Build a beach...
It’s so lifelike you want to be there to soak up the sun and swim in the crystal-clear ocean. gets all the little details spot-on for a stunning Cornish seaside scene.
…so lifelike you want to go there on holiday. chris Leigh demonstrates how to get all the little details spot-on.
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Polwyddelan’ incorporates a small beach simply because I wanted to try my hand at modelling a stretch of golden, sandy shoreline. My previous experience of modelling a beach was a long time ago, and was restricted to a short section on a lifeboat diorama in which I had modelled the bow wave from a slipway launch, using aquarium filter wool and clear casting resin. It had worked pretty well, and since my office desk is next to the Practical Fishkeeping team, I asked if aquarium filter wool is still available. It is; try ebay! As I’m working indoors, in a carpeted room, using casting resin was a no-no. It releases strong fumes which last for days, and no matter how careful you are, it will find its way onto the floor. I’d already used acrylic varnish for the water in the harbour and, so that the beach would match, I used exactly the same method, paint and varnish on plaster. Figures are absolutely vital for a West Country beach in high summer and there aren’t many about that are suitable in 4mm:1ft scale, apart from a few period figures from Langley. Throughout the layout, I’ve tended to slightly undersize the buildings. Most structure kits and ready-toplant buildings for ‘OO’ layouts are actually undersized so you can fit more into a small
space. If you doubt me, check out the square footage of the footprint of a model house in relation to that of your own home. Thus I have no qualms about using ‘HO’ scale figures on a ‘OO’ gauge layout. In the case of ‘Polwyddelan’, it was essential. Preiser and Noch both produce suitable figure packs for the beach scene. Check out your local store or These tend to be available in batches and I needed as many different packs as possible for a good mixture of holidaymakers, so it took a year to obtain them all. However, there is one slight - ahem - issue. As these figures are German and intended to populate the somewhat warmer climes of the Mediterranean, there’s a tendency to include some wearing little or nothing by way of a swimsuit. A few moments’ work with a small paintbrush will make them more appropriate to a UK beach, or they can simply be placed discreetly, so that their lack of attire isn’t obvious. I’ve strived to show a crowded beach on a summer afternoon and incorporated as many of those fondly remembered features of a holiday as possible. So, we have a child’s lost teddy bear placed on the grit bin and a frantic family returning to find it. Teenagers wave to one another, while a group of girls are admiring the lifeboat crew. There are pony rides on the beach and up the hill, an open-top bus is on a local tour, the ice cream vendors are busy and one child is about to lose her ice cream to a marauding seagull. That’s a perennial incident that has happened to two generations of my family in St Ives! Throughout the layout I’ve given viewers lots of detail to look at, so it’s very much a case of ‘the more you look, the more you’ll see.’ Porthminster Beach at St Ives was the inspiration for my beach scene. In the background, the branch train of two Class 150 units climbs round the headland towards Carbis Bay.