CREATE A BUSY HAMLET SCENE

Carol Flavin’s OO gauge lockdown layout, ‘The Edge Hey and Strines Railway’, is brimming with features, but this scene lining a small road is her favourite.

Carol Flavin’s large OO gauge lockdown layout, ‘The Edge Hey and Strines Railway’, is

brimming with features, but this scene lining a small road is her favourite.

Upper Strines Hamlet consists of a few houses and a church and is reached from Strines Village across a stone bridge over the railway. It looks out over the top of the village, towards the harbour, and has a splendid view of the mountains with their crashing waterfalls in the opposite direction. A river from the lake at the base of the mountains winds its way around the hamlet and out to sea via a busy harbour. This is my favourite part of the layout, and in an ideal world, it is where I would like to live.

1. This house is a Skaledale (R8515) Clovelley Cottage, and has lighting using the Woodland Scenics Just Plug system. I made curtains from pieces of ribbon or coloured paper, and stuck greenery as if it was growing up the front and side of the house. This was made using seafoam that is sprayed with hair spray and immediately dipped in a mix of scatter, hedging and leaves that I have created. The house sits in a good-sized garden with flowers in raised beds under windows made from painted pieces of balsa wood, with flower tufts on the top, from Howard Scenic Supplies – Flowering Bushes. There is a driveway to the side made using oddments of N gauge ballast, and a garden fence and gate from Scale Model Scenery (LX004-OO) laser-cut 4ft Garden Fencing. Between Lane Head House and Railway Cottages is a substantial hedge made from Javis Hedge Foliage, glued with Bostik.

2. The cottage is made from a Wills (CK10) Farm Cottage kit. The other cottage (No.1) is from a similar but not identical plastic kit that came ready-made. I took off the end wall of the second cottage and joined them together. The cottages have a variety of curtains and blinds at the windows. I have blanked some out to give a realistic look at night when the lighting is switched on to show that only some rooms are in use.

3. The conservatory was already on the side of No.1 Railway Cottages, which was a building I bought ready-made from eBay. I carefully removed it and added it to No.2 Railway Cottages as I knew it would suit the look of the building better.

4. This bridge was scratch-built from carved and sanded balsa wood. I created the look of stone with textured wallpaper, which I then painted to create the stone effect. I added greenery from my stock. There is a Hornby Skaledale Pillar/Post Box at the foot of the bridge to give a realistic feel to the scene.

5. A resident from Lane Head House is chatting to a man with a bicycle over the fence. The bicycle is one I painted from Modelscene. I like to have a good choice of figures and they mostly come via job lots from either eBay or second-hand stalls at model railway shows. The fences and gates are made from Scale Model Scenery laser-cut Garden Fencing.

6. Vehicles are all Oxford Diecast. The tractor has an N gauge driver because the figure fitted better behind the wheel. The tractor is towing some fence panels on a trailer that is really a painted trolley normally used on railway stations for luggage. I used mid and dark brown acrylic paint to weather the tractor and the Land Rover. There is also an open-topped sports car with N gauge figures in the seats to add a bit of fun to the scene.

7. I made the coffin out of a small piece of carved balsa wood and painted it light brown. I created the look of a hole in the ground for the coffin by rolling up some toilet paper and sticking it down with Mod Podge. I then painted it brown and added a small amount of mixed scatter. The vicar was a smartly-dressed figure with a hat that I painted black.

8. The gravestones came from my collection. I also have lots of colourful flowers that I buy ready-made. These include Flowering Bushes from Howard Scenic Supplies, and War World Scenics Mixed Flock and 4mm:1ft scale Static Grass Flowers. There are also a variety of bushes and trees around the church including Hornby SkaleScenics deciduous trees and Light- and Mid-Green Woodland Scenics bushes. I used the Javis summer rough terrain mat for the grass.

9. I made and painted stone walls around the church. An unusual choice, I cut some Javis cork strip into the correct height of a stone wall, painted it mid grey, and then flecked light grey, dark grey and buff titanium acrylic paint onto the walls to create the look of a stone wall. I then weathered the stone walls by adding 10mm grasses and bushes both inside and outside the wall. I made the lychgate by the church entrance from some pieces of fencing for the sides. I etched the roof from some pieces of plastic. This gave it two sides and a pointed roof. I also put in a Langley 4mm:1ft scale gate with brass detailing.

10. I initially tried cotton wool for the smoke, which was a bit too fluffy for my taste but it still looked effective. Teased-out Christmas fleece looks good and very realistic, but I prefer to tease out patchwork quilt wadding as it has a slightly rougher texture. You need very little to create the effect. I stuck the ‘smoke’ in place with a little Bostik glue.

11. Hedges are made from Woodland Scenics Bushes, or Javis Hedge, mixed together. Fencing is usually made from Scale Model Scenery laser-cut kits, as are the gates. Trees come from a range of sources, including Hornby deciduous trees, and plants range from flowery bushes to tall 10mm grasses bunched together.

12. I had always wanted to add lighting to the layout, but wiring beneath the board is difficult for me. I discovered the Woodland Scenics Just Plug System. It’s an investment, but I have found the simplicity makes it cost-effective. Lighting in the hamlet at night gives it a realistic look and the Woodland Scenics (WS SS26) Victorian Cast Iron Street Lights (lit or unlit) add a nice touch. I have added lighting in the houses using the (JP5740 WS) Just Plug Warm White Stick-on LED Lights in the houses.