Painting wood isn’t one of my favourite things. My approach is to treat the paint like after shave and ‘splash it on all over’.

Anyway, the unenjoyable task is completed. The inner walls of the layout, that will form the back scene, have had two coats of primer. This will stop the bare wood showing through the back scene.

The rear of the fascia board has been painted with primer too. Hopefully, this will reflect a little more light onto the scenery.

The outer walls of the layout have had two coats of primer and two coats of ‘Fire Wood’ from Dulux. I do like this colour. It’s dark and provides a good frame for the layout. Yet it’s not as dark (and gloomy) as black paint. Plus, it reminds me of coffee, and I do like coffee. I haven’t covered over the screws that hold the fascia to the frame. There’s plenty of work to do on the scenery and access will be much easier without the fascia in place.

Why go to all this trouble? I want the layout to be available for operation at short notice. It will sit on a worktop in the house. I quite like the pine. That can remain unpainted. Bare plywood doesn’t look good and it is much more attractive now it is painted.