Hello all;
New to the forums, the hobby, and right in the middle of my first layout for my nine year old son.
Question; any tips on making landscape more realistic regarding flat ground.
I.e., using a plywood/foam base, but no real ground is that perfectly flat.
I’ve got some hills, creeks, etc, but what about just “regular” ground ? I guess I’m thinking on the lines of carving something into the foam, not put something on it.
Here is a thing to think about if you have a road on your layout. Most country roads have a ditch on one side or anotheror both sides. This is usually not modeled and it would be “in” the foam. You could even put a little water in it as well being that is what they are for. As for some slight irregular shapes on the ground like you would see out there in real life just put some paper towels in to some plaster and kinda pile them up here and there to make an uneven surface. Hope this helps
From experience I can say this, I am on my fith maybe sixth small 4 x 8 -ish lor bigger layout for me and my son, and like wine they have gotten better with age, as well as experience in doing each one to boot. Check out model railroader magazines, and articles on line, tons of opinions, ideas and methods in creating realsitic scenery. Your son is nine, right now scenery may not be so important to him, watching the trains go by and putting his hands on a car or truck might be cool fun. So keep her simple for now and try what ya can when you can. As you both age and the collection grows and desire for that realistic layout gets stronger you will have time on your side.
Homasote over 2 inch foam over 1/2 plywood on a framed table top is very forgiving to changing your mind when it comes to scenery…you can cut into and down to the plywood for ravines etc or pile up more foam on top of the homasote to make hills and mountains tunnels etc. Keep it simple for now, you will change todays work sometime tomorrow I guarentee it. Thats the fun part and your son will never forget the time and experience with his dad working on the railroad. I haven’t even finished scenicing my small 3 x 6 and I have drawings and plans for a 4 1/2 x 10 that I will be moving to.
Good luck…have fun…The memories will be priceless for you and your son.
A simple way to add a little contour to open ground is with some Sculptamold. It’s basically a very fine papier-mache product, you just mix up a batch and plop it on your flat ground and start working it with your hands. It gets smoother the more you work it, and with a little time it can be spread out to make gentle ground contours, or stippled to create rougher ground. I recommend wearing a pair of latex gloves when applying it–your hands are very sensitive tools for this sort of work, far superior to any spatula or other scraper-type tool. Once it is dry you can add paint and dirt and ground foam.
Another thing to look at is Woodland Scenics Plaster Cloth. This is a thin mesh impregnated with plaster. It’s similar to the stuff used for old-style plaster casts for broken bones. Some people say it’s cheaper to get the stuff at medical supply places. You can build a framework with cardboard or foam and then drape the plaster cloth over it.
I use Gypsolite to skim-coat the plaster cloth after it hardens. Gypsolite is similar to Sculptamold. I like its gritty texture. I mix it with some cheap brown acrylic paint. I also just skim-coat flat areas of foam with Gypsolite to rough up the texture.
I also make Hydrocal castings of rocks and then lay them horizontally to form rock ledge. Combined with the Gypsolite, this can take a small piece of flat foam and give it a more realistic appearance.
This shot shows a small area where I added rock ledge and Gypsolite over flat foam.
Lots of good info. here, thanks guys !