I've returned to the hobby after a 20 year absence and after a lot of planning, false starts and mistakes I built some baseboards in the sizeable garden shed in 2009 ready for track laying for a fictional OO layout that would be set in 1950s Yorkshire. However, last year disaster struck and a number of leaks in the shed ruined the boards. So start again, have a rethink. Now I've finally just about got the garden shed cleaned out, weather proofed, insulated and boarded out and most of the baseboards are re-built and ready. So now it's time for some proper modelling; to re-learn what I'd forgotten as a teenager and learn what I never knew and apply new techniques that I've since learned in other hobbies.

First up is this small scenic sampler. I built this embankment section to try out ballasting and scenery techniques and if all went well to use as a photo stage for stock. It's built from scrap foam board retrieved from work, covered with thin card and papier mache before painting with kid's poster paint.

Next was the track. I've used C&L flexi for this with fine ballast. I really struggled with the brush on and shape before wetting method with this track - the sleepers are quite thin and I couldn't seem to get it to sit right. I also found the webbing quite obvious so I cut it out. The track was painted with brown emulsion before acrylic paint rust washes and weathering where applied to the rails and sleepers. Ballast was eventually applied by painting neat PVA with a brush before covering with ballast and vacuuming the excess once dry. I think more experimenting is in order with this.

For the foliage I initially used Wilkos hanging basket liner ripped apart and stuck on with PVA. It was OK but looked a bit overscale so I added some ground cover foam material over the top. For the grass I wanted to try static grass so I built a generator from an electric fly swat and a metal tea strainer. Brilliant - this cost less than a tenner and actually works. I'm quite pleased with the result and will definately be using this from now on. The whole scene was then airbrushed with watered down poster paints before weathering powders were applied to tone it all together.

Finally a quick backscene was cobbled together just to see how it looked and to take a few photos.