Follow as I build a Z Scale Christmas Tree Layout

Today I sanded the paint off the rail tops, and tested locomotive running good on both tracks, then started on scenery stuff. First was to make a train station platform, and I wanted it to be curved to match the tracks.




I also want a rail crossing, there, so I built up some ballast to be sub roadbed, and I started sprinkling on a bit of WS Fine Yellow Turf over the terrain. It will take many layers to get the look I want, so this is just the start:

 

I ran out of Yellow Turf, but Hobby Town carries it, but it don't open till tomorrow, so I am working on trees. I got a pack of 100 Butch Fir Trees, but they look too symmetrical and perfect, so I am going to chop away at them a bit, and see what I can do to make them look better:

 

I decided to try a bit of airbrushing dilute Apple Barrel tole paints on them and see what that does. I think it is a subtle but still an improvement over stock trees which are a bit glossy and all the same color. Stock 2 on left, airbrushed on the right:

 

Woke up to a bit of that cold wet stuff today. You can see it's wet by the way it sticks in the trees. Front Yard:



At least it's starting to look a lot like Christmas! :



So the base coat... I was going through all my tree boxes looking for more lame trees to work on, and found a bag of the WS Fine Yellow Turf and covered the layout this morning. After that I sprayed the layout with wet water and drizzled on a lot more of the dilute Mod Podge:




Next I sprinkled on a light dusting of a few other colors of fine turf, then I whipped out my Electronic Fly Swatter Static Grass Machine:



It's a small Tupperware tub with a metal screen cut into the lid, and wired to the 2 D Cell version of the Harbor Freight Electronic Fly Swatter. The negative lead goes to a wire with a T Pin on it that you stick in the scenery, and the positive wire gets connected to the screen in the Tupperware tub. Since electrons travel from Positive to Negative, the positively charged static grass is attracted to the grounded scenery, and they fly like tiny darts, sticking up like grass or weeds. It works surprisingly well, however every so often I end up shocking myself. Good Times, Good Times!

 

Back to the Butch Fir Trees while waiting for the layout top dry, I decided I need a few of the trees to look like they are drying out and dying, in the mix. I feel I need a variety of slight color differences in them so here is the attempt. I start with a stock tree. They are all shaped the same with a symmetrical taper from top to bottom, however i feel is represents a young short tree with that taper:




So I cut the taper to a steeper profile, to represent an older taller tree of Z Scale:




Then I airbrushed it brown from the bottom up, so the underside of all branches is brown, and then I airbrushed from the top down the evergreen color, so the tops of the branches are greener, and it kind of gives an overall dying look or drying out look to the tree. I'll make a dozen of these to throw in the batch:

 

Nice work as always.

 

Excellent! I find the spray paint trick works well, but I add a sprinkle of ground foam. My friend Grant Eastman (of N scale Southern Alberta Rail/sar fame) does a double sprinkle, and the results are excellent.

 

It was cold this morning, so cold in fact that a giant slab of snow that was trying to slide off my patio roof was frozen in it's tracks. In fact at 3PM, half of it was still hanging there:



So I'll call it another model railroad day. I started by trying to rough in some gravel roads around the layout:



And then I decided to work on the creek quadrant of the layout. First I painted the creek bed flat black, then loaded it up with Rip Rap, crushed granite, and powdered lichen. Next order of business was to plant a couple trees for inspiration. After that I painted the concrete culvert bridge gray. Then looking at the road, I decided I need some kind of road bridge over the creek, and decided to draw something up in Corel Draw. I still need to figure out some support bents for underneath, but I wanted to visualize something over the creek bed first to bridge the road:

 

I finished the bridge supports, and added one of Walt's 1920's style cars crossing the bridge. also a couple more trees:



And I planted the NP Depot and Cherry Poppin's Playhouse in the next quadrant, as well as a few trees there too:

 

Exceptional work!