Make & Craft Embellishments from The Works

Last week I picked up this bag of what looked like ground foam from The Works. At just £3.00 I thought it was a great bargain and one that I was sure I could use for adding ground cover to my wargame models and model railway layouts.

For £3.00 you get quite a lot of material as it is really stuffed into the bag. On opening the bag I found that rather than being lots of fine foam it was in fact a mix of foam and threads more suitable for modelling bushes and trees. 

There really is much too much for anything other than a large layout and all being one colour it could look a little off. I therefore decided to experiment and see if I could make different colours.

The image below show the first tests. From left to right they are; basic colour, added Ochre, Linen and Ochre, red brown and dark green with a touch of black. As you can see there is quite a variety and I have not yet used 1/5th of the bag.

The new colours were mixed from acrylic paints with just a touch of water - remember to wear gloves as it is very messy. If you 'click' on the images you can get a better idea of the texture - a bit like natural wool with fine foam added.

Trust me this is well worth the outlay and should give you enough model greenery to last a very long time plus it is so much cheaper than model shop bought ground cover.

Tony

Spanish Horreo (Grain store) - Miniature Wargames issue 521

Issue 521 (September 2026) of Miniature Wargames features another scratch built building tutorial/article written by me - A Spanish Horreo or raised grain store.

For more information of the magazine contents, see this link. With T. G. Jones looking to close even more of their high street stores I would suggest that there is no better way of supporting this or any other gaming magazine than taking out a subscription. I fear that magazines are going to find it difficult over the next couple of years.

The final image shows the completed but yet to be painted model. The Horreo was first published in my limited edition and self published book - Dampfpanzerwagon Guide No. 2 - More Wargame Terrain which was published in 2014 and is no longer in print.

Tony

Car Boot Sale Bargains

Sue and I have just returned from the local car boot sale where I picked up this bargain box of sanding sticks for just £4.00. My best bargain buy of the year!

Below I have detailed the full contents which I have estimated to be worth in excess of £60.00. The stall holder was not aware of what they were and said I could have the whole box for £4.00. I later told him what they were and he was pleased that they were going to someone who both knew what they were and would use them.

On a different stall I bought this OLFA rotary cutter and spare blades for £2.00 - £1.50 for the cutter and 50p for the blades. In addition I picked up two A3 cutting mats one brand new for £3.00 and 20p for a used example. Even more modelling bargains.

Back home I just couldn't wait to post about my good fortune.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - completed

It's taken some time but Cold Comfort Lane is now finished.....

The 1/35th scale project was started back in 2023 when I built a 1/35th scale narrow gauge fireless loco on a Hornby 0-4-0 'Smokey Joe' chassis, since then I have been working on 'other' projects and magazine work but it is now finished (well as finished as any model railway layout can be).

Cold Comfort Lane is a 2 foot narrow gauge Inglenook or switching layout designed to be small enough and light enough to be easily transported between the garage (where it was built) and my computer room (where I am currently writing this post) and also allow me to have some fun playing trains!

The facia was painted black and then varnished with matt varnish before I added some vinyl name tags which were ordered off the internet. My son and two grandsons helped with applying them which is fitting as the G. J. H. and Sons Ltd  related to Gary my son and my two grandsons Finley and Charlie.

My daughter wants me to exhibit the layout and the earlier Yellow Pelican narrow gauge layout and is already talking about a show next March. We will see.

It has taken a while to get the layout finished and I am now looking at my next project - another narrow gauge layout? You will have to wait and see.

Thank you for all the comments they are very much appreciated.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part eleven

The low relief warehouse has now been fully integrated into the layout with the groundwork painted with 'tester pots' mixed up for me by my local DIY store with the first layers of static grass and ground foam added over PVA glue.

I have started to add the items of clutter - wooden barrels old drums and odd bits of greenery. There are still some additional items I want to add before I call it done (well as done or finished as any model railway layout can be).

You can also see the painted sign - G.J.H and Sons Ltd. The bare sign was designed in WORD, printed on to plain paper and then painted with acrylic paints before being glued in place with Pritt paper glue. The name is the initials of my son and the Sons are my grandsons Finley and Charlie. A family affair.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part ten

The warehouse was mounted on to a piece of 5mm thick under floor insulation to raise it up to the correct height. I used a mixture of PVA and superglue to keep everything in place and give a good strong join.

Then DAS modelling clay was used to model the groundwork. Once again the DAS was laid over PVA glue. When everything had fully set I added the rusted air tank to the side. This was built from a simple cardboard tube wrapped in plastic card and with a deodorant roll-on ball for the top. It was painted in browns and orange acrylic paints and when fully dry brushed with some rust powders.

The low relief warehouse was mounted to the small Inglenook layout base with the help of some scrap wood which I held in place while the glue dried, this meant that it was 'square' with the MDF layout facia.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part nine

The windows came from a HO-OO plastic building kit that I purchased second-hand some time ago (see below). I had six large windows that were first cut from the kit walls then trimmed with plastic card and glued in place with superglue.

I still have the smaller, end wall windows and green coloured doors for future projects.

The final image this post shows the nearly completed low relief warehouse on the Cold Comfort Lane layout but still to be glued in place and bedded-in.

Tony