I have a restless mind. As Othello got into a condition that was acceptable, I began planning how to do the misnamed Quintette tunnels downstream.
This was the scene I was most enthusiastic about and eager to get to. I visited the site (now a park), taking photos, video. But when I got home, I realized just how little a photograph could tell you. Owing to the extreme heights and closed in nature of the river canyon, looking at the photos was almost useless – they distorted features and it was hard to get a sense of context. Google Earth was no help either – the extreme terrain messes up the satellite pictures, taking what should be a straight line of bridges, open spaces and tunnels and twisting them all over the place. I had to go back again (and again) and each time got better at taking notes. Unfortunately, having gotten started, I would have to revise this scene over and over again as new information came in.
Most sane people would use a foam base, and build the mountains out of wire (usually chicken wire) and papier mache. But I didn’t feel confident enough in my skills at that point. I thought it’d be easier for me to ‘simply’ stack 7 or 8 pieces of 2 inch foam together, and then carve my way out of that. And it worked, kind of. But man, was it heavy – and that was *before* applying spackling and scenic details. It was also awkward – all four tunnels were present in an 8 foot section. Carving them out made a HELL of a mess. Foam bits everywhere! But I was determined…