Desktop Layout | Red Rock 1
Following the last article in the Ztrains Build Corner, we have a very preliminary look at the basic rockwork and soil covering. Miles from completion of course, but I thought it might be interesting for you to have a look at this stage. The red soil used for the base coat comes to us from Pleasant Grove, Alabama. Interestingly, this is actually baseball infield and warning track material.
A few years back I visited Sedona, Arizona and being an east coast person, was just amazed at the color of the soil out there, that shade of red underfoot is just something we don’t see here on Long Island. I found a supplier of a remarkably similar shade of red soil in Alabama and knew I had to use it on a layout.
The rock castings were mixed with terra cotta acrylic paint to get a soild color red, later these will be color washed for color variation but we have a good base to work from now. Actually, a simple wash of the terra cotta paint has already been applied in these photos.
Since I’m doing a desert scene here, I went extremely heavy on my rockwork, not too many square inches of open space here! To add some history to this scene, I’ve put in what will become an old, abandoned rail line over my oval of Micro-Trains flex track. I see this small layouts as actually having several distinct heights. First we have the lower track level and in the center (and very front) of the layout will be either standing water or an old wash. Next up is the abandoned track line and above this, the tops of the rock formations. This makes viewing a simple oval a heck of a lot more interesting.
This is a very preliminary look at the layout, lots of additional talus, soils and vegetation needs to be applied of course. It’s at this early point however that the scene begins to take shape for me, and I start to visualize what needs to go where.
Category: Ztrains Build Corner
