After the plaster cloth had mostly dried I mixed up a fairly thin batch of hydrocal and spread it over the cloth.  This provided the sealing layer for the cloth, I made it thin enough that some dripped down on the floor below (oops, though not really a big deal).  It also added to the strength of the area.

I love blue painters tape…it makes covering track so easy.

After the hydrocal had dried I used acrylic paint to cover it.  In hindsight I probably should have started with the darkest color first and only gave it a few highlits with the red brown and yellow.  The color is rather similar to a red clay near the area I grew up in, so I decided to leave it and hope for the best.

I cut out the area where I wanted the ice house  to go as I found out that the ice house had been set for the height of track plus cork.  I lowered the model by the amount needed and used strips of cardboard to build the structure for the plaster cloth.   I used hot glue and staples to hold the pieces together and to the edges of the table.

The nice thing about using hot glue and staples was that you don’t have to wait very long for it to set.  This was my first attempt at using plaster cloth, before I had used the paper towel and plaster of paris method.  I was quite impressed by this product for several reasons.  The first was the ease of use, you simply cut a portion (or tear, which I found to be too messy) dip it in water and drape it in place.  I made sure to overlap each area with two layers going in different directions for added strength.  The second reason I was so impressed with this product was the complete lack of mess (ok a couple small drips, but that was it) compared to the previous methods.

I tried an idea that came to me in building a roadway.  I used poster board and cut it into the shape of a road.  I used track nails to fasten it into place.

After the scenic cement had finally dried I used poly-fiber and underbrush from Woodland Scenics.  I also used their scenic cement to fasten them into place.  After putting the cement onto the scenery I sprinkled ground foam over them.  This picture was taken right after I had done this.

I later used a vacuum to pick up the unattached ground foam, cleaning up the look of them.