Two little spots of progress.
1. Roads around the rolling mill - I laid down some blacktop areas on either side of the rolling mill. I figured a complex like this is going to need some staging areas for all the trucks going in and out, forklifts, and rolled steel waiting for shipment. I needed that to connect to something, so I managed to find a tiny spot in between switches and feeder wires for a crossing. It's only one lane wide but it just needs to look the part. As I did before, I painted the plaster with Woodland Scenics asphalt colored paint then sprayed with a matte finish. The road ends where it does simply because I don't the plan for what's going to happen past there. I keep thinking I need to fill in some of those spaces in between with more buildings, but on the other hand, I want to be able to reach into those switches if necessary. I feel like I can add all kinds of details someday - fences, power lines, workers, etc.
2. I have some Woodland Scenics ground foam in Earth and Green Grass colors. I put down some of this on one side of the interstate embankment to see how it would work. I used a fresh coat of latex paint as a base to stick to. I'm not totally unhappy with how it turned out but not totally pleased either. Since it's at an angle, it was tough for a lot of the foam to stick to it. I like how you can layer the colors to create a more nuanced, natural look. I'd like to get some more colors to work with and see what else I can do.
Up next: Obtaining some more highway guardrails for I-190; some more houses, because there seems to be no limit to what I can fit into that suburban scene; some ground cover around the steel mill area. Once I have all the houses I can plan out sidewalks and driveways. And whenever Rapido manages to deliver the MBTA commuter train passenger cars I ordered last year, I can figure out exactly how long the commuter stop will be.
