Due to some warm weather this past week I was able to get a few things done on the expansion. One big item was finally getting two-thirds of Holsum Baking built on the layout. Photos below show this progress. On this kit, I had to drill holes in the bases and tack/nail everything down as the bases were warped. Tacking  them down enabled everything to come out level. The walls were also warped so you’ll notice the black clip to keep the walls lined up. I still have to install/build the transfer building and install the storage tanks and all piping.

Next up was finishing the four tall narrow tanks that will become part of Allied Chemical. This was then installed on the layout. The piping coming out from the tanks I’ll try to tie in with additional piping going into other tanks, or into a pump house:

In the bottom two photos above you’ll notice the brown rock gravel. This is fine brown rock talus from Woodland Scenics which I’ll have to pulverize a bit more, as it’s not quite fine enough in texture.

Finally, I purchased some excellent chain link/barbed wire fence made by Alkem and have installed the first few strips as shown below. This is an excellent product made of fine stainless steel, but be careful when working with this product as it is fragile!

One additional note: yesterday I received two kits in the mail from Blair Line, their Pizzaland kit which will become a small bar named “Doug’s Hideout” over by the scrapyard, and their loading ramp kit which will become the ramp at Alloy’s team track:

That’s it for this week, stay tuned for more updates!