Anyone watching this blog could be forgiven for thinking that I've given up on Shillingstone as a project, but in truth it's just been relegated to second fiddle while I spent half of this year cracking on with other projects. Along the way I've continued to add some details to the first module and think about where I'm going with the other elements of the layout.

My original plan had been to tackle the large station module next, but I've put that on hold for now, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I need to think carefully about the whole concept, and how far I allow it to deviate from Shillingstone itself before I decide to just accept the fact that it's a representation of the S&D, not even an impressionistic portrait of one of the stations. Secondly, a busy year has meant that I'm unwilling to tackle any big modeling projects right now - I'm far more in the mood for small, bite-sized projects that have some chance of being seen through to completion in a reasonable time, the kind of thing where you can put in a half hour here and there and not feel that the end result is years away. Hence, I decided to tackle the winter module next as I didn't envisage that this would take more than a couple of months to bring to an acceptable starting point for further detailing and finishing.

The winter module, then, isn't based on anywhere in particular on the S&D, and if I'm going to be honest it's little more than a shameless excuse for a pub scene. I make no apologies for basing a diorama around that old-stager, the Superquick Swan Inn. This particular model has been on every layout I've had since I was child; it was made by my mother and despite suffering some wear and tear over the years, it was refurbished about 15 years ago for use on my old layout Wyvant. Although there will be very few buildings on the S&D layout as a whole I was keen to find a spot for this one, and the idea of modeling another river crossing appealed to me. That and the impulse purchase of a Wills bridge. I'm quite pleased with the small river/brook on the first module, but photographically it's slightly restrictive in the range of angles that allow for good shots of trains. In this case, I decided to flare out the river into a kind of delta in the foreground, allowing a variety of shooting angles. I've also taken care with the slope of the landforms so as not to block the trains from low viewing angles.

The backscene is my usual low-tech method of card, curved into the corners - fine for home layout use, but probably not sturdy enough for exhibition use. I've toned down the blue with a misting of white, and next I want to add a haze of rose to the horizon level. The joins in the card are quite conspicuous at the moment, but I wouldn't know where to look for larger sheets. Fortunately these don't attract the eye anywhere near as much once proper lighting is installed.

The overbridge is another Wills product, and the road is a piece of card, cut and bent to shape before being glued down. I've begun building up the landforms with scrap polystyrene.

Next up is to add plaster sheets to the landforms, and then think about the type of winter scene I want to end up with - whether it's going to be entirely snow covered, or just a sprinkling of snow on pale winter grass, suggestive of worse weather to come...