Wieland used to be a wasteland of painted fiberboard and cork. Such a large swat of nondescript terrain made it quite hard to imagine the final effect, but after an evening, basic static grass covering is in place. While some areas need to be covered, mainly the highway and the barn vicinity, it is now possible to experience this large Clermont yard and Wieland area as a single and cohesive scene.
As designed, the track is now perfectly blended into grass and weeds, minimizing its visual impact while telling us we are now reaching "end of steel" territory. I feel it is uttermost important to convey a feeling of a rural branch in the countryside. Only carefully scene planning and refraining from cluttering the layout with railroad structure can support such a narrative.
But as you will probably agree, this first layer of scenic material is still quite drab and will need much more to be brought fully to life. This will include installing the photo backdrop - a task that I postponed as much as I could but can anymore - to convey a sense of place and depth to the layout.
Beautiful. I love your comment "Only carefully scene planning and refraining from cluttering the layout with railroad structure can support such a narrative." This is something I first came across in Trevor Marshall's work, and it makes such a massive difference.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words! Trevor indeed had a serious impact on my approach to modelling over the years, a positive and challenging one.
DeleteThis is also an excellent way to keep the amount of work acceptable. It takes a lot of pressure off your shoulders while giving you room to do better and focus on a coherent sets of goals.
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