The MF&FMLR model railway project: Starting the terrain

Once my baseboard was ready, I began the process of adding terrain by covering it with a layer of A4-sized foamcore boards that were trimmed to size. (I used A4-sized boards as I had a stack of them in my wargame/toy room). I did this because I wanted a soft surface for the track pins to go into and I thought that the hardboard would be too hard!

These were glued to the hardboard using a spray adhesive and any excess foamcore was cut away carefully using a sharp craft knife.

I then overlaid this with a second layer of foamcore boards that I temporarily fixed in place using masking tape. I then reassembled my track on top and using a marker pen, I marked on where the track went and the rough locations of the buildings and marshy area. I also numbered each sheet of foamcore from 1 to 9, starting in the top left-hand corner. This was so I knew where each one should go when I had glued them to the bottom layer. (It is worth noting that I laid this second layer of foamcore at right-angles to the first in order to ensure that any gapping was minimised.)

I then disassembled my track and trimmed the nine foamcore boards according to the markings that were drawn onto them. I then glued each of them in place using PVA glue.

To make sure that the foamcore did not move whilst the PVA glue dried, I started with the top row of foamcore boards and used heavy weights to hold them in place until the glue had dried. This took between and hour and two hours. I then repeated this process with the middle row of foamcore boards, and when they had dried, the last row was glued and weighted down.

You will note that I also added a few 'islands' inside the marshy areas as well as a few hummocks to break up the otherwise rather flat terrain. I also changed the edge of the River Thames in 8 to allow for the the Brennan Torpedo launching slipway and in 9 to reinforce the weak bottom right-hand corner of the layout baseboard.

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The white foamcore board I used has taken on a yellow-brownish in the photographs due to the artifical light in my toy/wargame room. I did not correct this as I think that it makes it easier to see what I have done.