I just built a 4’X8’ table to build my model train on. i want/need to cover the plywood with something and not sure with what. I have seen rolls of a vynal backed grass sheets[?] that can be glued on, but i want more options. If anyone can help, that would be great. Thanks
HackSaw
Well, HackSaw, that’s a pretty loaded quiestion.
You have lots of options. The vinyl mat you mentioned is one of them. I’ve never used it myself, but I understand it looks pretty good. In addition, being vinyl, it can be shaped to represent rolling terrain. It doesn’t need to be flat.
Another option is to glue a 4x8 sheet of blue or pink foam on top of your layout board. Blue or pink foam is an insulation material available at large home improvement centers. It has the advantage of being carvable to simulate different terrain or more pieces can be stacked and glued to form larger hills or mountains. It can be painted with latex-based paints. While the paint is wet, ground covering material can be spread on it to simulate grass or dirt. The ground cover material is available from several manufacturers at your local hobby shop or online.
You can simply paint the plywood and use ground cover on it, too.
Another method of creating varying terrain is using plaster-soaked paper towels or paper mache to form hills, etc. These can be painted and covered with ground cover materials, too.
I’d suggest a lot of reading to see what other methods have been used by other modelers and which methods might be more convenient for you to use. I believe Kalmbach has a book devoted to scenery making. There are others. Use Google to search for more articles on creating scenery. There is a TON of information out there and it’s wise to read as much as you can tolerate before making any firm decisions.
Good luck in your search. Keep the forum posted on your progress.
Darrell, quiet…for now
I use the foam. I get it free at construction sites. For fast use, paint it and sprinkle with ground foam. It will look good in an hour. You can then come back and get as complex as you like. It stacks for mountains and canyons quite well and carves beautifully.
I used the grass mat to start with. It is slowly being covered with other forms of scenery. I used it in the beginning so I wasn’t staring at plywood for a year. If I had to do it over, I would have put down a piece of 2 inch foam. Being able to carve down below the tracks would have been nice. Now I can only build up the scenery, not cut it down. I would strongly recommend using foam to form hills or ridges as well.
Trust me, foam is the only way to go. You can get it either for free at construction sites or reasonably cheap at one of the big box home improvement sores. The 2 inch pink foam is the best. You can glue it to your tabletop using latex caulk and you can even cover it with the grass mat if you really want to. I think you’ll find gives you a lot of opprtunities to create things like ponds and rivers that will help give a three dimensional look to the layout. The same thing can be done with plywood but it’s a lot tougher than using foam, especially for a beginner.
It really depends on how real you want it to look. Do yourself a favor and buy a basic scenery book before you start. Kalbach has a couple. Woodland Scenics sells some DVD’s on how to do scenery. They also have on line video demos on their site.
Thank you everyone for your input. It gives me something to think about. i am deffinatley not in a hurry to get this thing up and running. I am taking my time to do it right and make it nice. I have only one Hobby store near me, so i have been purchasing items online. hopefully i get the right things…lol…as far as the foam, i can get that with no problem because i do construction and remodeling work for a living, so i have acess to all types of building materials.
Thanks again
Hacksaw