Bear Creek: Bedding in...

It's a real tonic to have a project like Bear Creek to work on at weekends. I've enjoyed turning the lights on and soaking up the atmosphere all week, pondering what the next steps will be, but come Saturday I feel I can dedicate time once again to the layout...

Changing of the guard? The new Fairbanks Morse passes on the re-laid main, as old 3 spot waits on the lightweight spur to the Camp B reload.

As well as seeing the Fairbanks Morse progress through the paint shop (showing early promise here, above - imagine this scene when both locomotives are weathered and I use the focus stacking software to improve the depth of field!) I have been doing smaller jobs, but ones that make a real difference in finish.

I mixed up some of the bark mixture I usually use on my wire armature trees - inspired by Gordon Gravett's recipe mine makes use of things I have to hand so is about 40% PVA, 40% filler and 20% water to get a thick pliable and flexible substance that can be painted on. I also tint it with acrylic paint so that if it cracks or chips it doesn't show up white! I wanted to use this to bed the tree trunks into the ground, so on the trees with exposed trunks that were not glued in I pulled these out, applied it, then pushed them back in and teased and sculpted it to shape with a barbecue skewer. For the trunks I'd made from twig off cuts I used the skewer to poke material into the base of the trunk. As it dried I added more, and tried to build up the top surface of roots in the ground.

This was then painted with Humbrol oil paints (above), to see the shape better - blended with white spirit into the ecisting trunk paint and texture. Where things weren't quite right (as above where it seems little too curved and smooth compared to the trunk) it was 'improved' with a craft knife and touched up. Finishing touch was a coat of Games Workshop green wash, it's a dark green almost camo colour that I sometimes use to represent water staining on brickwork. In this case it blended things in, and suggested the damp nature of these forests.

Standing back, excuse the fascia (this is now smoothed and painted) and the disparate time period of stake cars (late 1960s) and Shay (pre 1950s with wood on the back). This panorama view is less than 1m wide, yet I love how the layering of the trees and backscene work so well together. I think this is the beauty of doing illustrated sketches before you start, as an integral part of the planning process. It allows you to consider how the layout will be seen and how it splits down into different scenes. If you compare this to the concept (below) you will see how close things are to what I wanted to achieve. There are details still to add, but they will be subtle, the overall composition is now pretty much complete.

A relaxing way to spend the weekend, and one that was very much appreciated. I hope you all enjoyed your weekends, and if I can help with layout design for your project, then do get in touch, whether it's a complete brief to design (to even build) or just help with composition and visualisation then use the contact form on the menu to drop me a note. I look forward to hearing from you! Until next time, more soon...

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