Scarpia's MINIVerse - Model Railroading

Test Layout 2

Work in progress

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Terrain

	Just a fun picture to start of this page.
	Having the area filled in does make it look better and better.
	Went puffball tree crazy, and filled in the whole corner (until I ran out of puff material). Can't speak highly enough of the Micro Mark black poly puff, works great. Note that I also removed the upper shelf from this area, in order to improve light, and as I'm not doing a second level.
	Note that I also removed the upper shelf from this area, in order to improve light, and as I'm not doing a second level.
	More Pot Toppers in place.
	and I extended the back hill coverage down until I ran out of materials.
	With the shelf gone, the lighting situation has improved
	After a visit to the Springfield Train Show (2010) I was able to pick up some new scenery material that would allow me to get working again. First up was this 4mm (approx) meadow green static grass from Heki (Item no. 3367). I picked this up as it was the same price as the Silfor, but a full 75g bag
	More of the static grass along the tracks, and the upper road edge (this pictures is pre-vacuuming).
	And than the rest of the slope was filled in with Woodland Scenics foam, and Scenic Express Super Turf (in a variety of colors). The white spots are from the glue mixture that will dry clear).
	Besides ground foam and static grass I picked up some flowers from Silflor. These are great, and really dress up things - like this ratty old fence!
	You can see in this picture how cutting the flowers all at the same height looks much less good than varying the height.
	The scenicked part.
	and the transition to the great brown expanse.
	Next up was part of the upper level. Note that I'm purposely not putting down ground foam first to see if there is a noticeable difference. There doesn't seem to be in the middle, but along the edges it may be worth putting in.
	At the Springfield Train Show I picked up some Silfor Flowers from Scenic Express. I didn't like the even ness from my first application, so I took out the gardening shears, and cut away.
	You can definitely see how much better the variation in height looks.
	I also added some slight bushes, and a small tree to the side of the office.
	On the front, I decided to dirt in this section.
	The drywall patch dried, stained, and edge sceniced. The loading dock visible in the back will be sited here, as it makes a nice team track, and it's easy to work over.
	On the back, static grass was applied to the base of the hill along the tracks, and the road edge.
	And than the first bit of bushes. Note a major failure here on my part, the slope is way too steep for this. I had to let this bit dry before I could go back and fill in the rest - for vertical surfaces, you're better off using rocks or retaining walls.
	Filled in.
	The Road edge is starting to look nicer.
	I also put together some Scenic Express Supertrees for the back edge, filling in another foot or so.
	MRC was "giving" these trees away (JTT trees) for the shipping costs, so I picked up a box or two. These are Birch - and I was very disappointed with the lack of color on the trunk.
	Here they are on the layout up front. Not bad looking trees, the shape and the canopy is ok, but the trunk color is still a disappointment. These normally retail for $7 a tree, and I'm hard pressed to recommend them, as the Super Trees armatures are pretty darn good!

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