New Outer Teardrop Scene

The expanded foam eruption ended and I was able to start repairing the damage to and around the road bridge which I could have done without.

I then applied pre-mixed cornice cement to fill in any gaps between the foam pieces and to generally smooth things out. I then used some dry powder colour and a wet brush to apply a basic brown to the surface of the plaster to minimise the potential for any white to show through the scenery later.

After this I marked out the lineside fence post positions on the balsa and the foam, made the holes and put a toothpick into each hole. The reason for this was so that I could find the post holes after I had applied soil and then static grass, it worked quite well apart from the toothpicks getting in the way of the static grass machine.

I used fine sieved soil to cover the whole area and applied a slightly different colour in several places.

This was then sprayed with a methylated spirits and water mixture to allow the 'Long Life Self Shining Floor Polish' (an acrylic clear, available in Woolworths - 500ml or Bunnings - up to 5 litres) to easily saturate the soil. The 'floor polish' sometimes needs to be done two or three times to thoroughly bond the soil but I usually try it and only add more later in any problem areas. I think the trick is not to apply too much methylated/water mixture.

While the soil was wet I applied various colour static grasses, looking for a dry grass effect with a little greener grass in some low lying spots. I also applied some dark green flock to replicate some blackberry or similar low bushes. It was interesting trying to match in with the thirty year old scenery in the centre of the teardrop. I still have to add some dry static grass on the track side of the inner fence to help tie it together. Also the old fence droppers made out of thicker wire will have to be replaced with the new thinner ones.

Here is a picture of the scenery after this first effort, grass tufts and more shrubs and foliage to be added.

And here are a few photos of the first train through the scene.