around the bridge supports.

Hey, I see you're base is white "compressed ball" styrofoam, rather than the "most train guys" pink stuff foam. Thoughts? Cheap and fully covered, so good simple vibration dampening? Other reasons?

Cheers,

TJ


----------



## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

Looks great shay.


----------



## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Thanks guys...



tjcruiser said:


> Hey, I see you're base is white "compressed ball" styrofoam, rather than the "most train guys" pink stuff foam. Thoughts? Cheap and fully covered, so good simple vibration dampening? Other reasons?
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> TJ


I wish I could come up with some ground breaking reason for using it other than price...free is always good.:thumbsup:

The stuff works well...I don't care for the litter, it gets everywhere. Once cut though, it holds glue well and makes for a stable platform...


----------



## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Shay,

The results are superb, so "if it works" ...

Thanks for the pics of the early-stages of your diorama ... interesting to see the plywood box form and construction.

I've mentioned before ... your choice to build the scenery/building skewed on a diagonal really adds extra depth and visual interest to the small scene ... it adds to the illusion of perspective quite nicely.

Cheers,

TJ


----------



## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Thanks TJ.

It's built with 3/4" stock and so is solid as a rock. It actually is both a photographic diorama as well as a portable working layout based on the Inglenook Shunting puzzle....http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/sw-inglenook.html


----------



## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Water...done with acrylic paints. I don't care for any of the current techniques so I go with the most painless...sigh...



















The green isn't nearly as bright as it appears, that's just flash bounce from the camera...


----------



## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Work on the shore line has started...










...dressing up the edge creep of the acrylic. The girl is 3 different Plasticville citizens Frankensteined, carved and painted. The dog is Preiser...


----------



## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Wow ... that's really jumping to life! Literally, almost ... looks like the dog is going to make a splash!

Is that a gloss clear-coat on the river "water"?

Nice work,

TJ


----------



## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Thanks TJ...it's acrylic gloss medium, many coats of it, some tinted brown, blue or green for added effect.


----------



## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Looks fabulous ... excellent "depth"!


----------



## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Slowly wrapping up the scenery on the river end of my switching module...


----------



## Gansett (Apr 8, 2011)

Stunning, beautiful work!


----------



## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Thank you for the kind words. The whole thing was built to show that a complete railroad could be built in a few square feet and only on what comes from junk box purchases and what the modeler already has on hand. My goal was to spend less than $30, at this point I'm at $16 and change, $10 of that being that flasher circuit for the grade crossing in the town just out of camera sight...










The buildings are set aside for storage in this picture...they are wired for lighting that requires careful fitting. Right now I drop plop them in place when I wish to take some pix...



















Here's the same end of the bridge before scenery...


----------



## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Shay,

I'm confused ... 

I didn't see any pics of your switching diorama ... all I see are pics of a real river, real train, and real truss bridge crossing. 

You are the master of realism :worshippy:

:thumbsup:

TJ


----------



## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Thanks, TJ...

Would you believe one of my pictures was temporarily tossed from an online contest because one of the judges thought it was a real train? I just smiled and sent an email back saying, "Look closer...".


----------



## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

I could believe it! Your work is incredible, I've had to take a real close look at several of your photos!:thumbsup:


----------



## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Thanks, Sean...I fuss over placing the foliage a bit, a technique that won't carry very well on a larger layout. My inspiration would have to be Irv Schultz's St. Claire Northern from the 60s and 70s...the dude cornered the market on ground foam--and--he used brass C100 rail on Tru-Scale roadbed, pretty eye catching for a teenager like me with no coin for the fancier nickle silver rail.


----------



## jonyb (Mar 20, 2011)

Impressive!


----------

