Progression, using a phone as a camera. Rather than the image content the camera phone is probably what my late father would be surprised at. It is a very useful tool for me, keeping track of Shelfie2’s progress, not to mention writing this post, makes the smart phone almost indispensable. The header picture shows a bit of grass work from this afternoon. The base of the wall, even though it won’t be seen has had weeds and grass added using medical lint and scatter materials.

The foreground has changed too from an empty open space, (above), to more overgrown, the loading dock height has been raised to allow tipping into hoppers from road vehicles.

The water tower corner has been worked on too. The original configuration above shows no access road, which has now been added.

The tree line now reaches down to surround the water tower, the initial idea was that it would be really dense woodland, but giving the trees a bit of breathing space is working, so I’m currently running with that idea. The above shot doesn’t reflect the current build, the trees you see mid foreground will go there, but the water tower is now fixed and I’m working the trees and foliage around it.

This is now complete to a basic standard, the tower has had entry retaining walls added and the core volume of trees established around it. This is it below with dyed lint being added to the baseline.

The nearly complete scene is shown below, I’ve mocked up a backscene, part of Albion Yards test pieces and it all sits well. The detailing in this area will include fencing and gates on the lane running behind the tower.

I’ve now turned the layout through 180 degrees and am working on the area which will ‘join’ the backscene to the foreground.

The tree line will vary in density along the embankment and joins the layouts entry and exit track at a bridge seen above. The bridge is second hand and I believe the work of Geoff Taylor. Reversing the layout to work on allows me to sort the view blocks, around the bridge and structure for the backdrop and lighting.

I regularly return to the images I’ve taken of the build sequence. They show me where I’ve been, where I’ve got to, and provide motivation and inspiration to continue. Who’d have thought a phone could do that?