The Beck Bridge - Covering Ground

I managed to sneak out to the workshop one evening during last week and get the basic ground cover in place over the whole diorama, as with the ballast this has a major effect on the visual aspect.

This ground cover uses my technique of a mix of emulsion paint/PVA/filler in a fetching shade of brown, painted on and whilst still wet a mix of very fine sand (as used on 'Shifting Sands') and Woodlands Scenics 'fine turf' scattered over from a fine sieve. This is tamped down in place, some sticks, some doesn't, which I feel adds greatly to the realism of the finish. You might spot that there are a few obvious joins with the material put down whilst treating the waterside areas, but they will be lost under the next layer of treatment.

In the front right corner I added some ballast into the ground cover, this area will be developed as a footpath which has seen occasional vehicle use.

A couple of hours over the weekend saw the edges of the Beck spring into life, I do sometimes feel that my lawn grows this fast...

As with the stretch under the bridge, Peco 10mm tuft strips in two colours have been mixed together, with the odd interception from the brown tufts. There are basically two strips of the tufts on either side but with a bit of variation so they don't look too straight and orderly! With the glue still drying on the tufts I added areas of hanging basket liner grass behind them and then left those areas to dry before pulling back the backing and gave them a trim. Some Woodland Scenics foliage was added directly behind the tall grass and then some MiniNature leaves on top of this. Some areas also benefited from some hairspray and scatter treatment, notably alongside the abutments. Most of the hanging basket liner grass here needs a little more attention, but that can wait until areas alongside are treated.

Having focused attention in the beck itself, you will be forgiven if you haven't noticed that I have added some of the Javis Autumn rough terrain matt alongside the edges of the ballast as on the recent smaller diorama.

Colin