Hi,

Since the last Blog entry, we have been moving forward with more scenic work on the layout.

Ground Works

With the rough shape of the bridge of the dis-used branch line in place on the scenic boards, it was now time to start forming the rest of the surrounding terrain. As we don't want the bridge to appear like a lump on our otherwise very flat boards, our plans are to shape the scenery so that the main running lines look like they are running in a very shallow cutting. This means that from the front of the layout, the ground will appear to slope down towards the running lines and will rise and fall steadily either side of the bridge. Further towards the rear of the layout, the ground works are more aggressive, with higher sloped embankment and retaining walls being used.

We have also used a few different methods to shape the terrain. For the bridge and immediately surrounding area, we have used extruded foam, which has been 'carved' to give us the profile we needed. Away from the bridge we have used extruded foam formers or blocks to give a rough outline, then filled in and around these with newspaper and finally covered with a fine wire mesh which is then stapled to the board surface. Both of these methods then receive a covering of Plaster Bandage.

Here are some pictures of the Plaster Bandage being added and the result.

We still have a little work to do at the board ends, we need to install some plywood profiles to make sure the scenics mate correctly when the boards are erected and to protect the scenery from minor knocks when being transported.

Retaining Wall

One of the key features of the layout will be our engineering brick retaining wall, which will form much of the scenic break at the back of the layout. As we will need around 4m of this wall, we have decided it would be nice to design and build it ourselves. Currently we have designed an 80mm section which can be repeated and we are currently looking at the best way to manufacture 'lots' of these

Our current plan is to use brick etched plasticard as we have gentle curves which the retaining wall needs to follow. The plasticard will then be laser cut to provide the various layers we need to build up the entire relief.

Cheers, Mark.