Model the Dales

Peter Marriott combines his scenic skills with Paul Lunn’s planning prowess and models Yorkshire’s stunning landscape using Woodland Scenics’ new Field System.

Peter Marriott uses his skills to model the stunning Yorkshire Dales.

Yorkshire is a county of contrasts. There’s the industrial south, the coastal resorts of Scarborough and Whitby, the rugged beauty of the Moors and the spectacular dales. Gazing over the vast expanse of heather can make you feel like you’re on top of the world. But away from here, nestling in the valleys, are picturesque villages with twisting lanes and endless miles of drystone wall. So how do you reproduce a bit of Yorkshire on a 34cm by 85cm piece of white polystyrene? You will already have seen Paul Lunn’s concept of modelling a mountainous landscape in a small space (MR251). Well, we also challenged him to design a rural Yorkshire micro layout too. Being the consummate professional that he is, he came up with the accompanying idea. Now it was my challenge to actually build it. I interpreted Paul’s plan as being somewhere on, say, the Grassington branch rather than the ‘Settle & Carlisle’. I wanted to convey the sense of dereliction in Paul’s plan, however. Like the Grassington branch, this was a former through route, although one that no longer carries much freight traffic. The signalling equipment is being removed, the telegraph pole is leaning, the lineside hedge is encroaching on the line and there’s no shine on the rails. Even the road hasn’t carried much traffic for years.

FIELD WORK

As I studied Paul’s plan, I decided to leave the land in front of the railway flat, while the land behind the line would be raised, using Noch Modelling Foil. I’ve changed the position of the trees in Paul’s plan and have set myself the task of making a crumbling wall as a separate exercise. The land around the simple cottage has no flowers or vegetables around it, to depict a neglected dwelling. I have made the road nice and rough, as prescribed in Paul’s useful notes. This build coincided with the launch of Woodland Scenics’ new Field System, so this was the perfect opportunity to thoroughly test this new range of products. Field System comprises static grass fibres (four colours in four different lengths), the Static King applicator, three new adhesives, texturing products and even a small vacuum cleaner to collect excess fibres for re-use. Here’s how I got on…