Lookin for some help. I have this small hill on the corner of my layout that Im adding scenery to and something’s missing.
First off the area in question is circled in red. It doesn’t seem realistic enough, suggestions? My second Q is how can I get my fallen tree (circled in blue) to look more realistic? Also something that is more evident is some bare spots that I’ll take care of
This next shot is an attempt to give you an idea/view of the “hill”. Same area pictured above is circled in red.
And this is just a shot showing off my new Proto1000 SW8/900 in the area in question. [8D]
What I’ve used so far is, Woodland Scenics brown turf, Dark green and light green bushes and the trees are from a pack of 25 from WS also I think. One last thing please ignore the base that is visible on the one tree, I’ll cover that up with some turf. It’s amazing what you can’t see until you take pictures of the area you’re working on.
Well, maybe some eroded ‘gullies’, or just some dirt/rocks sticking out - no talus or anything, but some bare dirt clumps with branches/bushes sticking out. Actually, more undergrowth until you real the edge of the ballast (heck - a nice mixed ballast/weed zone along the drainage ditches). Unless this is supposed to be a groomed park or something.
Also, the dead tree, as you feel, looks like you just dropped it there. Maybe have it come down from the forest, stuck somewhat in smaller bushes/undergrowth - smaller branches on top snapped off when it fell, large trunk resting on ground -cover with weeds/vines/brush etc., unless the tree just feel down overnight - and where’s a rotting stump for that tree?
Your trees and hill are too trianguler. Add some of both across the tracks to form a ‘cut’.
I’d also add some greenery or trees closer to to the track (allowing clearance) - again to create the illusion of cutting through a forest, and destroying the Triangle.
TREES are not cheap, but also don’t wear out, and are easy to install or reuse.
Turn the fallen tree around so that it would have fallen from the woods down to the cut that the tracks are in. You could put a small pile of cut branches nearby to suggest that the track crew had to trim them from the tree to clear the right-of-way. I’d put another tree in the bare area tilting towards the track like it will be the next to go.
I agree about the tree. It needs a stump, it wouldn’t fall uphill, and it would be broken into smaller pieces. The main thing I see is the lack of drainage. The cut is going to erode and civil engineers have to take care of drainage in cuts. I’d carve at least two drainage channels in the hill with a few smaller erosion channels leading into the main erosion channels. Depending on what part of the country you’re modeling, the drained areas will have either more or less grass and brush than the rest of the hill. You also need a drainage channel along the track to carry off the water. A little Envirotex in the trackside ditch will help complete the illusion. As has already been suggested, bring the foliage down closer to the tracks will help with the illusion that the railroad had to cut through the hill to get to where it was going.
I would suggest coarser overfill with a different coloured foam, or maybe some tuftgrass. Or, would it be range land that could use a rustic fence and a couple head of cattle? Picnicers?
Ok, first of all why the dead tree laying there. Tree died from lightning strike? kids chopped it down? There has to be a reason for it. Could be there was a derailment on that curve and rail car or loco knocked it down. One or two old freight cars laying in that bear spot would give the reason for the dead tree along with some plowed up ground where they slid up the bank into it. Just a thought. Ken
JP - Let’s start from the ground up. First, by what you’ve done already, I’m not quite sure of the exact part of the country you are attempting to model. However, unless it’s southern CA or somewhere in the dry American SW, the base color of your ground is probably too light…it looks drought-strickened to me. If it is meant to represent anywhere with a moderate climate, clean everything off the terrain entirely and apply some real, very finely sifted, local (or perhaps regional) dirt all over the scene. If you are not local to the area you are modeling, try to find some photos showing the general dirt/earth coloration from there and try to generally match it. Better yet, go a shade or two darker.
Follow this basic groundcover with an irregular, thin application of blended colors of fine grass to start. Over this, added sparcer applications of WELL MIXED TOGETHER Coarse Turf of differing shades and do the same with your brush. Right now you have the different colors of turf/brush much too separated (grouped) and regular to be believable.
Ditch that fallen tree idea completely. They never look right. For your other trees, plant some of them in small groups and the others in a very irregular, separated pattern (i.e. isolate some) across the scene. Modify the trees themselves by plucking out some of the ground foam to give them a more irregular and see-through appearance. Add SUBTLE variations to the foilage color by applying light applications of mixed fine light/medium/dark “grass” or basic ground foam, making sure for it to differ somewhat from tree to tree. Also, apply a final light application of very fine light green (or yellowish) grass to the tops of the trees to simulate sunlight illuminating them.
I happen to model autumn in the eastern U.S. but all the basic scenery concepts are pretty much still the same, unless you happen to be modeling the really arid or semi-desert regio
