The mountain gets some colour

I've been putting off painting the base layer on the Mt. Lowe layout for some unknown reason. Last week I decided to get on with it and went out and bought some acrylic paint I'd need to supplement the stock I had on hand. I then threw caution to the wind and painted all weekend.

I'd like to give you a step-by-step guide to painting the mountain, but I can't as this was the first time I've painted such a thing - the Loonar Module was a prelude, but hardly of the same scale - and there was a lot of trial-and-error involved. And my technique needs much refinement. 

I will mention a few things though, mainly so I have a reference in case I do this sort of painting again.

The colours I used were (by brand and colour): 

DecorArt Americana: Neutral Grey, Cool White, Slate Grey, Fawn

Liquitex: Titanium White, Neutral Grey 5, 

Pebeo: Raw Umber

Golden SoFlat: Burnt Umber

Golden Fluid Acrylic: Ultramarine Blue, Raw Umber.

The paint was applied in loose mixtures, usually combined with a lot of white to mute the strong colours. The primary mixtures were (mixed with white as I've noted):

Ultramarine blue and raw umber,

Slate grey and fawn.

Although, as the palette started to develop, the mixtures became more complex and I simply developed and applied whatever interesting colours were forming. In some places I got a little carried away with blue highlights, but I'll adjust those areas later.

To improve blending in some areas the paint was spritzed with a little bit of water. 

Several areas were given a thin wash of the Fawn colour to bring some unity to the base colours, and with the tones in Poppyfield Flats.

I'm noticing that the layout's colours vary a lot depending on lighting conditions. I like that as that's what I observed on the Mt. Lowe trail. There are lots of interesting detail areas amongst the layout's rock faces that don't come through in the photos, and depend on lighting to appreciate them. The weather is too bad these days to take this thing outside to look at it in sunlight, but once spring is here, outside it will go.

It's good to have at least the base layer on because it's now easier for me to visualize the colour contrasts in the various scenes. Previously, with the white trolley and the white mountains, contrasts were difficult for me to properly imagine. Now I can clearly see that the whites of the trolley, the trolley wire support posts, the circular bridge, and the Poppyfield Flats station are going to pop against the rock greys and the greens of the trees and vegetation. On the Experimental Farm layout the red fence posts that snaked through the layout provided the contrasting thread that pulled the layout together. Here it will be the white trolley wire support poles.