"There's an old mill by the stream, Nelly Dean!"

[Guest]

Thanks for the great posts everyone.......also the wound has closed up a bit, so I'm able to do a bit more!I've started to add a bit of detail now and putting them in, as and when the idea comes along.

Here I've added a rustic fence to stop people being chopped up by the wheel.....

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A rudimentary 'Wheel clamp thingy'

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Some paving slabs. These are 1/72 scale 3ft x 2ft and I've painted them in different shades of beige to break the blandness up a bit. I've purposely cut them into individual pieces to make them more natural and uneven when laid.

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Here they are laid, complete with a diddy bench!

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I laid some outside the house and also did a bit of groundwork...same as the bridge surface.

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The surface here is a slurry of cement laid on with a brush to simulate rough concrete...

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Another coat of varnish....This one I've confined to the center of the stream. See how it's smoothed out the middle a bit, but left the water below the steps still rippled, also the mill race appears deeper now, which was what I wanted.....

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The second coat...see the slight difference?

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I hope you like these 'add-ons'

Cheers,

Ron

This is the dogs dangly bits Ron ole son masterful and ingenious.

scott

[spanner570]

what varnish have you used for the water effects, also does it dry or remain tacky?Si

Si, it's ordinary cheapo varnish, I found an old tin in my garage! Dries overnight.

Also, thanks to my good friends on here for your posts. All very embarrassing....but great reading!

[Guest]

Awesome and then some this forum is full of masters of their craft (oh yes you can tell they're masters as they make it all look so easy.

[Ian M]

This is coming along very nicely.

Might have to try this one day.

Ian M

[flyjoe180]

Yes, it's very inspirational stuff, and all so realistic looking. How do you distress the wood parts Ron?

[spanner570]

Thanks everyone for your input...

Joe, I'm not sure what you mean.....Are you referring to the wheel, or the wood in general?

All the actual wood (the wheel, windows etc.) is untouched, just paint added. The doors and barn doors are plastic card, scratched with sandpaper for the grain and then painted with acrylics.

The 'wooden' lintols over the doorways and windows are just scribed with a modelling knife into the polystyrene to simulate the wood grain....

I hope this answers your question...

Ron

[flyjoe180]

Yes thanks Ron, that does answer my query. I thought you may have used wooden lollipop sticks or similar, that seat for instance looks like it has been roughed up.

[spanner570]

I thought you may have used wooden lollipop sticks or similar, that seat for instance looks like it has been roughed up.

I use coffee stirrers, although I have a supply of lolly sticks too. Both have the same dense grain.

When paint is applied the grain swells a bit and gives the wood that roughed up look..

As an aside, I never use balsa for any wood that's seen- unless it's for 1/16 or larger. The grain is way, way too pronounced, not 'close' enough and looks far too heavy for 1/35 - 1/72, whereas the grain in coffee stirrers is nice and tight, and to me anyway, looks right.

The best way to get a nice scale smooth grain in small scale for barn doors etc. is plastic card, stroked with fine sand paper....perfect.

Cheers,

Ron

[papa 695]

Great tips Ron and it's coming along very nicely

[spanner570]

Thanks for the encouraging post everyone, it's good fun having you all along for the ride!

As it's still raining, I've just been having a go at the water.....

But first a little bit of nonsense to break up the lower pool a bit...built from stirrers.

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Here's the initial water work on the wheel and mill race. I've tried to convey movement as the wheel rotates. Gradually decreasing the drips from the paddles as the wheel rotates anti clock wise......A bit of varnish to add later.

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Here is the salmon steps with first application of silicone. Shaped with a stirrer and an old nail.

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For anyone thinking of 'making' moving water, keep in mind where fast water meets slower or still water, a phenomenum called a 'stopper' occurs. See the wave just below each step, that's them! The water flow directly below the step actually reverses and goes back towards the steps.

As an aside...I spent 15 yrs competitive rapid river slalom canoeing and these were to be avoided. The ones above are nothing, some you can actually paddle into and stay in them going across the wave, sort of surfing....But, some can be huge and litterally suck you in and you are trapped, tipped up and yes, if they are big enough can drown people. I lost a good friend to one of these things whilst we were paddling a river in N. Yorkshire in the early '70's, so stay well away any budding canoeists!

Sorry, got carried away then....

I'm glad to get this stage behind me, as when working with silicone - particularily this warm weather - it goes off in minutes and can't be worked and is virtually impossible to completely remove...So be warned! Still more to do, but the second layer should be a bit easier now the initial work is done.

That's it... next up, thinking caps on for the greenery - and a small beer!

Cheers,

Ron

[eddiesolo]

One thing you can add to the sealant is to add some cold water and then agitate with a stiff brush, this opaques the sealant and is ideal for bubbling frothy water.

Looking amazing Ron.

Si

[Guest]

looking real nice,the look of movement is there

mobear

[spanner570]

One thing you can add to the sealant is to add some cold water and then agitate with a stiff brush, this opaques the sealant and is ideal for bubbling frothy water.Si

Oy Si, have you been reading my script? That's stage two! Good tip to pass on nonetheless.....

[papa 695]

Great work Ron. The water looks brill already are we having the Salmon leaping ?

[spanner570]

The water looks brill already are we having the Salmon leaping ?

Not a bad idea, Ian......on the scale of things it sounds a bit fishy!

My coat is on, firmly buttoned up and I'm out the door.......