Briefcase layout 2

Zac, ask and ye shall receive: top down view

My little test complete I decided to go with flock as I didn't like the look of the static grass, the fibers seemed way oversized for Z to me.

In the photo you can see flocking in progress and I find it pays not being too experienced in this case, as my technique is not perfect the covering isn't perfect either.
There are spots of sand here and there peeking through, some areas are a bit denser while others are lighter, which to me, looks far better than an equal covering all around.
Luckily I had foreseen this, know yourself and all that, which is why I picked real sand as my ground layer.

Also visible in the lakebed are the added rocks (aquarium gravel), some bits of wood and a tiny bit of flock to simulate underwater plant growth.
This was just added before taking the photo and making this post (well I have to wait until it dries before I continue so might as well provide an update).

I am glad to be at this stage, the little layout has too long looked like a Martian desolate waste with some tracks in it and now it starts to make actual steps to the lush mountain view that I've had in my head when I started this project months ago.

I agree. Nice to see some green. And, yes, flockfoam is better than static grass for Z scale I think. If you use an electronic applicator things like wheat fields and other tall grass areas are ok. For general use I like the ground foams. Don't forget to add some subtle colors to your foam. Not all grass is green. Jim

I had started on adding areas with darker flock, alas I managed to drop the bag on the layout, spilling it contents.
A light panic ensued trying to clean it up in which I managed to destroy parts of the earlier ground layers (the sand & lighter colorod flock)and even some of the ballast.

Repairs are in progress at moments I am not trying to kick myself for being so clumsy/panicky/a down right idiot.

Right, after the little setback mentioned above I did manage to make several steps forward (which remains my preferred direction)

First up: the pasture
In the photo above a view is shown from the pasture to the mountain log cabin.
The gate was made from the same material as the logcabin, the poles for the fence as well (but sanded down so they are a little thinner and more uneven) while the wire is extra wire from my handheld foamcutter.

The next view is of the lake end and the rockwall overhang
The lake is poured EZ water from Woodland Scenics, as with my test pour I couldn't avoid a multitude of airbubbles, luckily I remembered seeing a trick on Torsja's site to help with this: jam in a heated soldering iron, wait for bubble to disappear, let harden again.
Lucky I had an old, unused soldering tip on hand then.
Offcourse this left the surface is less than pristine shape but that was rather quickly remedied by way of a hot air gun.

The overhang itself has received a few corrections, as you might notice by the newly added grey paint to the left of the loco, this will offcourse be further treated with india ink wash & chalks.

Lastly I will leave you with a general overview
The biggest change you will see is the newly added siding which consists of 3mm foamcore spraypainted black.
As you can see on the right hand side of the layout there is a removable panel for tunnel access, on the back is another smaller one.
Note: the yellowish spot at the front of the layout is a trick of the light, it is actually green.

Next items on the agenda²:
-some work on the transition from roadbed to bridge
-look for and correct any small issues with ballast, ground & rock walls that have escapted to until now
-give the track a really thorough clean (again)

Once that is all done and I am satisfied I will start planting trees a shrubs, I'm also figuring out uses for that static grass I didn't use yet...

²: after I finally manage to find a really fine pair of tweezers and usefull drillbits... I swear even modelling & craft shops seem to specialise in plumbing & masonry when it comes to fine tools around here

Thanks for posting the series of fotos and messages on the forum, showing your progress.
Fred

Thanks for posting this it gives me nice ideas. Keep the postings coming please jeff

A busy period prevented me from making any progress on the layout but this week I've had and will have some time left and right so I'm making trees.
It's a bit of a process to learn and my success rate is still rather low but improving slowly.

Expect photos soon

At last, the trees have been planted.
Without further ado, links to the images in the gallery:
front view
side view
Be sure to click them for a magnified view, these are a bit bigger than what I usually post.

This small layout now has 101 trees on it, each handmade and unique on what I guess would be about 2 square foot of space.
Credit where credit is due, not all 101 have been made by me, 12 of them are Lorens most excellent trees, which leaves 89 made by myself
The dense forest in the middle of the layout alone consists of around 50 trees and will house a little scene in the center.

With this milestone step completed I now have little to do still, mainly adding some shrubs and a few figures & cattle to the layout.
Alas my LHS has some problems with their supplier getting me my unpainted Preiser figure set, so this may take a while still.
I am also contemplating how to detail out the lake shore and to place a shelter for the cattle in the pasture.

So for now this is how the layout will stay, at least until I get the figures in

Last week, after several months waiting, I gave up on the promise of my LHS to deliver the needed figures and I ordered a set of unpainted Preiser figures online.
They arrived yesterday and I started painting a few today, I'll just say this is not easy and has to be the finest work up till now I have attempted.
I already purchased the smallest brush available in the LHS months ago and it feels oversized for what I am doing.

The good news is, it has given me the energy and drive to continue adding finishing touches to the layout

As always, pictures will follow soon.

Oh and I started a little side project as well, a CD sized diorama

Here we are with the promised pictures, all pictures clickable to view a larger version btw.

First up, the overview as it is now.
Additions here are the shrubs (Woodland scenics clump foliage) and the lower half of the protective chest I made (the little is layout is very well protected as you can see)
overview
I'm not very happy with the shrubs but don't really know what I can do atm to make it look better. Something to think over I'm sure.

The following photos all show little scenes that add some life to the layout:
The new and improved pasture, now with extra cow
The 'rear house' complete with man on bench on the patio and an old VW beetle parked behind the cottage
The front house with someone looking suspiciously like 'The Fonz' from happy days
A young couple playing with their dog out near the woods, this little scene is meant to represent myself, my lovely girlfriend and our golden lab
And yes we actually have those clothes and yes painting the blue ballerina shoes for the GF was a pain
The dog win the preiser set is a shepherd model so cruelty to small plastic animals was required to bend the ears flat to make the model more lab-like

Ryuen, you can use WS fine foliage trees. Instead of making trees, used it as shrubs. I think it looks a little better because its not just lumps of foam. It has branches supporting the foam making it more realistic.