Allotment Challenge

During the days of the steam operated country branch it was not unusual to come across a station garden, competitions were run to find the best kept example and awards presented to the winning stations.  Some had floral displays, others vegetables or a combination of both depending on the interest of the railway staff who tended them.  The original plans for Llangunnlo included an allotment opposite the signal box but as the layout progressed I got other ideas such as the ill fated lodge house, I don't regret such diversions as you never know how things will work out but in the end I came full circle having decided that modelling some allotments wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.

The first job involved cutting back the rough grass on the embankment, one of the advantages of using Silflor matting is that its simple to remove and if care is taken it can be used again.  In fact most of the rough grass used on Llangunllo was recycled from Penhydd.

The Silflor has been stripped back revealing the original hanging basket liner.  Pieces of card were then put roughly in place to work out the arrangement of the individual allotment plots.

Allotments come in all shapes and sizes, some are extremely well kept with neat potting and tool sheds, whilst others are overgrown with tatty sheds cobbled together from all sorts of scrap materials.  One of my friends has an allotment as does my brother-in-law so I took myself down to have a look around.  According to my friends wife the only thing that grows down there is the tea bag mountain whilst he and his fellow gardeners put the world to rights.  I'm also told that he stands amongst the runner beans and leeks rather than doing a Marie Lloyd who had a music hall hit titled, 'She sits amongst the cabbages and peas'.  Anyway rather than lower the tone of the blog further I'll move on, the main purpose of my visit was to checkout the size of the various plots and the ramshackle tool and potting sheds, nothing beats a field visit to capture the feel of things.  I wasn't really interested in what little was growing as having a vegetable and fruit garden of our own I am pretty clued up as to how things are planted and set out.

The same view taken from a slightly different angle showing the allotment plots taking shape.  An area of rough grass borders the plots and railway line which will be protected by some lineside fencing.  All being well the scenic exit in the backscene will soon be disguised as a couple of trees take root towards the end of this week.

Each vegetable plot was made up from a stiff Plaster / PVA mix which was stippled with an old brush just before it set to represent turned over soil and a few lines of furrows.  The rough grass and compost dump is a mix of Silflor and static grass tufts with a few scraps of lichen thrown in for good measure.  A row of typical allotment huts will sit on the grassed area near the hedge, some cane supports for runner beans will appear on one of the plots and eventually the fencing will continue along the railway line until it reaches the goods yard.  I spent a fair bit of time working up the cart track surface which is made from the remains of the same plaster mix as used on the plots.  Some areas are smooth but others are rough where water run off has washed away the surface as it runs down the cart track towards the disused quarry.

Various hedges have now been planted into a bed of neat PVA and tufts of rough grass have been applied around their roots.  The allotments are surrounded by some rough grass and a pair of gatepost now mark the entry to the site.  Once the rest of the hedges and any bushes have been planted the rough grass areas will have another application of static grass fibres.

To create the hedgerows different sizes and shapes of rubberised horsehair were cut from the block on the left then held in tweezers and sprayed with display mount before being plunged into the bowl of mixed foliage.  To add variety each mix is made up in different proportions of material which in this case comprises of coarse burnt green, fine mid green and a sprinkling of autumn leaves, the horsehair can also be sprayed in browns, greys or left in its natural state to suit the type of hedge being modelled, the time of year and the effect of light falling upon it.

Looking in the other direction showing the lane as winds around to the level crossing.  Where I live  the hedgerows grow rather high making it impossible to see over their tops when walking along the country lanes, they are also full of brambles bearing fruit in season and that is something I'm looking into modelling eventually.  To give the effect of distance hedgerows in the background aren't as tall and are covered in a slighter lighter shade of foliage.

An aerial view of the same scene, the hardboard country lane and cart track have been textured with a stippled plaster / PVA mix then lightly sanded before given a dusting of talc.applied through a tea strainer, brush loads of Johnsons 'Kleer' were held against the talc and drawn into it by capillary action.  The surfaces are painted with artist acrylic using nothing more than light washes made up from white, black, burnt sienna and umber.  A start has been made on erecting some lineside fencing, this is the Ratio product but refined by filing the triangular section of the moulded bars flat.  It doesn't take long to do and makes a world of difference to the appearance of the fence, it also makes them more flexible allowing the ground contours to be followed more easily.  I can't say that I'm looking forward to modelling the various vegetables as its going to be very time consuming exercise, I could of course purchase some of those expensive laser cut examples by Noch and other continental manufacturers but I don't see the point in paying those sort of prices for something I can make myself.

Having crossed the River Lugg 1455 rumbles over the crossing before entering Llangunllo with a late afternoon passenger train.  It was my intention to plant a tree in the area between the bridge and telegraph pole but it spoils the view of the river so its back to the drawing board with that one

I'm now in the process of making some trees then a few patches of Rosebay Willowherb will start to grow on the embankments along with other weeds and wild flowers.  The project is now fast approaching its second birthday and whilst I am in no rush to complete things I do wonder just how far advanced the layout will be by the 25th of March.