The Grand Experiment

The Grand Experiment

Last night I worked until three in the morning, so I skipped the office today. After waking up with the sun, I decided to play trains for a while.

Those things that look like cookies gone bad, are actually test blobs of the static grass. I put a handful of dirt in the bottom of a paper cup, made a depression in the center, and then poured in some plaster. Once it dried, I painted the plaster blobs Trail Tan and then tried different ratios of the Woodland Scenics static grass. I ended up liking the Honey Gold sprayed on and then mottling some Burned Grass over the top of it. Solid colors just looked like I took a giant hole-punch to a deer pelt.

I painted the concrete abutments, and then the canyon and other areas of the module. I'm pretty sure I will be repainting the canyon because it looks too Arizona Highways and not enough like the local scenery. Once that gets done, I will be adding lots of shrubs and some grazing cattle, barbed wire fence, creekside clutter and the usual trackside details. These elements will go a long way in making the grass look like something other than the back dash on a Caprice.