Generic Canneries gets a Parking Lot

Where were we?

Here - the empty space "behind" Generic Canneries:

The concept was to create a parking lot for Generic Canneries' trucking fleet. I've worked at several warehouses due to my glamourous profession, and they've all had big truck parking lots. This lot wouldn't be huge, but it would be a logical thing for Generic Canneries to have.

I had already constructed a small shed which I envisioned would be used as an office for managing shipping. You'll see more of it later. You can never have enough sheds.

Anyway, back to the parking lot. The first thing to understand about truck parking lots is that trucks are heavy. They sink into mud. They warp asphalt. Therefore, if you're going to store trailers, you use concrete. And concrete can be pricey. And in my mind, Generic Canneries - in the throes of the post-war boom - had the money for concrete.  

I made the parking lot out of styrene and added some strip styrene underneath for height. I was going to spraybomb it tan but the confounded nozzle was jammed.

So it got a coat of grey instead:

Connected!

I linked the lot with the outside world by adding  a connector between the parking lot and the road going under the shed. 

I tried to scribe some expansion joints into the "concrete" but the lines were not deep enough and they were covered up by paint. Oh well, next time. I also sanded and dull-coated the styrene to give it some grit.

Note the raised edges.

Then it was time to paint the parking lot concrete.

Ballast and Scrub

After numerous fittings/re-fittings, I was happy with the lot placement and set it in place. As you'll see, I was far from finished with the concrete but installing it was necessary to put in the base scenery around it.

Ballast for the plant spur:

The plant spur being the older of the two sidings (the shed sidings being a recent addition), it got cinder ballast whereas the shed siding got "fresh" grey ballast. 

Scrub:

Fresh grey ballast for the shed tracks:

Scrub around the parking lot:

All added in layers. Ground foam first. Then some grass. Then bushes. The ballast was added in one go with patch ups done a day or two later (spots missed by the glue). Again I went with wet water to soak/hold the ballast followed by scenic cement.

As I write this, I reflect on how humdrum the process was. Nothing (so far) about the scene was difficult to create once I had the basic idea. I did some fitting with the styrene pieces but that wasn't hard. Everything else was standard issue scenery technique. But I think it all seemed easy because I have a lot of scenery products and textures to choose from. And I'm not trying to model anything exceptional - just a plain old parking lot.

So with the basic scenery installed, it was time to add some detail and weathering...