Once the track was ballasted, I turned my attention to the small pond in the middle of the loop. I painted the bottom with a mix of navy blue and black acrylics. Once that dried, I added several sizes of Woodland Scenics Talus to a side that came out too steep. I used Woodland Scenics Field Grass to make reeds. The canoeing folks were salvaged from my last layout. The water, which is still drying, is Mod Podge gloss medium.
With the pond done, I channeled my inner Bob Ross and added some happy trees. These are Woodland Scenics large trees. I've assembled hundreds of these trees for this layout and I have to say, they can be a bit of a PITA. You assemble them by twisting a flat plastic armature into something tree shaped. Then coat it with WS's "Hobby Tack" glue. My mistake was putting the foliage on right away instead of waiting 15 minutes. This time I waited and had much better results.
Another thing about trees is they look best in distinct stands even as part of an overall forest setting. Further more, said stands look best with an odd number of trees.
With the tree planted, I went back into ground cover mode. I have a jar of fallen leaves, which I ground up into a fine powder a blender. I sprinkled this under the stands of trees and added a few pieces of Woodland Scenics deadfall.
With that, I can declare major combat operations over as far as scenery. Suddenly, the to-do list is looking very empty. Up next is the fine detailing faze. Now, detail parts can be quite dear and are best picked up en mass at train shows from folks liquidating their layouts. Unfortunately, the show isn't until February.
I think it's high time I finally get serious about operation. I do have a phone system and am planning to use timetable and train order. But What I don;t know about operation could fill the grand canyon! Time to get researching!
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