We often face a situation where there is a very small area on the layout that really isn't big enough for a normal situation, an example being a house, shed or something with a purpose.
Sometimes the area just doesn't fit with the rest of the adjacent layout. A children's fun park next to heavy industrial buildings and activity just seems wrong from a fit perspective. I recently came up against a situation where the area was triangular in shape and had a footprint of approximately 170mm x 170mm with the long side facing a curved Magnorail road (under construction). Sounds like a real hoot!
What it did have in its favour, was it was part of a walk way to something more interesting, a cycle path in fact. Giving it some considerable amount of thought and consideration, I decided to create an extension of the walk and work up a natural bush park scene complete with boulders, native bushes (Australian) and wild grass. In summary, a diorama (a miniature three-dimensional scene) which would stand proud alongside the rest of the layout scenery.
I didn't want the scene to just fill a gap, I wanted it to actually be a point of focus and interest which would hold its own alongside all the other competing elements of the layout. While considering the content, it became apparent that it needed to be simple in content given the relatively small area and having just enough elements to convey the visual effect of the native Australian bush.
So the task focussed on developing a small rocky outcrop, adding grass trees (Xanthorrhoea), grass patches with the occasional taller grass tufts and all supported by a foundation of red / brown earth layer. To bring the bush scene to completion, a bird sits in a tree watching suspiciously as a bush hiker and his dog saunter past.
