What a productive afternoon! I was able to stop by the Lee-Fendall House after work and get some significant work done on the diorama. This assistant curator/model maker/nerd is quite happy!
It all started with sawing the edges off the railroad tracks. This was essential because they had to fit on the board diagonally due to its odd size. Of course, however, I realized after the fact that I wanted them to go the other direction.
As the great Homer Simpson says, "Do'h!"
But upon reflection (and some mild swearing to myself), I realized this was okay and that it actually worked out better. It won't look like the tracks and the road intersect. So I glued them in place and set to work on the trees. Many of them were strategically placed to conceal the staples in the board. I'm thinking I may go out and get another pack or two of trees just to thicken the "woods" up a bit.
Then gravel was added to the train tracks, which was a fairly messy process. The gravel is very loose and so I used a spray adhesive to hold everything in place. Hopefully it worked, but we won't really know until it comes time to move the diorama.
I've been working on the railroad all the live-long day...
After all that, I started working on the dirt roads and finished them in less than 15 minutes.
This is what we had at the end of the day!
In my opinion, it looks far better than it did on opening night. Seeing this in the museum at its present stage makes me feel a lot better about the whole project. I've always been very critical of my own work (as I imagine most artists are in one way or another). But I'm really liking how the diorama is progressing.
I just wish I could have gotten to this point a few days ago but, as the French say, c'est la vie.
The next big goal is to get the train cars painted, assembled, and installed. They're sitting on the dining room table, counter, and sideboard (in various pieces). My goal is to have them done by next weekend.
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