Penhydd Creamery in the New Year.........

It is hard to believe that twelve months have passed since plans for the creamery were first drawn up.  Mind you I did have to modify both the cassette deck and goods yard.  Not to mention building one new bridge and raising the existing one.  Throw in a couple of other projects and it doesn't sound that bad.  
Despite many false dawns I can now see light at the end of the tunnel.  When I started the project I had a picture in my mind as to how I wanted the scene to look.  A few rough sketches were made and I am rather pleased to see how well it has all come together.  To be honest I did expect to be writing this update a few weeks ago but as I explained in a previous post I had one or two problems
However last week saw the creamery set stones completed and a start made on adding grass, weeds and whatnot.  As usual Silflor and Minatur static grasses were used to slowly build up the appearance of an overgrown neglected site, which is slowly falling into decline.  I ordered a few small pieces of Silflor rather than a full sized mat and had all the other scenic items in stock so it didn't take long to lay down the basic scenery.

I have coloured the set stones with washes of Burnt Sienna and Sap Green acrylics, the tops being cleaned off with a stiff brush to give a Cotswold stone appearance which is similar to the colour of those at our local church.  The grass is Silflor Long Autumn applied in rough clumps 

MiniNatur static grass fibres have now been added, these are the winter fibres which give the effect of sun bleached dry grass.  The Silfor has been sprayed with artist spray mount and grass  fibres added by using a simple puffer bottle.  Cheap tacky hairspray can also be used with good results.

Grass tufts have now been added around the area where the buildings will be fitted thus helping to disguising the joint between them and the ground.  The track is also having grasses applied, though it looks untidy once all is set the loose fibres will be vacuumed up and the rail cleaned.

A low level view, the road in the foreground will be model in an overgrown state with a pair of rusted gates across it.  Fencing will then run along towards the water tower where a gate for rail access will be sited.

The main building has now been completed and is firmly in place,  the canopy roof was painted and whilst the paint was still wet Polyfila was applied through a fine sieve.  This has resulted in a rather fine textured roof which once dry was weathered with streaks of a muddy green to represent moss and other growth.  The canopy supports and brackets were first painted in a faded blue and then dry brushed with dirty black and light rust. Valences and other wooden areas have been painted in a dirty cream then everything blended together with a dusting of talcum powder.

The fencing is by Ratio and will be extended to just past the water tower where a gate protecting rail access will be sited. It will also extend backwards towards the buffer stops which have just been repainted and await weathering.  You might just be able to see a hose on the platform top which has been left for someone to trip over, no Health and Safety in the late fifties !

Fencing was painted in the same faded blue as used elsewhere on the site and then given a wash of dirty black mixed with rust.  Access to the site is by the road near the wall in the background and so the gates you see in the foreground will be modelled in a rusted and unused state.  The corrugated iron clad building has been made from the Wills sheets with rainwater goods from the same source.  Though you can't see it the walls were first painted in patches of oily steel followed by faded cream which was in turn dry brushed with light rust.  Green patches were also dry brushed along the bottom edges to represent staining from weeds and moisture.

A general view of the site which has since seen the fence completed and gates for both rail traffic and road access put in place..  I have also applied another cream wash to centre building and put a lamp standard in the yard.

So there we are for now, hopefully next week will see the project completed and then I can move onto something else.

Geoff