The Woodcutter's Yard - a diorama

[MikeC]

I built the Woodcutter's Yard diorama this past year, working on it off and on between January and the end of November. Based on historical photos as well as silent film footage of actual tie hacking in the Missouri Ozarks, the diorama is a synthesis of all the photos and film. Both of the structures are scratchbuilt, the cabin's foundation and chimney are carved plaster, the base is made from layers of pink foam laminated to a slab of basswood (with the bark still attached), and the rocks/soil are from the Ozarks. The diorama is HO scale.

I'll have to upload the photos as separate posts because of the limits for the total size of file attachments.

[MikeC]

Photo 2

[MikeC]

Photo 3

[MikeC]

Photo 4

[MikeC]

Photo 5

[MikeC]

Photo 6

[MikeC]

Photo 7

[MikeC]

Photo 8

[TRAINS1941]

Mike,

Everytime I see your photo's of a diorama or your layout it just keeps getting better.  And I keep finding more things the second or third time around.

Jerry

[MikeC]

Thanks, Jerry. I appreciate the comments.

[marc_reusser]

Mike,

This is a really neat little scene. I have seen those videos and you have really captured the look, feel and escence of them. The arangement of the structures and scenic elements is very nice. I especially like the way you have done the road and creek/river; they look very natural and realistic.....which is not easy to do.

Can you explain/describe how you did the creek?

Marc

[Chuck Doan]

I think I commented on the RR-Line also, but just wanted to say again how much I like the composition of this scene. Really well done!

CD

[MikeC]

Thanks for the compliments, guys.

...the way you have done the road and creek/river; they look very natural and realistic.....which is not easy to do.

Can you explain/describe how you did the creek?

Marc

Marc, the first step was probably the easiest ... I just used a retractable blade "box cutter" to generally cut and shape the foam for the creek bank. After that, it was a matter of layering various materials, including sifted rocks and small pebbles from the Ozarks as well as blended tile grout and powdered cat litter, until it started looking like the small, shallow streams that I see all the time in the Ozarks. To get the appearance of shoreline erosion along the water's edge, I built up and layered the same materials, tapering them out into the water. The sand/gravel bars were built up the same way. To hold it all in place, I used dilute matte medium, which the cat litter/tile grout blend readily soaked up, and then I used my fingers to push the gravel and small bits of rock down into the wet "dirt." It took several evenings to build it all up and shape it the way I wanted. Then I began lining the shoreline and what would be the shallows with twigs and other debris.

To color the creek bed, I just feathered in a few colors - mostly raw umber, raw sienna, and Polly Earth. The water was made up of 2 coats of Mod Podge, which I glopped on and swirrled around to create the look of moving water. After it had all dried, I top-coated the water by brushing on a thin layer of Future. And that was pretty much it. I think all together I spent 4 or 5 weeknights working on it.

This photo and the ones following are some construction shots I took along the way. The buildings were temporarily set in place for the photos.

[MikeC]

[Hitchcock]

MikeC, Here's ya another atta boy!