Hello;
I was wondering if antone had some tips on organizing scenery materials. I have all mine in a couple of boxs and it just seems to be a hassle to find the material your looking for. Any kind of storage options would be welcome.
Bill
You probably throw away a couple each week: empty coffee containers, shaker cheese bottles, any plastic container foods come in (best are the clear ones). Clear plastic storage containers from Wal Mart, parts cabinets with medium to large drawers. I get large clear containers from church that animal cookies come in from Sam’s Club for tree making materials, etc, etc, etc.
We use scenery carts at the club. You could fashion a smaller version. Some of the larger ones hold bagged material, trees, molds etc and are basically work along w/ the storage shelves in a back room. The smaller carts hold the scenery products that are in use for a specific project. Coffee cans, and shaker bottles as mentioned hold most of the dispensed materials. Even if you work on a project by yourself, it always seems hard to still keep the cans of ballast, sand and other W/S grasses/ ground foams etc, organized. The more organized you can keep it the easier it becomes to keep track of reording as not to run out for a project.
Plasters, Hydrocal and Unical are repackaged into smaller project sized baggies, twist tied and stored in a sealable 5 gal bucket. This keeps the moisture out and makes it easy to grab the amount you need. I like to keep a 5 gal pail for storing smaller mixing containers, an assortment of trowels, mixer, dedicated old electric drill (mixer), assorted brushes, and other odd materials/ tools.
The structures are handled quite differently, Some special projects are build by members at home, only to come to the club for fittings and placement, other buildings etc are worked on at a couple tables we have set up specifically for this purpose.
Hi,
When I built my previous HO layout (1993-94), I had all kinds of Woodland Scenics and other companies ground covers. In scenicking, I like a little of this, a little of that, etc., and of course thats hard to do with stuff in bags or even cans.
So I took a couple of moving box tops (about 12x16) and set Athearn BB box lids in there and found that I could get about 7 of them to fit snugly inside the moving box top (lid). I made up three of these, and put the different color foams in each of the BB lids. In this way, similar foams were together, and I could get a pinch of this or that easily and quickly.
I’ll be scenicking the new layout shortly, and will do this same process one more time.
I love peanut butter so we’re buying it regularly. I wash out the plastic jars afterwards and store my scenery materials in them. The jars are all the same shape and size so they make a neat row on my shelves. I print a label on the computer as to the contents, including the WS part #. Years ago before my doctor said bacon was a no-no for me we used to get bacon bits in shakers that are the same as the WS shakers–the tall rectangular ones. For larger containers I picked up some inexpensive food containers at a dollar store. I think they were designed for spaghetti, but I’m not sure. I also picked up a set of spice jars in a revolving rack at the dollar store. I refill them from the bigger containers and use them to apply the scenery materials–gravel, grass, dirt, flowers as they have both a perforated shaker and a small pouring hole. As previous posters have pointed out, there are plenty of containers around the house that can be diverted from the garbage or the recycling. I like to stay away from glass containers though in case I were to drop one on the floor and it broke.
Thanks guys there are some very good ideas there. Maybe I can get organized now.
Bill
Oh, getting organized isn’t your problem, it’s staying organized!
We use the clear plastic drawers in a plastic roller cabinet which can roll under the layout or to the bench for use. Seeing through the plastic helps and we label the drawers too. I think these are like $25 or less.
Richard
Bill
I use gallon milk cartons. Cut out the top leaving the handle. They are easily organinzed, stored and transported.
I have been using Coffemate bottles for all of my ‘pourable’ materials, including some of the flock and ground cover items. I tried other brands but only the ‘Coffeemate’ brand has clear bottles and a spout that works really well. As you can see from my photo I have quite a range of materials. Some materials that I use a lot of I keep in two or more containers and have them at different locations on the layout (where I am working).
-Bob
I generally leave the scenery materials in the packages they come it. However, I divide them up by color and size.
Ballast in one location, stones and rocks in another, dark green in another, light green in another, etc. I put them in boxes or dresser drawers under the layout.
If money is no object, invest in an apothecary chest (or if you’re a cabinet-quality woodworker, make it yourself). They look like this:
Each little drawer (they’re about 4’ x 4" x18" deep) can be used for a different kind of material. If you can find one that’s lower and longer, you can also use the top as a workbench. Some models have some of the drawers larger (see the bottom 3 above).
My real problem was that I couldn’t find one deep enough to hold pieces of strip wood, so I made my own piece of furniture. Instead of drawers, it has little cubbie holes 2 rows of 6" square holes for the bigger stuff and 6 rows of 3" square holes below that. I made it using 3/4" birch plywood for the top and sides. The storage area is 2’ wide and 3’ tall, with a 6" space underneath. The top is 2’ x 4’, and makes a nice area for storing big shaker canisters or structure boxes. I was trying to be cheap and used hardboard for the shelves; I should have used 3/16" plywood, because the masonite was too flexible…
That solved all my storage needs: Strip styrene in one, coarse turf in another, and so on. Great way to organize.