I managed to get a 5 hour work window at the mothership this past Saturday. Task at hand was laying down the scenery base layer of dirt. Actually, about a large coffee can of special modeling dirt...from David’s neighbor’s yard! After all the bench work, roadbed, and sub base cracks were filled with spray foam, tape, and Stucto-lite, everything was painted brown with regular latex house paint. On top of this, I brushed a thinned mixture of wood glue and water. A fine layer of David’s special modeling dirt was sifted over the glue using a small tea strainer. This powdery dirt is the base scenery layer.
I added depth by using more dirt to build up the areas around the lumber yard(5), loading dock(3), and fuel dealer(4). The track at the lumber yard is fully buried to rail top height and the fuel dealer track is buried to tie depth. These areas when finished will represent having wheeled vehicle traffic on and around the trackage. Of course special attention was paid cleaning to the flange areas. All of the dirt was than fully soaked by misting water with a drop of dish soap. A 50/50 mix of white glue and water was dribbled over the entire area to lock this base in place.
Next up will be vegetation and road details, as well as ballast for the main track. Fitting all the structures back into the scene won’t be far behind!
