MODELLING THE MOORLAND

1

Noch Landscape Modelling Foil has a metal finish on one side to give it strength, and a white fibrous finish on the other side to take scenic materials. You can fold and shape the foil to fit almost any landscape you want.

2

I wanted gentle undulations, so I rolled up pieces of the foil and pushed them under the slope of the embankment behind the railway line. I could have glued pieces of polystyrene to the baseboard and placed foil on top.

3

I painted the bare polystyrene at the front of the diorama with a tube of brown acrylic paint. Then, at the back, on the Modelling Foil, I used green Humbrol acrylic (from an aerosol) to colour the rolling field behind the railway line.

4

I used Ratio’s occupation crossing to gauge the width of the road and then cut the base from mounting card. I folded it over the rear of the diorama so that there was no sharp edge at the back of the baseboard.

5

I covered the trackbed with Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement adhesive, placed the track on it and then sprinkled on Woodland Scenics Fine Brown ballast. When the glue had cured, I swept away any excess ballast.

6

I painted the edge of the road brown where it will be hidden under hedgerows. I made the road’s shoulders by applying Deluxe Materials Create and Shape with my finger and smoothing it with an off-cut of card.

7

When the Create and Shape is dry, smooth it with abrasive papers. I painted the ‘off-road’ areas brown to blend them in. To make a heavily rutted road, I then spread some white glue along its length, trying to make it look random.

8

I sprinkled on fine sand and left it to dry overnight. Then I painted the road with grey acrylic. Once this had dried, I dry-brushed white Woodland Scenics Earth Colour along the road surface to give the sand a 3D effect.

9

The Dales are a mixture of pasture land and open moorland. To model a pasture, I glued some light brown scatter material to represent where the tractors would churn up the grass as they entered and exited the field.

10

Arch Laser, from Osborn’s Models, produces this wonderful drystone wall, albeit based on those in the Cotswolds. However, two coats of Woodland Scenics Earth Colours Concrete turned it into a wall more typical of Yorkshire.

11

I always associate wooden field gates with Yorkshire, and my diorama had to have one. This three-bar gate comes with Arch Laser’s wall. The timber fence for the lineside was from the same source. Again, secure with PVA.

12

The poly fibre hedge after being glued to the landscape. Poly fibre comes as a tightly rolled-up ball that needs to be teased apart. It is available in green from Woodland Scenics (www.woodlandscenics.com)

13

To add mixed scatter material to the hedging I used hairspray (from any supermarket or chemist will do!) plus Woodland Scenics Blended Turf and Fine Turf, which I sprinkled on through my fingers.

14

The hedge after it has been sprayed with hairspray and then sprinkled with a mixture of Woodland Scenics Fine Tufts. Don’t get too much scatter onto the hedge or it will hide the light and airy appearance of the poly fibre.