Hey everyone. So i was browsing the internet the other day and came across this guy’s website documenting his building one of the WS N-scale mini-layout things. Anyway, when he got to installing the risers, he said that the instructions dictated that he use the WS plaster cloth and drape it over the risers to kind of solidify and firm them up. I’d never heard of this before; does anyone do it? I can see why one might do it, but it just seems like a cheap ploy to use more of their plaster cloth.
for everyone who does use them, how do you go about permanently installing them? ie: attaching to benchwork, attaching roadbed and track, etc. Does anyone here handlay on them? I’ve wondered about how you could accomplish that, as it seems it would be nearly impossible to do.
I glued them down with hotglue on the edges. This worked fine. Then I’d use plaster cloth on top of them. WS instructs you to fill in the gaps with foam putty but I skip that and go straight to the plaster. A few layers works great. I also make my own plaster cloth. You can buy Hydrocal pretty readily in large bags if necessary. A 50 lb bag is about $25 locally here. That’s a whole lot of plaster. I use ordinary cheap generic paper towels as my cloth. Just dip it in the plaster. Cheap, easy, and for the money will go a VERY long way.
I used the WS 3% inclines in my hidden area. I used 0" to 4" so I used almost the whole length. I used hot glue at every couple of outer points on one side to tack it down. I then went back and got every outer point on both sides to keep it down. I also tucked a little under every once in a while as I went for a little something extra (watch out not to cause a bump). I found that wasn’t enough for me so I put in some yellow glue in every void, not a lot but again just a little something. I glued cork road bed with yellow glue directly to the WS incline and caulked the track to the roadbed (man that worked sweet - thanks for all who shared that gem!!)
Mine butted up to two sets of 2" foam. I used a sanding block about 4" in each direction of the seam to ease the transition. I also made sure that there were no roadbed or track joints within 6" of the seam of the foam and incline.
To fasten my risers down I just mark where they are going to go then run a bead of white glue up the center from end to end and pin them until it dries.
cool, thanks everyone. I’d never heard of anyone draping plaster cloth over them, but apparently its pretty common. Heck, right now i just have mine tacked to the layout with the T-pins and have track just laying right on top, haha
LOW TEMP hot glue around the edges after the risers are put in place with the T pins. Then plaster cloth draped over to make a smooth sub road bed and to make the ditches and edge terrain. Then a sanding to get it smooth. A little costly but it sure makes a great incline and is FAST.
I used latex caulk to fasten my WS risers to my benchwork, then used latex caulk to attach my cork roadbed to the risers. I then once again used latex caulk to attach my track to the cork.
Im in HO and I use the WS plaster cloth for my scenery base. My entire Yuba River Sub is built with a combination of WS risers and 2" foam, and the roadbed is secured with Elmer’s yellow Carpenter glue. It’s been that way for over 7 years, and the total elevation between my highest point at Yuba Summit and the lowest point at the Deer Creek Yards is about 18". I’ve never ‘draped’ the WS cloth over my WS risers–I bring it up to roadbed level and leave it at that. My roadbed is WS roadbed laid directly on the WS risers. Using Elmer’s yellow glue. The result, after I’ve laid in my scenery, could probably survive a hammer hit. A BIG hammer hit, LOL!
Frankly, I’d be leery of covering the WS risers with the WS plaster cloth–no matter HOW careful you are, you’re going to have ‘bumps’ on the risers when you lay down your roadbed. At least IMO.
Here’s a shot of Yuba Summit–it’s about 18" above the base level of the layout. The roadbed is laid down directly on the WS risers, and not WS plaster cloth.
WS makes hot glue and hot glue guns specifically for use with their products, it won’t melt them.
Anyway, you can lay track directly on the risers/inclines…but it does have openings so it would be a little hard to ballast. On one section of a previous layout I used Atlas track with roadbed glued directly to the risers, then used plastercloth scenery on either side of the track.
It seems that all the important issues have been covered, but I just want to make a point about fastening the WS risers to the board or foam. I use latex caulk to hold the risers to foam or plywood. The risers are made of foam that’s actually pretty dense. The advantage of latex caulk is that is doesn’t dry out completely for days yet it becomes tacky enough to hold the risers firmly in place quickly. This allows you to reposition the risers later if you want to or need to. I’ve pried the risers up a week after caulking them down with no problem (and no damage to the risers or the foam under them) and the caulk was still pliable!
Oh, I have fastened my cork roadbed right to the top of the risers and bring the plaster cloth up to the side of the roadbed. That works fine. I’ve also put some plaster cloth over the riser and then fastened the cork to that, but you will get rough spots that require sanding if you do that, regardless of how careful you (or at least how careful I) can be!
Abbie
I do it somewhat different than recommended or advised in these posts. I attach the risers to my plywood with hot glue but use cork roadbed on the top for my track. Since I used it on the rest of the layout I just continued up the incline to my coal mine. Seems to work just fine!
I like the WS risers as they give a nice constant grade without the dips & humps that I used to get when making grades.
I just pin the risers and inclines to my foam layout surface and when everything is in place, I pour diluted white glue down the insides of the riser or incline. I do use the plaster cloth and wadded newspaper method that WS proposes to make most of the terrain, including covering over the risers. I think it has worked pretty well for me.
Wow, thanks for all the replies everyone! I never knew how common of a practice this was.
I think what I’m going to end up doing is just lay the cork right on the risers and then bring the hardshell right up to the edge of the cork, because that way I can ballast easily and not worry about all these bumps that people have been talking about with laying the hardshell directly over the risers.
