PROJECT 6: BUILDING THE LAYOUT

STEP BY STEP

1 Pin or glue the track to your baseboard. Protect the point blades with masking tape before giving the track a thorough coat of Humbrol Dark Brown 29 aerosol. Give the track a good clean with a track-cleaning block.

2 Spread Woodland Scenics WB72 onto the track using a Proses ballast spreader. Lightly brush it into place before fixing it with a 50/50 mix of water, PVA glue (and a drop of washing-up liquid).

3 The roads were made from two layers of mounting cardboard. Towards the rear of the layout a piece of Celotex home insulation foam has been shaped using a Woodlands Scenics Foam Knife to form an embankment.

4 Glue the foam to the layout and hold it in place with foam nails until it dries. Cut small pieces of plaster cloth and dunk them in water. Lay them onto the layout, overlapping each piece. Allow to dry and paint with brown artist’s acrylic.

5 Mix some Woodland Scenics White Earth and Asphalt and paint the road surfaces. Now position the platform and station buildings. The scene is beginning to take shape. Now it’s time to start adding some greenery.

6 Apply a coat of PVA over anywhere that’s going to be grass. Use a large, wide paintbrush to accelerate the process. With the PVA still wet, sprinkle on a selection of basic green scatters. Leave to dry.

7 Tease out some Woodland Scenics Poly Fiber. Prepare about a dozen pieces at a time, then spread some glue and cover one large area at a time, rather than doing it bit by bit. When dry, spray with hairspray and sprinkle on scatters.

8 To add height and colour variation to the land I added clumps of static grasses in a variety of colours and heights. I used Gaugemaster static grass glue and a small electrostatic applicator from WW Scenics.

9 I used one packet of spring trees by Gaugemaster. These are easy to add to any layout – simply form a hole in the foam landscape and push the trunk in. Dry-brush the trunks light grey to highlight texture variations.

10 I used an old packet of Hornby Skale Scenics fine grey ballast to make the cess. Add a few weeds alongside the track – grass tufts and strips are available from a number of manufacturers and are easy to install.