I too like desert scenery

Scenic Express Buffalo Grass Tufts are my favorite.

Wow!

Excellent work! And, featuring my favorite roadname, the SP! I love the grass-tufts and have a bunch of sheets of Silflor miniNatur buffalo-grass tufts from Scenic Express as well (I got all four colors). I've been saving them up for when I get to that stage. Did you scratch-build your cacti? They look excellent! I'm doing a large desert layout also. Now I have a new benchmark for realism, and you've set the bar pretty high. Again, your cacti really "sells" it! Well done!

Beauty!

I had planned on desert scenery for my layout... then the colour of my ground paint, and ground cover was a bit off... and then I got a bunch of pine trees... but I think with my expansion, it will be desert!

Very nice!

What scale? Looks like HO, but harder to tell these days. How did you make the saguaro? 

Outstanding!! Wonderful

Outstanding!! Wonderful modeling and very nice scenery composition!

Two thumbs up!

dats

Depth?

How deep is it? The way you have the scenery segued into the backdrop, I'm going to assume it's about 28 miles deep, and totally real?

Seriously... you cannot tell where scenery ends, and backdrop begins... that's amazing!

Base materials

I live in Sun City West, Arizona and am planning a small layout and want it to look just like yours!  I've read countless posts and and articles and magazines and books and am confused about all the possibilities.  In 25 words or less could you describe how you accomplished the first few layers?  I have a bag of Desert Soil from Home Depot that looks perfect and is the size between Woodland Scenics Fine and Medium Ballast.  I also got a bag of gravel from Pioneer Landscaping and screened it to four sizes, the smallest again between Fine and Medium.  But It just doesn't look right top me, or at least not as good as your efforts. 

Try a layer of latex paint in

Try a layer of latex paint in a tan close to what you're after, and before it has a chance to dry, sift "play sand" over the top. You can pick up both the paint and a bag-o-sand at HD. Looks good in N-Scale, and absolutely great in HO.

I did a tan colour base paint

I did a tan colour base paint then sifted fine light coloureddirt on.

Phil

Thumbs up!  Those are some

Thumbs up!  Those are some major cactuses there!

Really impressive work

Really impressive work there!!! I like the southwestern theme a lot and your desert looks great! Thank you very much for posting and looking forward to seeing more of it.

Phil, that rock face is

Phil, that rock face is incredible. That will make some great photos of trains going by at ground level.

Phil, that rock face is

Thanks Deemiorgos. 90% of the rock face was carved with a few WS molds here and there. But that was on a previous layout 

Backdrop Transition

As other's have said, excellent job of hiding the transition between the 3D scenery and the 2D backdrop.

Nicely done!

George

Test Track

So I made a test strip of the various ground covers I have.  I first painted the surface with a mixture of glue and leftover tan paint.  Then sprinkled the material on it.  Then sprayed it with a 3:1 mixture of water and Mod Podge.  The first four (upper left two and bottom left two) are crushed stone, two from a landscape company and two from around the valley, that I screened to four sizes.  I was hoping to use them as a base then add different sizes to make a landscape, but they turned out too dark.  Even Pelle said he collected dirt from the desert but gave up and used Arizona Rock & Mineral products.  Actually it's a relief, as I was worried about Valley Fever, a crazy disease here in the Phoenix area.  The next four are colored grout that was left behind by the previous owners of my house.  I kind of like them.  I also mixed up some Durham's Water Putty with some tan paint.  My problem is that the grout and putty look good, but where do I go from there?  How do I get larger sand and rocks the same color?  Some have said they mix a batch of colored material and break it up to various sizes.  I can see that, but every piece will look the same.  Mix different colors?

Looks great!

Please tell us the materials used and the process! Love it!

Think color then texture

Hi Travis,

Sometimes you can think of color and texture as two or more steps. For your larger rocks and surfaces use the same coloring technique for your ground cover, but then apply matt medium or other clear thick coverings to it to smooth it out. For a fine texture but not really coarse, use rock dust and/or unscented talc. Don't worry about any shine you can always cover it with a flat or satin coat. In using a multiple layer technique you can also apply tints to the materials along the way.

Having lived in AZ for a couple of years, don't forget the beautiful desert accents -- cactus flowers while very short lived, have some of the most vibrant colors in nature. A barrel cactus may be difficult to model but are quite a sight in their own right. Havelena, deer, coral snakes, maybe even the sound of a rattler or two! But dont forget some of that red rock from the distant hills mixed in the creek bed.

Have fun! 

@santaynez

You might try a more random approach taking two or three of the materials and mix them in layers on the landscape. I model a scrubby, arid area and combine plaster, paint, sieved dirt and rocks along with non sanded grout and sometimes barbecue ash. As Geoff said layering can be the key. 

"taking two or three of the

"taking two or three of the materials and mix them in layers on the landscape" I primarily credit you, Rick, for my making of a specific area on my layout by mixing materials in layers:

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/28481?page=35

I'll eventually mention you in this regards on my new blog:

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/31151

I concur with Geoff.

BTW, that first image is so realistic that it makes me thirsty.

santaynez, is it possible to

santaynez, is it possible to repost that photo a bit larger or even better broken into four larger ones in order to see more detail in your test strip?

Deemiorgos

Here are larger pictures, but they are nothing compared to azflyer, hobbes, and rick's efforts.  By the way, Rick, how did you get all the textures on that last picture, specifically by the track?  I think you were the one I had in mind when you said you mixed up some colored plaster and hammered (It's Hammer time) into various sizes.  But there appears to be a subtle color variation.

Saguaro

How did you made these wonderful Saguaros or where they are from?

Textures by the track

Hi santaynez (do you happen to live in the Santa Ynez area?)

The different textures start with pre-colored stippled and painted plaster base followed by adding piles of small rocks that I've graded to different sizes from soil samples (often gravel on the sides of roads) then filling in around the small rocks (kind of burying them partially) with fine dirt, linen colored non sanded grout and filtered ashes from Kingsford  charcoal (this is easily seen as a darker gray on the left under the rock face). Nature wants to bury rocks so don't just let them sit on top the layout surface. The fine dirt on top of the rocks will wash down inside the rock piles when you mist and glue it down leaving the tops of the rocks showing which is what you want.

A couple of points. When collecting samples, rocks and buying materials try to get the lightest colorations you can. You can always darken the soil but it is difficult to lighten it and glueing it down almost always darkens it .

After I put all the different material down I used my base paint ( Pueblo is the name of the color I use) thinned down and some alcohol added and soak that into the area in a splotchy way that will provide different intensities in again a random way. This is not only to blend the plaster color with the rocks but the small rocks are often not quite the right color and the paint will tint them in the direction I want and the variation in the rocks natural color will show through the wash and it looks more natural than a thick coat of paint.

One more thing. Don't mix the materials in advance. Toss (with a small spoon or your hands) your materials onto the area randomly and adjust by eye. You don't want it to look uniform like landscaping but rough and varied. Move things around with a soft brush and often you can leave mistakes in and just partially cover them and it looks natural.........be loose, let the texture, color and form arise from the way the materials want to be.

As always, paints and powders can always be applied and often are the final touch needed.

Santa Ynez

Santa Ynez is a street in the Phoenix area.  I like the name.  I also like those amazing modeled Saguaros.  They actually look better than the ones I see around here.