As you can easily see, in comparison to the heather on Bobby's photos mine is way too purple and in some lights almost blue. Now given the varying colours that heather does flower I could probably have got away with this but I decided I really did want to try and make it a little pinker.
The solution was another round of flowers again based on the Woodland Scenics purple flowering foliage. I took some of the purple flowers I'd mixed with the white weathering powder and shook them with some ground up pink pastel (from a metal tin of Reeves Greyhound pastels that are probably at least twice as old as me). A small amount of scenic glue was then dabbed onto the existing heather flowers before a small amount of the pinker flowers were added. The result is, I hope you will agree, much better.
And now that the heather is flowering the model is essentially finished. I just have to glue the bike in place and tidy up the base to improve the presentation. Both of these need to be done in the next few days before I pack the model ready for travelling down to ExpoNG on Friday. I'll post lots of photos of the finished model after the competition, so if you want to see it before then how about coming to say hello on Saturday -- you'll probably be able to find me at the Narrow Planet stand.
Mark this is stunning. If you don't win then let me know and I'll pop down and ask the judges to justify their decision.
ReplyDeleteNot sure about the bike. It does add scale but then the track does that. It could have been done on a lathe and looked less artistic and more realistic like your locomotives.
Bloody impressive for all that. Good luck.
What a wonderful piece of modelling Mark, the first photo really does it for me, mind you the last one runs it a close second.
ReplyDeleteSurely your efforts are worth a pot or two, good luck on the big day.
Geoff
Superb. Perhaps even museum quality?
ReplyDeleteI also would be tempted to just place rather than glue the bike in place, although it is a fine piece of modelmaking in its own right the modern design does fix the scene into a particular period, without the bike the scene is timeless.
Aye Paul, the bike is a bit crap. Leave it out Mark.
DeleteWell I'm no help at all because I'm in two minds and don't really know what the judges would be looking for. I have to say, though, that when I first saw the bike make an appearance I liked it.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone. I must admit now it's been mentioned I'm in two minds about the bike as well. I really like it, although I'm not sure it's as detailed as the rest of the model. Originally I'd intended to show the bridge abandoned and forgotten and I only built the bike to match the photos. I'm tempted to leave it off for the competition and go back to my original plan. I can still add place it on for comparison photos etc. if I want to in the future.
ReplyDeleteGlad you found a way to do the heather - lovely modelling. Good luck with the competition!
ReplyDeleteBoth photos look superb. Well done, you should definitely stand a very good chance. I like the bike, but I see what you mean. How do you detail a bike any further...a very frustrating exercise, so best left off. Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteYes, I don't fancy trying to add water bottles or saddle bags!
DeleteLooks excellent..
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking pic 2 looks better without the bike...sorry!!
Looking forward to hearing all about it.