The Creek

So I’ve started working on the creek. I ‘sat’ on the project for a few days working up some inspiration and then decided to just start. I’ve been wondering what to do here. I mainly want there to be a mix of colors and textures that change within a very short distance of one another. My materials are static grass of various colors and lengths, sand and stone of various textures and shades, miniature flowers, miniature reeds/rushes and then the usual flock and paint etc. That’s not alot of materials to work with but it’s a start so let’s how I do.

The starting point: strip off the previous materials and get back to a base on which to build the new creek bed. I also keep these photos near me for inspiration and to make sure I don’t go off on some surreal tangent.

I decided to start by adding lighter sand and rocks. I found the original color to be too absorbing of light – I wanted the opposite – for the sand to give off light. I have several grades of sand to lay down – some smooth and some stony – the important thing is to make sure that it stays within scale. I have a little HO person I put down there to keep me aware of the size that things should be.

During this intermediate construction phase things get messy and unpleasant to look at. It’s important to keep the faith and be patient. Often I really had no idea how the landscaping was going to look until I had finished it. Luckily landscaping has ended up looking much much better than anticipated.

I added the first layer of dry static grass. I’m going to spray paint the grass to get some color variation in there. I experimented last week with an air brush and was very pleased with the results.
I gently sprayed the static grass to add a few shades of orange. I’ll try different colors at different times.
I purchased some model reeds (rushes?) which I experimented with. They have their place somewhere around the creek. More suited to O scale than HO it was necessary to really cut them down in height. They will really add to the textures around the creek.
So anyhow I’m taking my time over this area. There’s no rush and I’m adding small details every night and in the morning. This allows the glue to dry and for inspiration to strike!

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