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Cardboard bases for all of the structures, roadways and driveways have been glued in. The structures are placed here, in various states of completion. They are:
B - gas station and garage (Sinclair Dino!)
C - firehouse
D - a food shack
E - a supply store
F - a nondescript garage
G - R.E.Ruark Co., Machinists / Fabricators (named for a friend)
H - Old Lady Who's house (the RR's only private residence!)
I - an industrial or commercial building
J - the road bridge
I have names in mind for most of the industrial and commercial buildings, they will be familiar to some of you. I'm working on signage in Photoshop. The plaster base and some rock castings are laid in at the creek base.
Next is a shot after all of the plaster terrain base has been applied, the roads have been spackled, and everything is painted with baby-poop brown. I use spackle on the roads (even though they will all be dirt roads) to make them smoother than the surrounding terrain. The wooden railroad crossings are also in place. You can also see, to the left, where the seam between the RR halves has been filled in. It's never coming apart again - although the whole thing can still be slid around on its hockey puck feet if necessary.
Below, 2 shots show all the baby-poop color has been covered with dirt (dry sanded grout). The roads are sanded after this is applied and the glue is dry, to better define them. With those messy jobs done, it's all vacuumed, the track is unmasked, and the track cleaning train makes laps (the track ballast will come later).
The creek bed and what will become the waterfall are getting more detail. Most vegetation further up the banks will be added after the resin "water" is poured, because I've found on my testbeds that the resin "creeps" up as it cures, covering the base of the plants with glossy clear above the waterline - not a good look.
Brighter shades of green are used in and around the creek, as opposed to the more muted colors elsewhere. Throughout the RR, everything is "wild growth" - nothing is landscaped or manicured.
Continuing to add low vegetation and detail to the rest of this area, and obviously I have a lot of structures to complete!
