Mountains

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

Hi all,

just wondering what the best way of making mountains are from start to finish (finish- up to finishing the scenery) thx

2

Steps:

1. a picture to go by

2. extruded foam

3. drywall mud

4. paint

5. add scale rocks, dirt, and vegetation to taste.

Done.

p.s.: and, you know, this is only one of dozens of ways!! If you’re a visual guy you can always go on the youtube and see lots of ways in action!

3

Many, many books and magazine articles on how to do it. Model Railroader usually has step by step instructions on their project layouts. There are as many ways to do it as there are model railroaders (as has been posted). Personally I use the carboard web method with brown paper (grocery bags) cut up and dipped in yellow glue.

4

There are quite a few different ways of making “mountains” - from the good old, but messy, plaster cloth over wire mesh-method to using Styrofoam as a base. Describing each method in sufficient detail would blow the post up to book size, so I can only recommend some good reading material, like this book from our host Kalmbach:

Basic Scenery for Model Railroaders

Pelle Soeeborg also described his way of making mountain scenery in his book " Mountain to Desert" - it out of print, but you may be able to find it at your LHS.

5

I use different methods depending on the needs of the particular area of the layout. Some carved foam, some cardboard weave covered by plaster cloth, but the system I use the most is plaster cloth over crumpled newspaper. I put the newspaper in plastic bags so they won’t get wet and collapse when the wet plaster cloth is applied.

6

Steps:

1. a picture to go by

2. extruded foam

3. drywall mud

4. paint

5. add scale rocks, dirt, and vegetation to taste.

Done.

I agree. The more traditional way of using screen wire or a grid of cardboard draped with plaster soaked paper towels is certainly faster. However, the advantage of what you suggest is that a) It is much easier to control your results and b) It is much easier to ‘plant’ trees in the foam than in thin hardshell materials. The downside is the foam method does take longer.

Lance

Visit Miami’s Downtown Spur at : www.lancemindheim.com

7

I also have become a foam guy. I wanted floor to ceiling canyons and mountains. Foam is easier, less messy, I get better results, its more fun and I think it is faster. Woodland Scenics crumpled paper and plaster cloth gives a fast and very messy base, but if you want rocks and gullies and trees and texture and lots of detail, adding that to WS takes longer than carving the detail into the foam. If you want hoodoos and clever detail, foam is about the only way I know.

Also I can build the foam on the work bench and then set it in place when finished. For the large canyon, I built it in sections and put them together like a three D puzzle. I have many pics in my sig. If you want to talk more, there are several of us who are willing to share.

8

The size and scale of your project, as well as the planned locale, are also important to consider. My own “mountains” are really just small, rolling hills, so I use a layer or 2 of foam, skim-coat it with a plaster like Gypsolite for texture, and then paint and add ground cover. I use Hydrocal castings for my rock faces.

I built a small bay at the front of my layout, and I wanted high-quality rock faces there. I tried the Bragdon Geodesic Foam method for that, with outstanding results. It’s a bit more expensive than Hydrocal, and a lot more time-consuming, but the results can be worth it. www.bragdonent.com is their web site.

Also, consider the use of a backdrop painted on the wall behind your layout. These can be painted on yourself, if you can do that sort of thing, or there are photo-backdrops available from several sources.

9

The one thing I wish I could find at an affordable price would be a much larger hot wire foam cutter than typically found for hobby use. Something with some horsepower. I remember watching one of these home renovation shows and the guy had a wire cutter almost the size of an archery bow that really made quick work of the cuts. I did see some industrial cutters online but the cost was really up there.

Lance

Visit Miami’s Downtown Spur at www.lancemindheim.com

10

I think there is no one way that is better than the other. Foam is good, plaster cloth is good too. I am making use of all the boxes left over from Christmas and taping crumpled up news paper to them and covering with plaster cloth. The plus with plaster cloth is if you mess up you can just cut it out and fix the section. Foam you are more commited.

11

Check out the foam cutter on this thread:

http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/p/171611/1883787.aspx

Regards.

12

Lance, I have a foam cutter and except to do the back side of my hoodoos, a steak knife and wire brush work much better. I even do hoodoos with the knife now. I really use the hot wire very little.

13

I built my mountain base with pieces of extruded foam. Then I sprayed that expanding foam (at Home Depot) on top of that. Then I used a kitchen knife to shape it. Covered it with real dirt and rock castings made from hydrocal.

14

I built my mountain with real rocks , 2 by 4 s and chicken wire . Here is photo of it . I also used this to display my wife’s rock collection .

15

I use lots of different methods, some depending on how big will the mountain be, is it viewed from all sides. will it have tunnels, trains running on the side, etc. There is a guy in GA that has about a 20’ tall mountain with gondolas, trains, tunnels, etc. He can physically walk up it to do repairs. He didn’t use just plaster over wire for the entire mountain.

  1. For me the first thing I do is try to is understand why I want to put a particular mountain on a particular place on my railroad and the desired effect of bringing it together with my RR. In other words, I outline my objectives and goals.

  2. I then look for sample prototypes and get pictures and track plans if possible. 1 and 2 are sometimes done together as a brain stormer.

  3. Once I have the purpose and scope outlined along with what the end result should look like, I then determine what materials to use and how to blend it in to the rest of the layout.

A lot of books and the other posters have covered the basics, I just thought you would like to know a little different angle too.

Richard