Blue Board Tower and base completed

 

the tower, as we last saw it

     It was far too miserable to be outside today so I bestirred myself and retried to the workshop where I found my tower in the same state that it was a week ago. Shamed by my sloth I decided to put in a couple of hours work and get this thing done. The first step was to find my container of Tidy Cat kitty litter (always buy the unscented variety) this was liberally applied around the foot of the cliff and the inside edges of the moat. Soaked in a mix of Titebond wood glue and water and left for an hour or so this sets up quite hard and looks rather nicely like mounds of small rocks.



     As this was drying I assembled my collection of Woodland Scenics grass and turf shakers and rummaged around in my pile of "mistint" paint cans for a decent medium gray color. The gray paint was applied to all the vertical surfaces of the base and rocky outcrops as well as over the kitty litter. I then left it alone for a few hours to set up.

     On my return I shook out the various colors and types of turf (turf, static grass, very fine sawdust etc) all around and on the base before soaking it all down with a sprayer bottle of a three to one mixture of water and Titebond. This was left to dry until dinner had been consumed when I returned with an assortment of Americana gray paints. These were wet brushed over the rocky outcrops, cliffsides and kitty litter "rubble" until I was pleased with the results. This being completed the whole thing was given a good dousing with Aquanet hairspray and then a coat of Armory flat spray.

     The results are what you see below, I am well pleased with the outcome, I hope you are as well.

 

I might have to even-off the colors of the turf now that I see it in a photo....

 

kitty litter rubble, oil absorbing clay does nicely too

 

five successive coats of ever-lighter gray brought out the texture of the terrain

 

it probably needs a few shrubberies, 

ornamental ones with a natural look

 

and a flagpole, I love medieval flags

 

 the rocky outcrops are just irregular shapes of blue board

 that were cut on a very steep angle into wedges and then glued down

     Having built this on a lark I'm not sure quite what to do with it. The tower and stairs are not attached to the base so I'm thinking of other ways to employ the base to get some additional use out of it. Perhaps I'll just sell the whole thing.