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Scenery basics for model railroaders
I do not understand the need for plaster for any scenery, it cracks for one thing and is messy! Here is a tip for future scenery that I found by experimenting. Acrylic caulk+acrylic craft paint + a little wood glue+ water, all blended in a paint roller pan. This should be the consistancy of pancake batter. I then take gift-type wrapping paper or the plain kind that is used in packing and cut it into sheets a little larger size of an area that I want to cover. The under-supports that I use are scraps of foam, or shapped foam, I then soak the paper in the acrylic mix and drape it over the area to be covered. This blend sticks to the under-support material and while setting up I sprinkle on whatever type of scenic products I want,i.e. sifted dirt, sand or vegitation.
The mixture is all acrylic based products and the paint gives the blend a basic color of the area you want to model. I use this blend on all of my military dioramas as well as HO layouts.
Experiment with a sample first and try it, the best part of the whole thing is there is no exact measuring as with plaster, just remember what pancake batter is like!
Happy building
johncpo
this might be a good top layer after using the can spray faam ( blue can ) you spray it on the let dry a few min the using a stick rub the foam then it will delaste some and hardens to look like rock or other rock or land. then use the above to top coat it.
Is there a reason why the articles - and everything else on MR screen shots - are so restricted in width?
I measured them on my computer screen and they only ever take up ONE QUARTER of the actual visible width!! Considering that many modelers are not so young any more and often have vision problems, do you not think it would be more considerate to show articles using the whole available screen area. My computer screen is 50cm across and yet I still have problems making out details on your pages. Magnifying the photos does not help as they pixilate too much and are then completely incomprehensible to anyone, good vision or not!
This is especially true with diagrams. Please consider the elderly . . .
Another vrey good modeling medium is latex tile adhesive. I use HENRIES 314 SOLD AT ACE HDWRE. besides making scenery I use it to glue everything to the railroad. You can buy it by the quart or tub. Keep the lid on and it has a very long shelf life.
Good, very basic overview of scenery construction.
I am just starting a new layout and I like the ideas I read but some thins are kind of hard to understand I think all you guy & gals have great ideas but need to explain them a little more thanks great article
Don’t throw away the saw dust! I use a small brush/dust pan to gather it up and put it into a an empty spice jar or whatever. It has the color of summer grass and can be sprinkled onto your project. Used along with dilute white glue or matte medium, it can be sprayed with dilute acrylic colors to provide a wonderfully textured result.
What are the issues with using dried, very fine sand or natural rock in a layout? I have some fine sand of variuos colors from Arizona, some of which I would like to use for track ballast. Obviously any moisture could lead to mold. But if in a room that is kept dry with no history of condensation, what might be the concerns? Thanks for any input on this.
Hello Jim,
There are no issues to speak of in using natural sand, rock, dirt, or dust for scenery work on your layout as long as you secure it well with diluted white glue, matte medium, or another product, such as Woodland Scenic’s Scenic Cement. However, before using any natural materials on your layout, you should sift them using a magnet to remove any magnetic grains. These can end up in your locomotive motors if you’re not careful and eventually cause problems. I have a piece of an old speaker magnet that works very well for this task, but any large, powerful magnet will work. You’ll probably be surprised by what the magnet finds in common dirt and sand.
Best wishes on the project.
David Popp
Managing editor
This helped a lot, but I still dont know how to make depth in my river. Can you help?!?
I am modeling mid-Nebraska and one of the problems I am having is incorporating the trees (of which I wish were not there) into the landscape without losing the feel of the Sandhills.
Hello Jim,
Good,
thanks to all very great learning experience for a newbie
Re: Depth to a river. 1) Paint the center to near the edges a black or very dark blackish blue/green/brown; 2) paint the edges a color that matches the shore dirt; and 3) then paint a gloss clear coat (1-several) over the whole river; or pour any of the clear plastic type solutions following the instructions provided witht the material. These techniques and others are covered in many of the Kalmbach books and magazines.
Re: Trees. I ususally find a local weed in the wild or at a craft store, dry, and bundle them together with sewing thread, at the “trunk”, add joint compound from a tube, spray them with auto primer and the branches with desire folage color (greens, oranges, yellows), then may spread some Woodland Scenics material over them after touching the branches w/ white glue using a toothpick. Then hairspray and some loose foam in the same or lighter color, and/or spray lightly with a lighter spray paint. All in a well ventilated area. Pine trees are different, with hard balsa trunk, shaped, holes pierced in sides staggered, and branches of caspia (craft store) stuck in and white glued. Spray painted grey / brown, then green scenic material cut and glued on the caspia branches, and/or foam sprinkled on hair-sprayed branches. Again, there are many different articles out there on these techniques.
You can use plant roots for tree limbs I had a wind storm blow down some oak trees and I saved a few of the smaller roots just to make trees out of I just glue them on to the 1 I have picked out for the trunk then use hobby-tac to hold the branches on then add ground foam to the ones I want with leaves on them but they make really good dead ones also
I use plaster soaked paper towels as the base of the scenery over a fine metal mesh making up the different shapes of mountains etc and brush on thicker coats of plaster as each section dries then I put in the moulded rocks that I have made before I paint with an air brush. A grey or colored earth depending on where the section lays i.e. fertile land or sand etc. and I also use colored sawdust that has been sprayed with diluted acrylic to match the final color that is required. To take the shine off P.V.A glue I mix in a small amont of talcolm powder before adding dishwash liquid to help it spread.
Thanks for the update. I am in the process of landscaping. I have no art talent. However with the suggestion from MRM It is starting to look pretty good. I use a lot of foam. so far it has work out well and is light weight as one day I may have to pack up and move
thanks, for the help
This was a great receipe to get us all going - Thank you…
This is great Keep up the good work. I sstated buildinng mine 8 years ago and had trains running around track got sick and havent looked at upuntilthe last month Evrty thing had been thrown on top of trackks etc. So now I have to start again. I am 76 so should give me something to do ion my youth again