Here is a screen capture of the kits advertisement; the type of brick used in this project is circled. I was tempted to try one of the stone versions too, but there weren’t any photos of the stone arches on the website. Maybe Scalescenes can remedy that deficiency in the future.

The backdrop is constructed of two lengths of 1” thick pink extruded foam, the type used in home construction in North America. Two strips were glued in an inverted “T” to provide both the wall and a base. Five minute epoxy was used to glue the foam and the result is a very strong and light structure. The massive lead weights came out of G Scale locomotives and are being used to insure a tight bond with the epoxy. The first two arches, cut out of the peel ’n stick 2mm foam, are also shown.

FOAMIES! Peel ‘n stick, 2mm thick foam- this stuff was designed for middle aged men in a hurry!

The label just in case someone goes out and makes an attempt to find this stuff. I really do recommend it, it says its acid free, and the tacky coating on one side holds paper well.

It’s pink, stiff, and measures over 48” long!

I used a rasp to shape the foam along the bottom. This area will become a grassy berm. WARNING!!! If you value your sanity, don’t create millions of small statically charged pink particles in the same area as where you keep your layout…

Thank you Aleene! Your tacky glue really works wonders. A pint sized bottle of this stuff costs around $2 at Wal-Mart.

Looking sort of ROUGH! It took a few trials and error before I managed to get the techniques associated with the kit down. Don’t be afraid to throw that first part away and just use the subsequent ones (assuming they improve). Additional parts are just the cost of printing. The artwork with this kit is impressive even if it isn’t assembled with the highest level of skill…

A steel rule with those huge lead weights were used to flatten the ledge and wall sections. With the tacky glue, it only took a moment or two for the parts to firmly set and be ready for use…

Parts is parts...

My retaining wall is straight! The workbench peaks on the left and starts down making my pink foam carpentry look off….

Let’s see how she looks in the sun. The model has been given a dirty wash of brown to hide some of the imperfections where white or pink paper was showing. Airbrushing hasn’t been accomplished yet and will tone things down.

In my haste to finish the kit, care was not taken in all areas. Here is a post airbrush shot. The small wall that runs along the top wasn’t glued down properly and those seams on the buttress are ugly too. More work is required…

To hide the seam along the top wall, I cut 2-brick tall strips of paper and glued them to the front base of the wall making sure they contacted the ledge. Problem solved. I also replaced the brick paper on a buttress or two. Looking much better…

Here is a dodgy close-up of my Warship and the wall. The flock along the base is static grass fibers- a mix of 2-3 types plus some hand cut horse hair for variety in lengths…