After the paint on sides, top, and rail had cured, yesterday saw a ten hour workday in which we spread ballast and ground coverings, then secured with diluted PVA ("white-glue").
The white strip is a piece of plasticard clamped between the two sections, hoping to dam up the glue mixture from flowing over that edge, seal it from getting in the works of the locking mechanism, and making as unobtrusive a shut-line between the two sections as possible:
This morning I gritted my teeth, unlatched it, and carefully parted it while the glue was set but still soft. It worked pretty well!
After a sigh of relief, the turnouts were freed up again and we let everything cure. Next up, clean the track, a final tune of the turnouts, some coarser foliage and bushes, then we're done.
Trees and details I leave up to the new owner for two reasons. This thing has to be robust enough to travel (without breaking trees and knocking figures off) and he needs to have the option for some creativity of his own.