This afternoon it was a nice sunny one, so I moved out into the garden under the apple tree and made a start with the Cornish Pumping Engine for 'Mendip Colliery'.
Rather than build around a resin or metal 'ready to plant' structure as before, a basic inner has been made up from 4mm foam board which is a fabulous material to quickly put together a sturdy base using PVA as an adhesive.
Stone effect will be scribed onto a layer of Air Clay rather than use embossed plastic overlays. This will allow finer stone detailing around the curved apertures and corners. The slightly uneven surface will also help to create the rustic effect I'm after. Tests earlier today with this worked rather well.