Beach Dio "Port Aransas, Texas"

cool dio steve. i see we have the same plans on retirement lol . right now that is my 1:1 scale model renovating my house on the jersey shore :)

You got a Jersey shore house???!!! That kills me! Where exactly? I spent all my summers of youth in Manahawkin / Long Beach Island. It's paradise.

SteveM

you are kidding me steve are you sure we dont know each other ??? i spent all my summers down there too. except i was in mystic island . i am on the lagoons only minutes from manahawkin. i picked up the house i am in now because the state took my grandma's house when she went intothe nursing home. i have the house i think it is 8 years now at a steal of 79,000 now the are going for 250,000 and better . so once the house is done by next memorial day you will have to stop by sometime. the palce has changed alot though alot of new construction from when i was i kid but i still love it down there and as you said it is paradise :)

Wow, very nice! I love it and thanks for showing it to us. A couple of questions too.  What did you do for sand? is it real or is it hobby sand? and did you just press in figures feet for footprints?  Next, what is HO scale, Ive always wonderd?  It looks like about 1/72?  Finally, thanks for showing me the gloss product, is that what you use for wakes/waves splashes?  Ill look for it next time I'm in the art store, I can purchase supplies for two passions at once   Nice job Steve

Kenny

LBI- what a place. Several of my cousins bought homes and live there year around. That makes me hate them=) We still have a family house on Jefferey Drive. 48 Jefferey, I believe. Spent many an afternoon playing wiffle ball on that street. Lagoon life is they way to live. I'll even accept the green flies as a neccessary evil to live there.

Ian

For that dio I just used celluclay with tan paintas a base, then painted the wet sand grey. I tried to blend the colors in with dried pigments, them dusted the dry sand in a beach sand colored pigment.

I would use celluclay for a dio in 1/35 next time, dusting with pigments and washing with oils to get texture, depth. Real sand is kind of big for that scale.

5 things I would buy if I were you:
1- celluclay, perfect for bases, texture
2- medium gloss gel, look for it by the oil paints white red black container
3-cheap set of oil paints along with some turpentine or turpenoid for washes in the sand, water, and on the figures (be sure to seal with varnish before and after washes)
4-cheap set of chalk pastels (NOT the oil pastels), and...
5) a coffee grinder to pulverize the pastels into powder, try a Goodwill or other thrift branch for a used one. Your mom will KILL you if you use hers.

Buy one of those 1.99 plastic, clear bead containers and put the powders into each holding cell. Dust things to weather them, like the hedgehogs above the shore line. Remember, those hedgehogs were seriously rusty; only rare spots of steel show through. Concentrate more on the rust and seaweed.

ps- HO is 1/87 scale.

SteveM

i hear you steve the greenheads are nasty but as my friend and i say while sitting on the dock sipping on beers "i wonder what the poor people are doing" lol

WOW steve! Yeah Ive been down there once or twice. but there was a lil more stuff on the beach. I think its called seaweed ;) Galveston is full of it...hmmmm Home sweet home

You see, Brett, this a Texas beach fantasy dio- i.e. no seaweed, dead jellyfish, old sneakers, beer cans, tar, spent bullet casings...

 

SteveM 

Hey I went there this past spring. Like the ferry.

See the dolphins racing the ferry? It's awesome.

 

SteveM 

Oh yeah, got loads of pics too.

SteveM wrote:

You see, Brett, this a Texas beach fantasy dio- i.e. no seaweed, dead jellyfish, old sneakers, beer cans, tar, spent bullet casings...   SteveM

You forget getting hooked by fishermen and fish skeletens!

Here's a tip, from someone who's been divorced twice (so take with a grain of salt): DON'T tell her you did it "mainly ... to see the results of Medium Gloss Gel." 

SteveM wrote:

You see, Brett, this a Texas beach fantasy dio- i.e. no seaweed, dead jellyfish, old sneakers, beer cans, tar, spent bullet casings...

Ah, and here I've been fussing with my monitor since the ocean was way too "blue" even at high tide <g> . . .

Besides, given the historical setting from the cars, that was back when people occasionally cleaned up the Jax & Schlitz cans after they were doen with them <sigh>.

Ever stand there in the LHS and see those "forlorn" colors in the tamiya rack, the pinks & lavenders, and such--and think, hey, a person could dio the "lagoon" side of Galveston after a red tide (but who would believe it; and how would you explain the SF dio prize at the show <g>)

Hey!your dio is cool. shows a lot of creativity on your part. hope you could post some of your other dios.

Hey Steve! Nice dio! Love the vintage cars and walk by the bench fashion.

Really hope to be there in person with my family someday!! Just a curious question, do you happen to have some pictures of the bench? Love the sunshine and cool breeze!!!

 Cheers!

Ah yes, who can every forget the joys of ... tar balls.

Not just one or two but thousands of them. Such a joy to get off the dog's feet at the end of the day. And I still remember the first time I took the now ex- down to the beach, she said, "What's that?" and before I could even get the "Don't" part of "Don't touch it!" out of my mouth, she was looking up and yelling, "Why didn't you tell me that was yucky!!!"

Yeah, Port A can be a tar pit. But it's a beach nonetheless and I still crave the island setting. It's a really nice way to spend a long weekend... until I win the lottery and buy some of that real estate for myself.

Sorry, no good pics of it. I'm usually too busy taking it all in. Thanks to everyone for the kind words.