The mountains, complete
I’m back, more or less! I hope all had a great winter holiday.
As you can see, plastering is now 100% complete. A few final comments on the plastering process: Some things I have learned. Bare plaster soaks up acrylic paint, and mixes with it. Painting plaster mountains requires that, first, one daub the paint on with a sponge-brush, then give it a second coat. On the other hand, the first coat serves to reinforce the plaster, making it really tough. Also, plaster cloth doesn’t really stick to foamcore; I guess I just have to hope that the mountains don’t just pop off the base, although the paint should help a lot.
With the New Year past, and the regular semester here, I will soon have to retire the layout to the basement until the next holiday season. That was the agreement. But not yet. Here’s what I hope to accomplish before adjourning work on the layout. The path to the shrine, including stone steps. The retaining walls. The tunnel portals. Forestation. Left undone will be a lot of detail work, but I look forward to completing details next November.