Helipad

The standard of driving on the Highwood Circuit is such that emergency vehicles are likely to be required regularly.  Thanks to eBay, I found a 1/32 scale helicopter, helipad, ambulance and firetruck.  The helicopter and both vehicles all had buttons to set off sirens and flashing lights, so I thought the helipad should have some illumination too.  An evening spent untangling some Christmas lights, and clustering the multicoloured bulbs together (red for the helipad, orange for the planned tunnel, white for buildings) gave me what I needed.  I wanted the helipad raised because I thought it would look better and because it gave me the space for the wiring.  Here are the three stages of making the helipad surround with red emergency lighting...

The next stages were building up the terrain with foam ceiling tiles, smoothing the terrain by plastering pieces of kitchen roll, and then painting and covering it with modelling grass.

Finally, the finished piece back on the track with the helicopter and vehicles (with a small piece in the background I'd practiced on first)...

Bricklaying

Had a few days off over half-term, so have been cutting pieces of MDF to fit around the track (either to allow cars to slide out with de-slotting, or to provide a base for scenery) and have sprayed black all the border pieces (some of which were originally sand-coloured).

I also tried the first bit of scenery building - not with the now-delivered chicken wire and plaster - but with cereal packets and brick paper for train scenery.

Step 1: track supported by MDF and wood.

Step 2: walls built with cardboard and MDF.

Step 3: External and internal walls papered with brick.

Next steps: shape and grass around the base of the walls; place advertising on the inside of the hairpin