Corner Farm

Well, I kept on going into the corner and around so that I could put the farm and beaver pond in.

Here is a shot from the track which shows the entrance to the farm. It comes off a road that was painted on the backdrop. I used very similar techniques as I did before.

This angle you can see tire tracks which I put in with my Athearn John Deer Tractor. Again the fence will get it's wire when it has dried and hardened.

Here is a closeup of the area along the wall. It is only three to four inches wiede. A single line of trees with woodland scenics bushes and fence posts. This is raised with 1/2 inch foam covered with celluclay.

Here is a picture of the joint between the new scenery and the stuff I did yesterday.

A closer look at the corner you can see the full effect and the fact that the corner almost goes away.

Here is a picture taken from the right side. You can see the beaver pond followed by the area where the farm yard will go.

From the farm there is a road that goes down to the pond. There are three levels. This is the upper pond and dam. The middle pond area is to the right and the road goes right into it. Eventually there will be some cows in here drinking and cooling themselves..

The closeup shows the detail as well as a beaver nibbling on a stump.

Here is the lodge built on the middle pond. A beaver can be seen at the bottom right.

There are two of the little fellas and in behind you now can see the lower dam.

Here is the corner area where the farm yard will be built. House, barn silo windmill and stuff.

This took about six hours to do. I had lots of fun and I hope I can encourage you to give it a try.

Scenery step by step

As promised. Here is the step by step process of doing this style of scenery.

As you can see there are a number of products needed. Tape, newspaper, buckets, sprayer, white glue, brown ink, celluclay (grey), ground foams, static grass, toothpicks, Eylmer's spray glue, wet water, dirt and grout. Oh yes. Trees.

The first step is to lay a long narrow chunk of 1/2 inch foam along the way. This is inexpensive fill that gives some elevation between the track level and the backdrop. Then mix up some celluclay to a mud consistency using water, white glue (2 large blobs) and a couple of drops of dish soap.

Then take a trowel and spread it over the foam. Try not to be smooth. Create cuts by pressing down along the edges and pushing up here and there.

Make sure you put painters tape over the track and put down newspaper to protect you surfaces.

Then put diluted white glue over the clay so that it wets all of the surfaces. This provides good contact for the other material you can apply.

I take the fine woodland scenics angle hair type material and stretch it out thin and then apply in in small linear clumps between the wall and the new celluclay hills.

I also add dirt and then grout to cover the upper surfaces. Make sure it is random and you let some of the grey show through.

Sprinkle on some mixed grass and then burnt grass ground foam and put in your trees. Starting from one end in the back and working forward. Move to the right and repeat.

Here I am applying some grout over the ground foam. This effect makes it look like the grass is coming right through the dirt. spritz with wet water so the grout dampens then hardens.

I also used some Noch static grass applicator action with woodland scenics static grass. I spray with Eylmer's glue and apply it in layers. Medium green covered by burnt grass. Then I again put grout over it in places to create paths and earth areas.

Here is an overview of the progress.

Lela helped out by staining some toothpicks that I used to make fence posts. These wooden picks were cut in half and stained with brown Warhammer stain (dark brown).

They were applied along the front ridge. This creates interest and depth and defines the scene. Also sticks were broken up and placed along the front edges as well as more bushes similar to the ones created between the hills and the wall.

I removed the tape and added diluted white glue between the celluclay and the track.

Added dirt, grout, grasses and bushes. The closeup also shows an elk. When it is dry I will go in and use thread and string three strands of barbed wire. Hope you enjoyed this and it may help you in your scenery endeavours.

The back wall: Backdrop Scenery and Trees to Match

This is here to whet your appetite. My next post will show the step by step process. The trees I built are partially used along this 20 ft project that is about 4-6 inches wide.

Trees trees trees

Had a great day making trees for the LVN. Three hours of work. In order to progress the scenery you need to make up a batch of the trees to get you going. Number 1 priority is trees for me it gets my juices going. Without them you cannot go forward (at least I can't). I got 25 feet of scenery to do on Sunday. I used sedum and the old bottle brush for starters.. After careful trimming, I dip them in a 50/50 mixture of white glue and water. Then, I stick them between my thumb and forefinger, upside down in an old ice cream bucket and give them in a spin, till most of the glue has left the park. I learned this from my good friend Mike Hamer. Next, I apply copious amounts of green woodland scenics grass, weeds ...all fine stuff and then sprinkle earth blend as a light dusting. In three hours I made all these trees /.....Great fun. You can shape em with little nips with you scissors. Just leave them in the foam to dry. Next stop the layout

Kingston Railfan Opportunity

Had a great day in Kingston on Monday. Was down for a meeting at RMC in the Afternoon. It gave an opportunity to spend an hour on station road off Hwy 15 where I cought the first three freights. After the meeting I went to the east end of the VIA station platform and saw a parade of CN Freight trains and VIAs. Had to call it a day as it started to get cold and the light was failing. All in all a great time.