The last couple of weekends provided the welcome opportunity for a big push with the scenery on Paynestown, although appearances can be deceptive!

Back at the Bristol show at the start of the month, I was able to find some very cheap sheets of plastic card which were a bit discoloured, but otherwise perfectly fine for modelling. This allowed me to push on with the curved backscene:

Once that was done, there was really no reason not to push on with developing the foreground scenery which was always meant to block off the operating holes cut into the backscene. I must admit I had some trepidation, as once the scenery is in place. the surface-mounted wiring becomes a lot less accessible ... but I've convinced myself that any wiring issues can be addressed in the future, albeit with some difficulty, and probably not in the heat of an exhibition!

Proceeding forth, I began by boxing in the access areas at the rear using foam core formers, then creating contours over that using a shell of foam core contours, kitchen foil, (to provide a basic support for the plaster to come) and then several layers of plaster bandage. Nothing clever or complicated, but just a way of maintaining hollow voids under the hills, just enough for fingers to get in and work the switches from the rear, and/or a soldering iron if repairs are needed. I've found that it is possible to reach all the switches and uncoupling magnet buttons from the front, as well, by reaching back over the backscene, and one soons learns roughly where to grope! However, it's definitely more elegant to do it from the rear of the layout.

Once the hill forms were in place, I added a long retaining wall at the back, using Slaters stone plastic card, with a slight lean to the rear. I then painted a layer of brown acrylic over the plaster, let that dry, then used PVA and 1mm grass fibres to getr a basic treatment in place. It's all very preliminary but it does help me get a feel for how things will look.

I said appearances can be deceptive, and that's because the right side of the layout is still very much in the bare state of foam core and cardboard. I wanted to get ahead on the left side, partly to give a bit of motivation, but also so that I can provide some photos in advance of a couple of provisional exhibition bookings, including SWAG '24.

There is still a lot to be done but I'm pleased to see the 56XX and B-set looking suitably diminished by the scenery, which was my intention.

Onward, and thanks for reading!