More Plaster Cloth

More foam walls are being cut to size and glued in place. After masking tape is also added to help preserve the final shape of the terrain, the plaster cloth is dipped in water and applied. The hill pictured here gets closer to completion, with the final edges being built now, and a large lid being planned for the center. A lid is needed because a number the boards for the infrared detectors will he hosted underneath, and also the switch visible in this photo will need the motor dismantled and cleaned from time to time - covering them permanently is not an option.

New Terrain Construction

The hills surrounding the C segment are starting to take shape. Just on the bottom of the picture, that space, containing 2 holes in the foam baseboard, will have to be covered by a mobile lid. The same kind of "cover", but a larger one, will have to be used to the left of the vertical (in this photo) divider, while the part to the right will have fixed terrain, supporting the Viessmann model cow that just arrived. Seen in the second photo - although that's not the final position since it will have to move further to the back and to the right - the cow has a really natural movement and, as a bonus, Viessmann also throws in a separate, static cow to hold company.

  The small sharp edge next to the bridge was designed specifically so that some infrared emitors/detectors can be hidden inside the steep hill that will result. One of the detectors, 61 (segment 6, detector 1), is visible right to the left side of the Brawa long car.

Drilling and Plans

 In the unlikely event that the current layout will be electrified at one point, it's going to be hard installing the overhead wire in the tunnel, even though a "cover" is being manufactured now. So with the plastic masts from the Viessmann tunnel overhead system glued in place using some Bison solution, tonight I went ahead and drilled 2 holes at each extremity of the brass strip, as indicated in the Viessmann manual, in the event that overhead wire will have to be connected.
  In a completely separate process, I'm also trying to make a sketch of how the PT segment will look like next to the Faller station. I also ordered a Viessmann yard lamp (6384) that I'm thinking will make some nice lighting effects, especially during nighttime.

Making a Tunnel Cover

Since the tunnel is planned to be about 1m long, it will have to have visiting holes, in case trains derail or the line needs inspection from time to time. This means that the land above the line will have to be flexible. In photo to the right I've experimented with some 6,5 mm summer Silflor grass applied on the fixed terran and the same grass and several Silflor weeds glued to the cover.

  I've discovered these weeks 2 things that make things better and faster: 1) applying the brown latex paint in 2 layers has been thrown out of the standard procedure for applying the earth formula - simply applying the earth on top of the wet plaster cloth (previously hardened), in 2 layers, provides excellent results, with nearly none of the colored plaster becoming loose, as was the case before with the paint; 2) the formula for the white glue used for applying the static grass has now changed - from the old 1:1 Noch glue to water to 1:2 Noch glue:water. The old formula would result in visible stains at the zone's border, now they're much more subtle.