Scenery and - now - ballast!

We are seeing some action at last. I bought a great spray can from the local Hobbycraft shop. I used this to put a better base colour down. I then did some more work with plaster - and some more paint. I bought a Woodlands Scenics (WS) sprayer and scenic glue. This glue is pre-thinned and contains a wetting agent so it works straight out of the bottle. I know that I could dilute some PVA and add Fairy Liquid (as advised on the MRH forum) but I only have a small railroad and this is very convenient.

I popped into Scograil (our local model railway shop) to get a bottle of WS Fine Grass. Shaking this on and spraying the glue worked perfectly. Out came the trees that I have had stored away for about 5 years and I ended up with something that I am pleased about.

The unfinished building is a Carolina Craftsman Kit - Grizz's Hidden Gems. Not sure what type of industry it is going to be. I am going to make a stone base for it to get it up to rail level. It is an interesting kit. As the cover page says - "Our ZIP-Kits include limited instructions). Limited is the word. Lots of wood strips and nothing to show how to put it together. So, what you get is some laser cut walls, some Tichy Train windows and doors plus some corrugated material for the roof. Apart from that, you are on your own!

The trees on the outside of the track provide nice cover for the curve round the back of the hill. I intend to make a post and rail fence along the front of the hill, overlooking the rail yard, and put some cows grazing there.

I am in the process of putting down some ballast. I bought one of these ballast layers - my one is by a company called"Proses", in Turkey, but it is the same one that Bachmann sell. My ballast is quite fine and it shoots out so I am putting as much effort into doing it as I would if I was just shaking it out directly. 

The ballast is mixed 1:7 with DeLuxe Materials Ballast Magic. This comes with a little spray gun which you fill with water and some washing up liquid. Lay the ballast down and spray it. Job done!

I am amazed that I am getting on with it so well.

I am starting a new Open University course in January. It is a ICT project course that requires me to build a project and make a final report. Seems easy but first you have to have a project that can take 30 weeks to build up to a 10,000 word report! I have decided to expand on my car routing prototype. I will post up the proposal in my next blog entry.