Building A Small Scenic Diorama – Part Three

Pathway

Time to move on to the vegetation & other details. The pathway was added using a fine sand type scatter material applied onto PVA glue that had been applied along the pathway. More fine sand type scatter was used to build up the path to the level of the bridge approach boards.

Retainer wall

The area where the lineside hut stands, a retaining wall made using the sleepers from the barrow walk foot crossing. These where suitable weathered using Tamiya weathering pastels. For the metal rods to hold the sleeper retaining wall I used the metal wire rod supplied with the lineside fence kit (for use as a sign post). These i cut into short lengths & glued into place so that there would be two rods either side of each length of sleeper.

The sleepers I then glued & laid on their side between the rods. The rods acting as retaining bars. More ballast was then added behind the sleeper retaining wall & around the line side hut. This was then glued into place using the tried & trusted 50/50 PVA glue & water mix.

Earth, grass & bushes

Next job was to apply some fine & coarse earth scatter. This was done by applying some Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement glue, the earth scatter then applied to the glued area & left to dry.

Then using Deluxe Materials Scenic Spray Glue, a coating of glue was sprayed over small areas at a time & various coarse grass turfs applied. Static grasses in summer & later summer was then added next. A layer of scenic cement glue again applied to the area being worked on first, then using 2 to 4 mm static grasses applied on to the glued area. In some locations some longer static grasses was applied, these being 6 to 8 mm in length.

Woodland Scenics Under Bush & Foliage was added to create wild bush area. These being grouped together to create some dense bushy sections. Some purple foliage was teased out & glued to some of the bushes to give the effect of some wild flowering plant.

Using some waste yellow scatter that had fallen off some yellow foliage, this was sprinkled on to the grass & fixed in place with Scenic Spray glue. This gives the effect of wild flowers growing amongst the grass.

Reed grasses

Using Woodland Scenics reed type grasses, some clumps of various sizes cut from the supplied in the packet length. These I then glued into place along the retaining wall using PVA glue. Some areas near the footbridge & lineside also had some long grasses added, again glued into place using PVA glue.

Two different type coloured reed type grasses have been used as can be seen in the photo on the right.

Lineside details

Where the foot path reaches the railway track, I added some sections of Tubeclamp Safety railings on both sides of the path. These I painted in yellow before gluing into place on to the layout. In the foreground by the crossing a open Manhole drain was glued into place with some grasses added around it. The drain cover was glued on at an angle to represent it being left open. The lid being painted in a suitable steel colour using Woodland Scenics Steel Colour Rail Paint Pen.

More trackside details

For more added scenic interest some four hole sleepers painted using water colours & weathered using Tamyia weathering pastels, was added in a stacked up pile near next to the lineside hut. I also added a bar type catch pit alongside too. The bar grille lid painted in Humbrol Rail Paint BR Blue. This was glued onto the diorama using PVA glue.

Stream Bed.

In a final preparation before adding the modelling water, some more fine sand was added along the stream bed edges. Some more unpainted Talus was added to the centre of the stream bed.

Backscene section

Attention now moved on to the rear of the diorama. A suitable backscene was selected from the download side of the website, cut to size & glued into place using Deluxe Materials View Glue. View Glue allows time for the backscene image to be slid & moved to correctly position in place on the backscene board.

The area below the backscene alongside the track, earth scatter, static grass & bushes being applied & glued into place. This helps blend the backscene into the diorama