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Building A Shed & Garden Scene in O Gauge

By Justin, 17th November 2022 | How To Guides

Klaire's been getting all creative at SMS HQ this week building this lovely diorama to showcase our newly released LX154 Garden Shed kit in O gauge. And the keen-eyed among you will notice that she's thrown a few of our OO scale kits into the mix too, which shows how you can achieve realistically better results by occasionally blending scales.

Here are all the details on how she created this wonderful little scene…

LIST OF INGREDIENTS:

LX154-O Garden Shed
LX361-O Garden & DIY Tools
LX030-OO Platform Fencing
LX015-O Planters and Troughs
LX163-O Decorative Trellis
AX178-OO Terracotta Plant Pots
SP004 Stone Powder - Golden Brown
FB003-OO Mixed Flowers
GM156 Light Green Leaves
GM157 Mid-Green Leaves
A mixture of different colours and lengths of static grass (SG001 – SG016)
GM169 Static Grass Glue
Assorted PVA glue, acrylic paints and loose flowers

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS:

METHOD

First, make up the kits as per the instructions. (Although you can’t see it I laid an old rug on the floor of the shed, and hung up some nets at the window to deter nosy parkers!)

The shed and the front of the fence get a first thin wash of acrylics (use whichever colours please you) When that’s dry add highlights to the shed with a paler mixture using the dry brushing technique. Don’t forget to paint the hinges and bolt a different colour so they stand out!

Paint the trellis, planter and back of the fence with a thin wash of acrylics, and add some high/lowlights to the front by dry-brushing a different colour to your first coat.

While you have some paint made up, it’s time to choose and paint your garden tools! I have a rake, hoe, spade, fork and lawn shears (I painted the handles of my shears red so they don’t get lost in the grass). The terracotta pots look good with some weathering by adding a dry brushing of white and pale green acrylic.

Once the paint has dried you can glue the trellis into position. Make up a mixture of the Gaugemaster Leaves, spread some PVA glue onto the trellis and the shed roof and get sprinkling! Put quite a bit on, then shake the shed over a sheet of paper to catch the excess for later use. If you have any loose flowers you can also add these at this stage.

The planter will need filling before you can plant the flowers; I put some scrap cardboard in the bottom to bulk it out and then stuck my flower strips to that. (You can also use the ‘glue and sprinkle’ technique to add leaves and flowers trailing down the front).

When the paint and glue are dry, place your shed and planter on the base (I have used an offcut for mine) and draw around them so that you can see where to paint the base colour.

(A little note here about the paving slabs. I scratch-built mine and we are in the process of designing some without having to use spray glue to laminate the layers and stinking the place out! Watch this space for an update!)

I used a thin coat of coffee-coloured emulsion to cover the base, this makes sure that any bare patches of grass look like dry soil (you could use acrylic paint for this stage). Once the base coat has dried, spread a layer of Static Grass Glue on top of the painted area, and get stuck in with the static grass applicator! I made up a blend of 2 or 3 different colours of grass, applied the short lengths of grass first, and then added some longer grass in areas where the mower doesn’t quite reach (around the base of the fence etc).

Don’t worry if you have bare patches at this stage, in fact, I encourage them to make your scene more realistic (my lawn looks like that in the summer anyway!). I’ve added a few Straw Tufts around the lawn to cover some of the bald spots. You can now use the Stone Powder to fill in the areas around the paving slabs, a thin layer of PVA will be enough to stick it down.

Now it’s time to install your fence, stick the shed, planter, tools and terracotta pots into place (a spot of PVA glue will keep them secure) and then stand back and admire your handiwork!