Hello, this is my first post, nice boards!
I have a question…I still live in an apartment, and I will be moving into a house soon. At that time, I plan on starting to build a train world. But for now, im going to start and get some practice.
My question is, the grass, do I lay that down before or after I lay down my buildings etc?
What type of wood would be the best to lay down my layout on?
Thanks!
[#welcome]
I usually lay the base scenery material down first. Then the building. Last the finish scenery material, to blend the foundation into the scenery.
If you want to use wood for your base, plywood is best. I prefer AC (which is a little more pricey, but much smoother then CD).
Also, extruded foam insulation (the pink stuff by Owens Corning or the blue from Dow), makes a good base. It’s lightweight and easy to shape.
Nick
There’s lots written about this and available on the web, but a quick summary…
Can you separate the foundation from the building (not always feasible) - if so, install the foundation on the sub-surface, cover it with tape/plastic wrap/whatever to protect it from the ground cover materials, then landscape right up to and around the foundation (dirt, grass, sand, asphalt and concrete, whatever), and finally place your building on its (now unwrapped and cleaned) foundation - a nice plus is you can remove the building in the future for cleaning, maintainence, moving, whatever.
If the foundation is intergral to the building and cannot be removed (pretty common), you can add a thin styrene or equivalent sub-base (painted the same general color as the building foundation), landscape to that base (perhaps have the ground cover a wee bit higher so the sub-base is hidden), and continue on as before - perhaps add some registration pins so the sub-base and building can be properly aligned when the building is set upon the layout/module (make these registration ‘pins’ out of hollow tube, and you can route wires for building lighting through them too).
If the building must be already on the layout surface before you landscape, try to wrap it with painter’s blue tape or some other low-tack masking at the landscape/building edge (use cheap paper or plastic etc to cover the rest of the building), as ground cover on the side of a building looks unrealistic (a very slight covering of the foundation with ground cover looks OK, resembling an uneven soil surface or sloppy asphalt sealing job, but too much unevenness and the realism is ruined - also concrete is rarely poured so poorly as to splatter the foundation, so that should be a clear, even distinct edge between building and concrete). Consider - have you ever seen, say, gravel, on the side of a building (ignore 1960s architecture, please)? No, but it comes right up to the building foundation,
What do you mean laying down foam insulation? Where and why would this be done? (Sorry, I have no clue lol)
Hi. Foam insulation board comes in sheets at your hardware or home builders’ store. Dow and Corning make blue and pink sheets of what is called extruded foam. You buy what you need for your area to be used, and then build a frame to support it. Frames, or benches, as they are called, are a whole nuther topic. The idea with the foam is that it is light, easily carved and gouged for rivers and ditches, and you can build up stacks of it carved to form contours. Use cheap acrylic latex caulking for glue between layers. Yes, El Cheapo brand is the very best! And go light on it, just a thin almost painted layer that you spread with a metal trowel or spatula/putty knife. More is a waste. Use the latex caulk the same way between the foam and your cork or softer foam roadbed for the tracks, and then under the track sections, themselves.
Repeat after me, “Cheap latex caulk is my friend in this hobby!” [:D]
Back to the foam…it comes in thicknesses, and is more rigid as thickness rises. Still, it gets gouged at the edges, so plan on a fascia material on the faces, or sink the foam into a close-fitting box-frame.
Board for you layout: If you can support it with joists every 15", 1/4" plywood should suffice if you caulk the foam layer on top of that, as many do so that the foam is not so noisy with running trains atop it (yes, it is kinda). So, the layer of plywood can be thinner than if you only use plywood for the track surface. If you elect to forego the foam altogether, then I would use 1/2" or 5/8" with 15" centres. If you construct a bench on which you intend to move about and build stuff, as in walking or crawling up on it, even after it is all up and running, consider 5/8" - 3/4", and keep the spacing under 14".
Ahhh okie, I gotcha now, I think =)
I am just starting off right now on a very smalls pace, 11.5 deep by 29 inches wide.
How thick is this foam?
Also, what do you use to carve this stuff out with?
And finally lol, sorry for the questions =) Just want to make sure I have this straight…on top of the wooden board (main table part), you use this foam, and then you just built like the town on top of the foam etc??
Thanks!
[#ditto]
I wait until the building is down then add grass, weeds and small bushes around the foundation along with any fences, etc that will be attached to it.
welcome!!!what scale do you modle in HO? well nice to meet you. i want to say that if you ever get frusterated with the hobyy DON’T GIVE UP!!! just go and take a break and then come back. i also wanted to say good luck! for some odd reason you want to talk to me here is my email adresse bighead98565@yahoo.com lol ok now i sound like some strange kid… What ever lol.
[#welcome][#welcome][#welcome]
What scale are you in? What era? What is your prefered RR company? [:)][%-)][:)]
More important, as you ask about insulation board, how long have you been n the hobby? Sounds like not long… in which cse … read, read, read, read, read and then read a bit more. things like when to and how to will fall into place… along with a whole heap of other questions.
Before wondering about grass first or second you will end up looking at what sort of grass, what colour, what else and a whole bunch of weird stuff you never dreamt of [(-D]
PS what sort of soil is this grass in? Muddy or dusty? Clay or sand? Colour? Is it groomed or dog patch? [:-,]