A lot depends on the locale you are modeling, too. Here in the east you could have anything from sandy beaches along a river, to a rocky bed with virtually no room for vegetation. In a meadow, you might have a meandering stream with dark muddy banks, and on a mountain stream you'll find trees and brush right up to the rushing water.
I did this scene with natural rocks collected from near the Potomac River in western Maryland. The river there is relatively wide and slow moving, and the C&O Canal embankment provides the shoreline.
In the mountains, there's always lots of rocks along the banks, as well as debris deposited by floods. At one point along the C&O Canal near Harpers Ferry there's some twisted wreckage from a bridge that was wiped out in the 1930's.
This is across the river from the canal scene... a little river beach with a sandy bank.
Tell us more about what you're looking to represent, and we can offer you some more suggestions as to how to model it.
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
One thing I always miss in many MRR alpine scenes are the alpine flowers. The spectacular yellows and lavender colours, bright whites and subtle reds. I just returned from the mountains and the tracks and roads were lined for miles with these colours.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I agree with Grampy about using lots of different colors. Also, consider the "nature" of your water. A fast-moving, steep rock-banked river like his would be a hostile environment for plants, as you can see, but a slower stream like this would be home to a lot of greenery:
Turf and ground foam are a good way to cover up the "edge creep" that you get with Envirotex, where it climbs up the sides of your riverbank just a bit.
I find that trees overhanging the water add a lot, and the reflection helps break up the "glassiness" of the surface, too.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Hi Lee: A photo of what you've already done would be helpful in answering your questions. My advice would be, use as many colors and textures as possible. You can always add more to what you have, now. This photo may help.
As to painting terrain, maybe you thinned the paint too much. I used a rather stiff bristled brush to paint my rough terrain. Are these the type of crevices you're referring to? DJ
Two related scenery questions:
1. What color of ground foam you use above the river bank? Was it realistic to use the two colors I added elsewhere on the layout (Alpine Meadow Blend: http://www.sceneryexpress.com/prodinfo.asp?number=EX884B and Spring Grass Green http://www.sceneryexpress.com/prodinfo.asp?number=EX810B). Of course, I will put trees near the river and maybe a few scrub bushes. If I need other types of ground foam, what to do with what I already did?
2. How do I get into the crevices of hills that I made with plaster cloth and plastor of paris (over the cloth)? Should I use a spray bottle of different paints? I brushed thinned latex paint, but it doesn't do the job.
TIA!