I’ve realized that I’m applying Agile software development principles to my layout construction: thinking in terms of sprints, and most important, thinking about always having a “shippable” product. That means sometimes spending a bit more time along the way, but it also means having something in my basement I don’t hate until it’s finished. In that vein, I applied a quick coat of paint to the city of York to make it actually look like something.
The green of the styrofoam was really getting to me, and giving me a hard time envisioning how the various scenes were going to come together. That was quickly fixed with a coat of cheap craft paint.
I used two colors from Michaels: brown and black. Black for roads, pavement, and “cinder” areas and brown for everything else.
It’s far from making it look like a finished layout, but it sure helps.

After the paint dried, I put all the structures back.
It’s definitely starting to look like something, and much better than a sheet of foam!