Finishing up Upper Wattinger

I didn't take many decent pictures of the work done here, but Upper Wattinger is now largely done. 

From where we left off, the last of my various remaining pine trees were planted, along with some new fluorescent green trees that still need to be dulled down, and various other bits of scenic fluff were added.

My approach with scenery has always been to 'vary and layer.' Various means using many types of trees, foliage and colour from different manufacturers. And layering meaning that there is a base layer, which on Wassen is usually a dark green paint layer with some scenic 'grass' or other  ground cover applied. On top of this is often placed a layer of that scenic 'netting/web' that has bits of fluff attached. Made by Woodland Scenics or Noch, when teased out, it provides a nice 3d effect. On top of that go trees and bushes (foam clump foliage from Woodland Scenics and Fine Leaf Foliage also from Wodland Scenics, plus any old stuff I have lying around). 

In the really hilly bits here I've tended to put the base layer in, plant trees, then fill up the visible gaps with scenic fluffnet or clump foliage, and then detail with the odd filigree tree or grass detail (Silflor and other makers). Again always trying to mix up colours and textures so it doesn't just look like you've dumped a single bag of model scenery on your hills. 

I keep a box of scenic bits when I destroy a layout, so I use these recycled bits to fill up gaps and provide variety. I even have some old rubberised foliage that must be 30 years old. It looks terrible (it was probably the shizznit back then) but is fine when used sparingly under trees and filling in distant holes.

In another first for me, I tried weathering the ballast. To support a local hobby shop, I picked up a "Rail Weathering" box of Lifecolor paints (Italian?).  Using  a thinned mix of 'Sleeper Grime' and 'Brake Dust' brushed around the tracks, with some 'roof dirt' to simulate shadows in the tunnels. I reckon this looks pretty decent for a first effort so will have to do it on the rest of the layout. The Gotthard is a steep double tracked line, so I intended to make the downhill track more 'yellow/ brake brake dust' for brakes and the other darker for hard working grime and sand, but in the end thought it better to have them almost matching. It certainly helps tie the lighter Rohukan ballast colour into my Peco ballast, which has a slight blue tinge. The two pics below were taken while the mix was still wet, so it looks more subtle when it dries.

As a final touch, the river was added, overhead poles were added and painted, and a few other bits of grass added along the riverbank. There are a few tiny patches in the forest that need to be attended to, and that road bridge needs some concrete piers, but this looks pretty decent. Certainly better than it did. 

As a reminder, this corner is the only visible part of the layout made from tight fixed radius curves, which were necessary to get the geometry to work! The click track is easier to get smooth tight curves in than flextrack - especially at the joins!