Continued relatively quiet and mild weather has allowed me to move at pace with the scenic "modules" on the shelf which will now run behind the track.  I bought a number of A4 sized 3mm deep plastic sheet offcuts from Tatbay which have rigidity and the weather resistance needed for the shed, so I have broken down the developments along the back into A4 sized lengths, roughly.  Unfortunately the "mantlepiece" isn't quite A4 width, so I've had to wield the Dremel to the boards to cut them down a bit, but the principle works and by breaking it down into bite-sized chunks, it means when it gets dark, I can bring in a module to work on indoors.

St Florian's Church.  As the "mantlepiece" is lower than the Old Courthouse Square scenic board which conceals the curve back into the fiddle yard, by about 15-20mm, I made a sandstone rock outcrop from some pasty polystyrene, painted matt terracotta, then with copious amounts of neat terracotta and charcoal neat paint pigment brushed on.  I still need to add some grass tufts and of course finish the service bay/car park for the church and bank.



The relocated Swan Centre.  Grey concrete paviours with a darker slate contrast band have been made using cheap Chinese plasticard, painted with Posca paint pens and weathered with neat black poster paint pigment.  The market stalls are the Bachmann tin jobs, the shops are Auhagen with the crinkly concrete roof replaced with the flat one, and the Bank of Bitch is the IHC "Citybank" but which is now available from Gaugemaster in various forms.  It has also appeared in Faller, MKD and other model ranges.  Nice sturdy nondescript 60s building which benefits from painting rather than leaving as a self coloured plastic job.



The Faller "Hotel Stadt-Prag" nearly HO scale shops make a useful shopping precinct and their dubious scale doesn't look out of place so long as you don't put OO scale people, telephone boxes or other buildings next to them.  From left to right, Alice's Arts and Crafts is named after my niece who loves drawing and model making, Shaun's Models after my brother (her dad) who is a sci-fi modeller, Stars News after the newsagent where I had my first Saturday job, the Knight Inn reception which leads up to the Knight Inn cabaret nightspot, where Wednesford's groovy aspirational young things go to watch racist and sexist "comedians" over a bottle of Blue Nun and a soup in a basket, next door is Olivia's Hair and Beauty Salon, after another relative who likes doing make-up, Claire's Fashions is named after my cousin, there's a post office, and finally the Blue Tit Cafe, with take out service downstairs and sit in service upstairs, an in joke with a friend.  You can always have a bit of fun with shop names.



New Government Buildings.  The office blocks are slightly under HO scale, but complement each other nicely.  The tower block is by Vau-Pe and the pitched roof building is the well known Vollmer product of the 70s.  A pair of cheap ear-rings are the Town Artist, Pat Butcher's "Ladders of Success" which is a bit ironic for the local Dole and Tax Offices.  The EiiR cypher is mounted on a piece of genuine Arthog slate (I have a slate based rockery in the front garden with a large Red Dragon menacing anyone coming to the door, the slate being sourced from the local quarry and under the garden) with landscaping around it.

The multi storey car park, the well known Vollmer kit but which I bought ages ago s/h off Tatbay and which conveniently has self-disassembled during storage.  The lift/stair tower I designed and printed, and is partially clad with Chinese paviour plasticard.

The approach road marks the boundary of the town's first Conservation Area, comprising the Bachmann-Model Centre Inn based on one in Goathland, but which I've painted the honey stone in terracotta red to simulate brick, and weathered.   Next to that, at right angles, is the Meeting Rooms, a Hornby "St Michael's" school which had been the Francis Webb Primary school before, and next door to that is the Hornby half-depth chapel.  Non-conformism was widespread in the West MIdlands and there are many chapels around the area.  The Moriah Chapel was built by the Carey family whose "Aunty Edna's Minty Koffs" spread a peppermint smell across Wednesford West, so the chapel is the Moriah-Carey chapel, and is still in use.

Carey Road is now blocked off alongside Tudor Row, and BR have put in a picket gate which will lead to a staircase to track level, allowing the signalman and any other authorised personnel to get to track level