Scenery with Silflor

Last week saw me building up the new embankments and cuttings on the creamery extension.  It didn't take long for the plaster to set leaving me with a firm foundation on which to build up the scenery.
Now I must admit I enjoy this part of the hobby and take a lot of satisfaction from seeing an idea come to life in front of my eyes.  I compare it with painting a picture, only in our case as modellers it's a moving one in 3D.
So with an expanse of snow white plaster in front of me I set about painting it all.  For this I mixed up some Burnt Sienna and Dark Green acrylic paint and brushed it all over the surface to give a sort of muddy green camouflage effect.  Once dry I applied a coat of PVA to seal it all and left it overnight to dry.

From previous post here on the blog and elsewhere you will know that I am a huge fan of Silflor and I make no excuse for mentioning this superb product again.  One of it's strengths is that unlike other materials you can salvage it and reuse it, so the high first cost isn't as bad as you think when spread across a couple of layouts.  Should you make a mistake or want to rework any scenic features then you can simply remove it and lay it again.  Add it's realistic appearance and ease of use to that argument and the product presents a good case for parting with your hard earned cash.

My plan of action was to reinstate the goods yard scenery first, followed by the lane and then to tackle the new cuttings and embankments. The idea being to have all the basic ground cover in place and then to add hedges, trees and other detail at leisure.
In an earlier post I mentioned how the old rock cutting next to the overbridge had been removed in one piece and put aside to be used again.  So a start was made on trimming this old plaster casting so it would fit back in place.  This was necessary because the angle of the bridge where it crosses the approach track is slightly different. I also wanted to adjust the angle of the rock face as previously it was too steep for my liking. 

Once the rock cutting had been put in place the old tree at the end of the lane was replanted and various new bushes and hedges made from sea moss covered with Anita Decor foliage.  Next the signal was plugged back in place , there is still some work to do in this area such as adding a few saplings, weeds and such.

 Working from the backscene to the front of the layout the scene was gradually built up.

Here we have a mix of Silflor, which is mainly rough winter pasture in both long and short lengths.  Bridge wing walls will be completed now the grass embankments are finished.  The white area between the two bridges is where the back wall of a small coal office will be sited.

Long dry grass has slowly taken root and the old goods yard tree refurbished and planted further to the left to clear the new siding.  I rather like the shadow that it casts over the bridge.  The four bar fencing is by Ratio but has been slightly modified by making the bars a triangular section rather than round.as it comes out of the pack  This is easily done by scraping along them with a scalpel and makes a huge difference to this useful product, I still have a short section of fence to add to the left of the bridge.

 

An early view of the creamery bridge and it's entrance, it's still very much work in progress at the moment.  The fencing shows up a little better in this photo and you can see the hedge on the other side of the road.  The coal yard is not as cramped as it looks and much detail is yet to be added to this scene.

Penhydd Hall Lane twist and turns as it crosses the railway, I have tried to give the effect of the lane dropping downwards as it approaches the backscene.  Since this photo was taken more weeds have been added to the centre of the lane.

This is as far as the scenic treatment has reached at the moment, a quick hop over the lane brings us to the new part of the layout in it's bare state.

Silflor is best applied in clumps rather than one piece, the various colours and textures being blended together bit by bit.  I use dabs of contact adhesive to secure it which makes it's removal easy.  Small strands have been carefully placed between the boulders to give the effect of grass growing out of the various gaps.  The rock cutting in the background will be treated in the same manner.

Just to give you an idea of the base colour and how the various contours will link together giving the effect of rolling countryside, at the same time disguising the cassette deck.

So there we are, work will continue over the coming weeks and another update will follow once there is more to show.