HO somewhere in Appalachia.....

[LIRR]

not a bad thought....but winters are pretty dreary in my neck of the woods...

[nuno81291]

And to play devils advocate; in the dead of winter it isn’t uncommon up north to see large swaths of yellows and browns without an ounce of green. Too much green or not very carefully done can lead to the look of an identity crisis (my latest attempt brings this result to mind )

[Ed Kapuscinski]

not a bad thought....but winters are pretty dreary in my neck of the woods...

Oh yeah, here too, but you'd be surprised what a little variation will do for you. These are some of the photos I used for stitching into backdrops for the old layout.

There's not a LOT of green, but there is some. Especially in the grass. But keep in mind, this is also December. I forget which month you're doing. The later you get the worse it gets, I think.

[davefoxx]

I'm with Ed, and, since you're modeling somewhere down South, I would bet there's more green than you would think.  Here, on the Delmarva peninsula, I'm amazed in winter at the green fields that are out there.  And, as Ed pointed out, you have evergreens, too.

DFF

[LIRR]

About 7 linear feet of nearly finished scenery....

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Seriously, it gives me the chills. I absolutely love it.

I was worried when your old layout went away because it was so nice. But damn man, you're KILLING IT with this new one!

[nuno81291]

That stretch looks fantastic; very Confalone-esque. However the rocks jump out as extremely white to me.. are those new and uncolored? They seem pretty stark contrast to the rest of the hill. The pine trees are exceptional.

[LIRR]

I had the rock color perfect with a wash of alcohol and RIT dye. but after wetting the base with alcohol while applying the dead-leaves ground cover, the alcohol seeped into the castings and turned them a weird shade of purple, so I had to repaint then I'm place - grey and then dry-brushed with white. i still need to apply a water-based black wash. 

[LIRR]

Finished coloring the rocks

[LIRR]

I had a weathering setback. All the cars I’ve done are Accurail. The surface has some texture and takes the washes well. Surface of Walthers cars are a bit slick. The wash puddles-up. I will try a dullcote base first.

[LIRR]

Bad news, good news......
The dullcote made it worse, the acrylic wash puddled up even more. The good news is brushing 70% alcohol on the dullcote provided a nice fade....

[LIRR]

Finally got a break in the winter weather and was able to gather some gravel from the side of the road.....washed, screened, sized and ready for the river banks.....

[LIRR]

Ive been working on the completing the depot area.....it looks better from the normal low-level viewing angle....



And a look down the right of way just because.....

[OldEastRR]

OK, now that you've gotten this far and it looks terrific. 
I want to go back to those rock formations.
There is something about them that looks like cast plaster resting on forest floor.

Blending them with Sculptamold or spackle should make them more natural.
As always, YMMV

The problem isn't the rock placement but that they're too clean. Even a light dusting of gray, black, brown chalk would make them blend in much better and without much effort. Making what looks like where rivulets of muddy water flowed over parts of them is also good.  To go an extra step put some small bits of vegetation growing over or in them -- if there's any dirt held anywhere in a pocket on the rock something would be growing out of it. Or even some vines climbing over the rock face ...

[LIRR]

Ready for the water......