P'dorf details

The ladies

 

Roadside features 

  

 Beside the track

  

 

 Other than pigeons, the only wildlife that is visible on Grafenwalde ars the sheep in the orchard along the front of the layout. This delightful montage is often a feature of parts of Vogtland and Thuringia, some of our neighbours, have orchards with sheep to keep down the weeds. Having mentioned Primo apple trees before, it was the obvious place to procure the orchard.

The sheep were a different matter, a small flock of Skaledales, seem to be fairly similar to the wooly mammoths that always seem to escape to roam the local lanes.

 

However the depiction of a trackside orchard is a bit of concern as the railways of Germany are not required to erect fences instead they are the responsibility of the farmer, moreover it seems during the '50s onwards there was a lack of electric fences available to farmers in the east. 

  

 
Some form of sheep proof but cheap fencing is needed, chestnut paling is required but notably absent, the offering from Scale Model Scenery LX004 is rather careworn and the cardboard does lend itself to rural trackside fences, by cutting off the bottom of the fencing, the resulting lower profile is suitable for 1:87

 

The rocks

 

Parts of Oberfraken are a tad rocky, Fränkische Schweiz is renowed for the rocky limestock outcrops.

 

It can vary in shades of biege, grey and ochre depending on the location.  Pottendorf's rocks tend to flecked with ochre.

 

Another batch of hard foam rocks has been sprayed white before repeated washes of yellow ochre watercolour.

 

Once dry, the rocks will be glued in place and later grasses and moss applied to soften their shape.