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Post by casey on Mar 25, 2024 9:34:13 GMT -5
Hi Guys just been building a simple layout with one turnout siding for centre piece I have a choice of Desert looking or colourful terrain Which one looks the better of the two please kind regard Casey Attachments:
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Post by Tiest van Gool on Mar 25, 2024 10:08:20 GMT -5
I like the desert view better in picture 1. But the outer ring does not belong and should also go desert.
Picture 2 is more balanced as both are green pasture colored. My 2C.
-Tiest
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Post by dazed on Mar 25, 2024 10:21:05 GMT -5
Guess it depends on what you're modeling? What types of trains are you running? My frame of reference is North American railroads and the top (with modifications mentioned below) would be BNSF or UP in the Southwest portion of the US. The bottom might be something like the NS or CSX in the Northeast, or it also looks like parts of Missouri so back to UP, BNSF, CPKC, et al.
Both have merits...I think for the desert version you need to use more sand/yellow grass for the ground cover below. You won't have the benefit of a lot of trees but you do need some type of vegetation...joshua trees or mesquites, cactuses and other appropriate plants, plus more rocks spread about. Short random sprouts of yellow static grass would help the look, or darker colors for specific types of vegitation...I'm not really up to speed on modeling desert scenery but there should be plenty of online resources with tips. It doesn't have to be desert, it could be "high plains" with the desert-ish plateaus like that.
For the "colorful" version, you will need trees and lots of them for the effect to be good. I would also add a mound to about 1/4 or 1/3 of the plateau just to give it a little more uneven look. The super flat plateaus are common in the desert, but in other climes it would be an oddity for the most part. But maybe that is more common in Europe, dunno.
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Post by casey on Mar 25, 2024 11:05:18 GMT -5
Added few mountains to green one will do same desert one then put it to a vote Attachments:
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Post by Curn on Mar 25, 2024 11:11:37 GMT -5
Do the thing you are most uncomfortable with to force yourself to learn new skills. If you have experience with greener terrain, give the desert a try. Deserts mostly just have less green plants, so if you don't like it, you can convert it to the green version pretty easily by covering it with grass and trees. In the way I build up scenery, I always start with a layer of dirt or talus. For Z scale a fine or medium coarse soil color will do. I have used Arizona Rock and Mineral Co. high desert soil, Woodland Scenics fine buff talus, or JTT fine buff ballast from the Hobby Lobby in the past. Once you have the bottom dirt layer down you can add desert foliage, like late summer or burnt grass tufts, some cacti. If you want to do some stucco buildings, you can mix diatomaceous earth with paint and it will give the building walls that textured appearance. Attachments:
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Post by dazed on Mar 25, 2024 11:16:04 GMT -5
If that is in response to my comments, I think I didn't explain well enough. I was meaning just a single mound on maybe the upper right corner for example. Large than the clusters of rock you placed, perhaps the same height as the plateau. With that arrangement you've done, at best it is something from a desert scene. (but again, hard to gauge without trees. If you aren't planning to use any trees, then the desert-scape is the way to proceed)
I would encourage you to look at some reference materials such as books or online videos (YouTube) about scenery. That will help guide you to get something that looks good. Without knowing what you are attempting it's hard to give good advice, but my BEST advice is just emulate what others are doing to get more realistic scenery.
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Post by casey on Mar 25, 2024 11:31:19 GMT -5
Do the thing you are most uncomfortable with to force yourself to learn new skills. If you have experience with greener terrain, give the desert a try. Deserts mostly just have less green plants, so if you don't like it, you can convert it to the green version pretty easily by covering it with grass and trees. In the way I build up scenery, I always start with a layer of dirt or talus. For Z scale a fine or medium coarse soil color will do. I have used Arizona Rock and Mineral Co. high desert soil, Woodland Scenics fine buff talus, or JTT fine buff ballast from the Hobby Lobby in the past. Once you have the bottom dirt layer down you can add desert foliage, like late summer or burnt grass tufts, some cacti. If you want to do some stucco buildings, you can mix diatomaceous earth with paint and it will give the building walls that textured appearance. Desert with mountains Attachments:
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Post by casey on Mar 25, 2024 11:46:58 GMT -5
Desert with mountains Attachments:
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Post by Curn on Mar 25, 2024 12:30:00 GMT -5
I agree with Tiest. The garnet/gray center piece matches your other scenery elements better.
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Post by oldgrog on Mar 25, 2024 12:52:15 GMT -5
How about the upper (sandy coloured) plateau with ancient monument, tumbled down, part overgrown.
I’m thinking Machu Pichu or Stonehenge. Complete contrast with the modernity of a railway in the landscape.
For complete contrast, model a junkyard in the left corner at the end of the siding.
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Post by Tiest van Gool on Mar 25, 2024 13:59:45 GMT -5
The super flat plateaus are common in the desert, but in other climes it would be an oddity for the most part. But maybe that is more common in Europe, dunno. Unless you are modeling Uluru... en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uluru-Tiest |
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Post by dazed on Mar 25, 2024 15:34:15 GMT -5
The super flat plateaus are common in the desert, but in other climes it would be an oddity for the most part. But maybe that is more common in Europe, dunno. Unless you are modeling Uluru... Which...is in a desert.  |
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Post by Curn on Mar 25, 2024 16:22:23 GMT -5
There is also this thing called volcanic inverted topography, where lava flows will fill low areas or streams. As the surrounding land is eroded away, the lava/bassalt protects the land underneath it from erosion resulting in plateaus in just about any region. Like seen here, part of the Table Mountain California formation above Lake Tulloch. Google street view |
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Post by dazed on Mar 25, 2024 23:16:06 GMT -5
Oye...   Yep, we can pick apart my assessment of the frequency of certain geological formations having grass on them all day long if y'all want, or you can just take it for what it is...a generalization about railroad-specific instances of this happening. (and without trees, btw, which was another qualifier) Point being, it doesn't look good as it is, versus the "desert" version. Which honestly still doesn't look great, but getting to something somewhat believable is MUCH easier as a desert scene. I'm trying to be nice and provide constructive feedback. But yeah, keep nitpicking. And frankly I still stand by my assessment. Good grief. |
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Post by casey on Mar 26, 2024 3:40:57 GMT -5
This church to go with green terrain Attachments:
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Yep, we can pick apart my assessment of the frequency of certain geological formations having grass on them all day long if y'all want, or you can just take it for what it is...a generalization about railroad-specific instances of this happening. (and without trees, btw, which was another qualifier)
