The Painted Desert

As promised, the 150 follower giveaway is now open.  If you look up just a little I'm sure you won't be able to help noticing the link that'll take you straight to all the details.

With Dawncrest finished last week, it was time to start work on a new project.  This one is entitled "The Dig Site" and is set in Egypt sometime around 1920.  Part serious archeology but mostly adventure movie, the Dig Site encompasses a camp ouside the ruins of an ancient Egyptian temple sealed for thousands of years.  The explorers prepare to break through the long sealed doors against the backdrop of the setting sun (or is it rising?).

I added two layers of polystyrene over two thirds of an MDF board and cut out three steps from the inside end.  More polystyrene forms walls, cutting the floor area in two the the end of the flat polystyrene and at the far end of the board.

All the polystyrene was then covered with a thin layer of air drying clay.  While the clay was wet, blocks of stone were marked out along the edges of the board.  I also added some "carvings" to the walls at this point as well.  This was done by tracing a pattern onto greaseproof kitchen paper.  The paper was then laid over the clay and the design pressed into the clay with a ball pointed stylus.

With the little left over clay I had I made, or attempted to make, a pair of pillars in "lotus bud" style.  They are two balsa wood dowels wrapped in alfoil to pad them out a little, then covered in clay.  Um, did the Egyptians make crooked, lumpy columns?  Because that's what I did.

Beyond the dividing wall the floor was covered in "tiles" made of cut up egg cartons.

All this was then covered in a coat of sandstone toned paint, but there are still many layers left to go before the right effect is (hopefully) achieved.

The whole scene will have a solid back wall.  On the part of the wall that will be behind the "outside" section I painted a desert scene over which the sun is setting.  I am very pleased with how this turned out.  If you poke the photo to enlarge it you might be able to see the fleet of fishing boats on the Nile heading home after a hard day's fishing and a man leading three camels along the horizon.

Finally for the week I made a broken fallen column by stuffing an empty roll of kitchen paper towel with newspaper, cutting it into three uneven parts then covering it with Texture Paste tinted with sandstone paint.  I drew a toothpick accross the wet paste to create the effect of stone blocks.