BACKDROPS by BRIAN

BACKDROPS by BRIAN

Brian has been with us since the beginning, 2003. And fortunately he lives reasonably close in CT. Hence, the bulk of the backdrop painting Brian has completed including Lookout Mountain. Approximate total length is 60'. With His latest visit earlier this month he added some details with figures, plowed fields, clouds and touched up the Oostanaula River. Too bluish, given my brownish 3D version, his blend is none other than perfect. Have a look...
He is blending the painted rock into the bench, highlighting the edges. This is the north end of Rocky Face, a dominate feature west of Dalton. Heavily fortified at the time of Sherman's campaign to Atlanta, unfortunately for Joe Johnston's Army of TN Sherman chose to out flank his Confederate opponent and avoid a head on charge against a fortified enemy, lessons first learned during the battle of Fredricksburg.
 

As Brian adds clouds, I am taking a few lessons on the art of cloud creation. Prior to Brian I have painted all the clouds which, as humble as I can sound, came out pretty good. They show up better in photos however, as seen in the September 2009 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. Brian's look great in person or photographed.
 

The tent far left and third from left has the back half painted onto the backdrop.

As Brian mentioned throughout his visit, it's all play now for him since the panoramas were quite tedious and although he very much enjoyed the visits, it required a lot coverage. Now it looks like he may even want to scratch build some scenes.

Kingston to Dalton and Beyond

A recent visit this March by friends who have been contributing to the construction of the Western and Atlantic RR for many years, DC Cebula, Brain Kammerrer, Christopher Eldridge and Andy Salcius, have moved us toward the last phase on this layout. 10 years in the making, Andy, aka Uriah Stephens, shot this "creative" video with a few sound effects, unlikely heard in any steam locomotive sound decoder.
 

The following photos attribute the recent work projects with their respective authors. I use this term author deliberately since the skills that each person brings is at a level where I trust their ability to "author" their sense of a scene or scene element. 

 LeBron, on his January 2013 visit, has painted, inserted and here is dry brushing the perimeter fence (Musket Miniatures) of the Barnsley Estate. Godfrey Barnsley, if you missed prior postings, was a cotton trader. With offices in Atlanta, New Orleans, Savannah and London, interestingly he was opposed to slavery and paid all his workers.

He was also known for his extraordinary gardens, some of which we plan for the center section just in front of his home. This mansion was scratch built by Christopher from book illustrations in Barnsley Gardens. You can see Chris' work under LABELS for Barnsley.