Ok, more developments on other fronts. Terri has really gotten into a show that I have no time for so it's made me very productive modeling wise this week!
First, aside from some light weathering, I think the Philadelphia Tire Disposal Co's truck is done. That tire load is a light layer of them on top of a carved black foamcore core. I made it by cutting out the core to the size of the bed, then trimming back the foam itself so there was a layer of black paper on the bottom. Then I used the hole in the foamcore that I cut it out from as a mold, into which I put some plastic cling film and then the core. I splooshed in some black paint and glue and then piled in some tires. After a day of drying I realized the tires weren't sticking enough so I tried flowing in a white glue and water mix. That took forever to dry and still wasn't enough, so I came back again with some straight white glue which I poured over it, and then hit with a mist of some water until I saw it soak in. A few more days of drying later and it was all able to be safely removed from the mold and placed into the truck. It wasn't a lot of work but it did take a week to complete. I think it was worth it though!
Next up I've been playing with photo backdrops for Rohm and Haas. I think you might've read the thread elsewhere. I don't need a huge background, but I needed something to fill in between buildings that just looks "old chemical planty". The thread about where you lived got me thinking about using the old Google Streetview trick to use the view into the Allied Chemical plant at the end of my old street as just the thing. So I did!
That photo started off with this spot:
https://goo.gl/maps/3N1Wgmg3j1tvoGV5AI then used the iStreetView downloader and website to download the full high-res panorama:
https://istreetview.com/ngjThsvZJdwpKVyPbVfZawNext I fired up Photoshop and cropped out everything I didn't care about. I then mirrored and modified the rest of it to fill up a bit more space. It took two different prints to get the sizing right but I'm reasonably happy with it. It's not high-fidelity, but I think it strikes the right balance of making your brain go "oh, there's more stuff there" without overwhelming it and making it think too much about continuity or anything by focusing on it.
And while I had the 8512 out, why not shoot a roster shot for good measure?