Rocks We Got....

 

Quite A Lot...!

It took a couple of tries, Dear Readers, to get the Rocks for the Crenelations lined up in a good pattern. They needed to be smaller than the rest of the rocks on the Castle, in order to fall right around the gaps. I need my Rocks to look like they would in RL, that is to say they obey the laws of  physics... even though this is just a Miniature castle. Here you can see I have only the chimney rocks still to outline.

And I can't resist showing every step.... 

I hope it does not bore you!

You might notice that I am not covering over the wiring

 that is "buried" in those channels. 

This is to be sure I can find the wires if they ever need repairing. 

This is the back side and will hardly ever be seen!

And Finally, it is time to start adding the "texture" to these "rocks"!

This is the "slap-dash" part.... 

I really do not spend time on the texture.

I am interested in the darkness of the "rock" more than anything else.

There needs to be some darker and some lighter rocks

 spread throughout the whole structure.

There needs to be some contrast, but not too much... 

just enough to differentiate the rocks from each other.

And the more "rocks" I painted....

The more I loved the look!

Oh my...! What a difference it makes!

Just the crenelations still to "rock"...!

And a closer view of the lower part....

(it is getting late and the light is fading...)

But... Oh my!

I just Love this Castle!

But we are not done yet......

We still have to add the grout.

But that needed to wait for morning......

In the fresh light of morning, Dear Readers,

 I almost talked myself out of adding the grout lines.

I just loved it so much as it was. 

But I checked my references....

(lots and lots of Castle picture books...)

And they agreed that Grout was needed!

This is Not a "slap-dash" process.

The very opposite, in fact.

It got off to a rough start...

 it is hard to reach carefully into this narrow space

 and lay a single white line down the center

 of all the gray outlines!

And not get the white paint anywhere else... 

even though the surface is rough

 and the paint line needs to be continuous, not full of gaps.

Slow but steady... with a lot of rests to stretch the legs...

Because it is hard to squeeze in where I have to work. 

I thought you might want to see...!

Slowly but surely.... here you can see the comparison... 

part with grout and part without!

Slowly... slowly transforming the walls...

I, myself can't believe the difference it makes!

But I know I say this every time!

 

Can you believe this is just plywood?

The electrical box has all but disappeared!

(See the cracks...?)

It has become Grand... and imposing.....!

I can't tell you how impressed I am!

And I cannot believe I will have to turn this to face the Wall!

But this is, after all, just the back side of the Great Hall!

And now that I know what it will look like when I finish the front....

Well, Dear Readers, I can Dream, can't I?

Because I still have an awful lot of Rocks to paint!