Down on Beaverbrook: Whiting things out…

Progress on Beaverbrook comes in waves, weeks of inactivity suddenly transformed by a burst of scenic drive to move forwards, interspersed with frequent operations...

The accessibility of the layout is wonderful - for when I want to run a train it is there, and when I want to do some scenic work, the same - it is available and its size means the variety of work still outstanding is quite varied. Although there is more 'finished' scenery at each end of the layout (even these are far from finished) the centre, until recently, has been literally bare plywood! Fancy working on trees? No problem! Buildings and structures, anywhere from scratch building new cores to detailing existing ones. Details? Loads to consider, signage and street lighting the next obvious candidates. 

However, there is an order to progress even if not always in life - and before I could progress the road, I needed to 'fill in the gaps' in groundwork. This wasn't a particularly taxing job or even one I had been putting off, just relatively big, and quite messy!

Work started with using sheets of 3 and 1mm cork to level up the ground under the proposed structures and let this dry overnight. Cut simply with an old Stanley knife blade with a score that could be snapped and torn, it's quick work, but does require some careful measurement and adjustment to get a good fit. Next up, using sculptamold to fill out some of the 'ground' around the cork and edge of the road. Finally, some basic interior filler to smooth out transitions or represent 'dirt' road surfaces - the latter requiring very careful smoothing, but as we're talking un-made, the odd undulation can be to our advantage.

The results have transformed the feel of the layout - as I noted when I painted and ballasted each end, the initial effect is one of shortening, compressing the feeling of space - but this quite a fleeting feeling and soon the effect is one of cohesive natural whole. The next step is adding some colour to both the groundwork, track work and road, but that can wait for another instalment. 

I love creating and building model railways. If you would like help with design or realisation of your own dream layout let me help, get in touch for a personal proposal using the form on the website, Facebook or the forums. Until next time, more soon...

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