After cutting out the outline for my pond I screwed in the parts for the bottom of my pond.  I then used a hot-glue gun and attached the cardboard strips to create the ground shapes I wanted.

After getting all of the cardboard strips fastened in place I used plaster cloth to cover it.  I used two layers, alternating the pieces.  After this had set up a bit I brushed on a coat of plaster for extra strength.

I intend to make up a thick batch of plaster and use some casts to complete the look of this scene.

After a couple of requests for pictures of the Downtown Deco Back Alley kit here it is:

It is still a work in progress with many details and weathering left to do.

I found it interesting to build a hydrocal kit for the first time, I will definitely be building more in the future.

Lately I have been busy adding scenery to the area of the San Leandro Historic Railway Society’s layout representing Antelope.  This area has been really plain for quite some time, and after seeing prototype pictures I decided to take care of it.

I am a firm believer of using layers of scenic items to get the most natural effect.  Here I started with clumps of poly fiber and worked them into small balls.  After using white glue to hold them in place I covered them liberally with scenic glue (thinned white glue with a couple drops of detergent) and followed with sprinkled ground foam.  The smaller clumps are made using Woodland Scenic’s underbrush (a clump foam product).  I also hit them with a layer of scenic glue and ground foam.  After letting them dry overnight I went back with the vacuum to remove any excess foam.

For the trees I decided to leave the bases on, in hopes of them being more sturdy when bumped.  I glued them in place using white glue, after they dry I intend to come back with ground cover and hide the bases.

I recently started a new kit from Downtown Deco.  It is a hydrocal (plaster) kit of a back alley.  Basically it is a series of five buildings that are only a couple of inches deep, designed to be placed against a backdrop.  I was given this kit, unfortunately a couple of pieces were broken and the box cover was missing.  With the cover missing I had to look online for pictures to figure out how to put together the major portions of the kit.  The instructions were pretty good, but were missing an exploded diagram to identify each of the pieces.

I glued the broken parts back together by using white glue.  This worked pretty well, however for the next model I intend to try 5 min epoxy.  I then glued the walls together again using white glue.  I found that this was a little bit brittle, but does an OK job of holding the fairly large pieces together.  I came back the next day and filled the gaps between the individual pieces with putty.  Sculpting tools assisted in filling the gaps to make them look less like a gap and more like a damaged area of the building.

Once the paint had dried (though in hindsight I probably could have applied it right away) I spread ground-cover over the painted areas.  I started with a layer of fine brown turf and followed it with patches of green.  I then used the underbrush ground foam from Woodland Scenics.  I sprinkled on each layer before applying scenic cement over all of it.

After installing the ground-cover I realized that I did not like the look of the foam-core for the street crossings and took them out.  I left the parking lot over by the meat packing plant as I still intend to try making worn asphalt with it.  I used pieces of strip-wood to make the crossings, checking and re-checking for clearance for smooth operation and easy cleaning.  I used a hobby knife to score the ends of the individual boards at 8 scale feet intervals.  I used a tack to create nail holes in the boards.

In the area between the crossings I used fine ballast to simulate a gravel road.  I think I will use this technique for the rest of the road up to the parking lot.

And yes, I just had to make sure the model of the GOP caboose was in the picture.