Geyser Gulch: Our Story So Far

This past week I've been up to my elbows with the scenery in Geyser Gulch. This is a major scene with the greatest vertical separation on the railroad; 33 inches or 132 scale feet from the bottom of the Gulch to the top of Baxter's Butte. Here are some in progress shots of the scene so far.

This is the way things looked for quite awhile. Not much to see here but pink styrofoam.

Adding the travertine terraces created by the geysers and hot springs. These are just foam-core and card-stock shapes. The copper tubing is for the erupting geysers.

Rocks sculpted with Sculptamold. A new landmark has been added: "Ambush Rock" carved from Balsa Foam.

Here the travertine terraces have been shaped and detailed with  Liquitex acrylic modeling paste. I let that dry overnight.

Everything painted with artist's acrylics using my usual methods. The blue-green color is meant to be intense. The scene is meant to evoke Yellowstone's Mammoth Hot Springs and Grand Canyon's Havasupai.

Next will come some ground cover, desert plants and other details. I also need to design and build a spindly wooden trestle before pouring the epoxy "water." After that it will be time to make those geysers operational with theatrical fog effects. Stay tuned!