Week 6 has been one of those weeks that seem like two.  In fact it has been two.   Side jobs, wiring etc, were taking up time and resources so now it’s back to rebuilding the Summerland peninsula.  All the material is together so…

        It took about three days of mixing and setting plaster casts to get the side of the hills prepared in and around the sawmill. In reality this is a wall that visually separates the sawmill operating space with the Summerland space so it has to look appropriate from both sides.  

       Not many details can be seen from here except that we go through a great deal of Hydrocal and make extensive use of one foot square molds.  Smaller molds and it would have taken forever and well, I wouldn’t have tried to do it this way at all.  

       Trains have been running for the public for a week.  This keeps them coming and it keeps the track clean so when we finally get finished doing scenery we won’t be trying to sort through problems.  That great hole in the center foreground will be finished on my garage floor and set in place.  Not a fan of this because it’s a great deal of extra work, can more often than not look awful, and is of no advantage in this location apart from gaining initial access to scenery building.  After that….?

       My primary concern over the past week has been the canyon at the end of the layout.  It’s a new feature and in a business class location so much effort has gone into it already and it’s only 1/2 finished.

       The plan is to create a tea coloured stream and a late summer waterfall under the curved trestle between Summerland and the sawmill. The rockwork was time consuming and these water features take many small steps to get right but it’s taking shape.   The finishing touches on the trestle are on my workbench at home and the stream will soon be painted and the final coat of gloss will be applied.

       When I get back here the mountain sides will be done and I’ll be thinking about the sawmill scene.