ok, here I am again, bugging you lot with my diorama.

I painted the 'rock' and added the weathering to it and the seeping water .

But I am sorry to say that I am disappointed , I don't like it, I can't put my finger on it but it does not look like I had it in my mind at all, the color is completely wrong.

I showed it to some friends (non modelers) and they think it looks fine, but I don't

Awel

Here are some pictures and I need to decide wat to do with it, toss it in the bin, repaint it or leave it, grrrrrrrr





The pictures are a bit dark, sorry I took the pictures outside but it is cloudy here today




Here is a picture of the whole including figure and new tree (broke the other one )


Oh btw, on some pictures you can see some fine white lines and small dots, these are bird droppings. I painted them with Titanium White oil paint and after painting I went over them with a dry brush to remove the brightnis and feater them in, but I wonder if should have kept them bright white?

Let me hear your comments please

Hi Ronny,Well...I think it's looking just fine. But since you don't like the color, I have a question. What color did you use to paint it? I like to use Raw Umber for groundwork. It's as nice brown shade that turns a brownish grey when I highlight it with T. White ( wet-on-wet technique). If you have a scrap piece, try painting it with straight R. Umber. Then using a large soft brush start drybrushing T. White on the top surfaces. As they blend you get a nice effect. But since you're so far along with this piece, you could try adding a wash of Raw Umber. That might help too.
But I gotta tell you that I really like the idea and how you're doing it so far is ingenious.
I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Ronny,
I think it looks good. I like the third photo, it really looks like rocks. The green definitely adds to it.
My I offer my idea of why you may not like it - You know that underneth it all is a piece of bark and not rock. You're too 'into' the project to separate yourself from the material you used. So in your minds eye you don't see a rock climber. And you've been working within 24" of it for so long your idea of it is different from a casual viewer. Try sitting in a table and sitting back and viewing it as other will and see if that changes your idea.

One offering on the tree - make some scragly roots jutting out wrapping around the rock 'holding' the tree there.

I think it's lookin' good. Try to keep your momentum and finish up.

Tnx for the replies, maybe I should leave it for a few days and then relook at it

I forgot to include this picture, especially for Eagle



It has about 10 layers of future now

Ola Ron,
I have to agree with Scot. It looks great.
Finish it and bring it to KMK. I bet you win a prize with it.
See ya

Roadkill, that looks absolutely great!
I have one suggestion though: In many cases there are different coloured layers in a rock surface. Some light stripes here and there would add even more depth and variation in the surface. I couldn´t resist trying out some Photoshopping with your pic:



See what I mean?


Toni

Hi Roadkill, it looks wonderfull (at least in my opinion). I really like the green and think that the rock color is ok. Keep working on it please!!

Daniel

roadkill,
the rock face looks fantastic a few more earth colours dyrbrushed into it will make it
look even better nice to see a different dio from military stuff all the time

Hi Roadkill: don't get discouraged! Maybe it isn't what you had pictured but it is has turned out so well and is so original it would be a shame not to finish. The moss and lichen (vegitation) look good and I think the color looks very believable (and I am a geologist). Did you ever figure out how you were going to make the climbing (karabiners) equipment?

bison44,



I made a little jig out of plasticard and used lead wire to make them, no glue applied

Ronny,

thanks for that pic

I'm glad Toni took the liberty to photoshop a bit with one of the pics. I feel he has a good point with those different tones.

I think the rock is great as it is ! If you don't feel the same, put toni's thoughts to practice. It might turn out even better.

Keep us posted !

Ronny, I really like the look of this dio. And I am glad you figured out how to make karabiners. One thing I kind of noticed, but am hesitant to say anything about because the photo of the figure isn't clear, is that when climbing, all the weight of the person is resting on the balls of his feet, and therefore, unless his feet are on top of a rock, the toes of his feet should be turned up sharply. The left foot looks like it might be on top of a rock, but the right foot looks like it is toed into the rock, and it is kind of hard to support yourself by the toes, especially in hard soled shoes like it looks as is he were wearing. Call me stupid if you have already determined you like how they are though.

Rob

Rob,

Don't hesitate I want to hear comments, good and bad

The left foot is complety on a small ledge so he has a good balance. The richt foot looks indeed as if it is toed into the rock, but in fact it is in mid air, the postere of the climber will be that he is stretching himself to reach a grabpoint with his right arm.

I have send some pictures to several rockclimber-forums and they all replyed that this is a position that happens frequently.

The plan is to remove the socks and redoe the shoes so they look like the modern rubber ones

I don't see the water. Also, as stated, there needs to be some color variation; browns, whites, greens, yellows, etc.

Ronny,
I'm glad to see you're going to go forward on removing the socks and resculpting the shoes. It's not as hard as you may think -- and there's always milliput!

I don't remember if it was in a post to you, but I'll repeat myself.

When I paint "rocks" I start with a mid gray. I give it a heavy wash of black or payne's gray so all the indents and any crevices are darkened. I then dry brush with the base color and a few shades of lilghtened base finishing with white. I then very lightly add touches of earth tones randomly. You can't tell the resin or metal from real rock.

Roadkill

if you are not sure you like the colour of the rock, take a look at some shots of other rocks.,. See if there is something there that catches your eye.. Dont forget, those rocks have been exposed to a fair amount of sun, rain, so perhaps some mo0re shades of white... just a though... the 'biners look great... This guy looks like he's doing El Cap in Yosemite... Great job

RK, I think this looks FANTASTIC...! Very "rock-like" to me... I do agree some variation of other earth-tones would help, and so might some chalked pastels in lighter browns and greys....

This is such a cool idea... even without a head!

Nice job. Keep in mind that weeds grow in the most impossibe of places. They seem to pop straight out of solid rocks. And if you have seeping water, there will be more greenery and darker greenery close to it. It's nature.
My favorite part of building a diorama is the scenery. It pulls it all together. Unfortunately, I have to do building, vehicles and people before I can have fun with trees, weeds, bushes and the like. Good luck
Sealhead

Hi. It's late and I forgot another tip. In very steep rocks, it is not unusual for a small tree to grow out horizontally just far enough to turn verticle. What do you think, it's your world?
Also, a monolith that steep probable had some of it shear off over the millenia. Planning on forner monolith parts on the ground? As to the ground my neighbors problem saved me a trip. He had to put in a massive french drain 3/4ths of the way around his house and the contractor hit a spot of that fine, talc-like dirt that us 1/35th-ers can use as real dirt. Just don't sneeze.

Sealhead

Sealhead

hi, it looks great!! It realy looks like a real rock, maybe you can make a picture of the water because I can't see it on the pics, but again great work!!

Laurie

Laurie,

In the figure forum there is a topic about the climber, in one of the pictures you can see the water

Rockclimber figure Update #2