After a few years of research, planning, acquiring materials, building cars and locomotives, I’m finally ready to build the first module for my 1955 IC layout.
I’m using 1x open grid benchwork and going to put 1/2" plywood and plan on foam to make the ground contours. The area I’m modeling is relatively flat so there won’t be a lot of carving, mostly ditches, creeks etc.
Is there a good tutorial on working with this stuff? I worked with plaster years ago when I last had a layout.
Simply cut it to fit and if you have to stack it make sure you use an adhesive in a tube that is foam friendly , it will say it on the tube . Tube like goes in a calking gun.
When it comes to creating scenery with foam, nothing beats this video:
I have just started to work on the scenery on my rather small layout:
Thanks, that was a great video and gave me an idea for how to build the stone bridge over the Little Wabash River on my layout.
One thing that is useful, if you are using a saw or rasp while working with the foam, is an anti-static spray. Helps keep all those bits of foam from sticking to everything in sight.
Good luck,
Richard
Ulrich, thanks for the picture of your layout. I’m tight on space too, and it’s good to see small layouts - gain ideas for my own 5’ x 3’ (N scale) layout.
How thick of foam? I use 2" which is great for scenery. Any pieces removed for water bodies or small declines can become part of hills, support rocks, etc. To cut the scenery, I find that a drywall saw works well. Do you have a craft brush? That’s great for clearing up the particles left from the scenery–they do get everywhere!
I use a lot of 2" but I build mountains. For an IC layout where the terrain is pretty flat, it may be easier to build things up with thinner foam. It can also be found in 1/2", 3/4" and 1" without too much trouble. Thinner (1/4" or 3/8"?) can also be found.
I have found working with foam on plywood a real pain. Everytime you need to go through to the underside of the layout either for wiring or switch motors it just creates more work having both. Having foam on open grid works fine. Use 2" and you can have some nice deep creeks and ditches.
On a larger layout I would wedding cake mountains as stacking up just layers uses a whole lot of foam. There is nothing wrong with your little miners finding a hollow mountain once they start digging. Plus the layout is a whole lot lighter with no plywood.
Starting a hill here by cutting out the ground and moving it up.
I used whatever thickness I had on hand. 90% of my foam came from construction site dumpsters.
My layout sits on a 2" foam base (glued to 5/8" plywood, as the space underneath is for storage of rubbermaid bins for all of the other family stuff). The 2" gave me room to carve out creeks, marsh areas, etc.
Everything here is various thickness of foam, which varies the “rock formations” thicknesses, first glued together with latex caulk, then caved and hacked up, and painted, much like the video Ulrich posted.
Mike.
Mike: Can you stop showing your scenery photos? You’re not only making me jealous but causing me (and like others) about to leave the hobby in frustration! Totally joking though! How did you make the water? I’m going to use Envirtex Lite first.
For those who push through foam to install wires, etc., what do you use? I bend apart a large paper clip. And drive it entirely through the foam. This creates a hole for me to start adding something slightly larger (like a pencil) for the wire to run through to wire the track. I found that the paper clip is the cheapest, easiest, and less noticeable solution.
A pilaging junket to the kitchen let me find a large Turkey skewer to which I tape the wire to and then push it through.
[swg]
heck, I was even confused when I astarted answering. I will comment a bit anyway, as you’re may be also thinking of my Cascade Extension thread here?: [url]http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/219241.aspx?page=5I should note it’s Mike/mbsewi’s scenery you’re seeing, but he does like mine, so maybe there’s some resemblance? His is pretty inspirational, too, IMO, as I really like the job he did disguising that corner and with the waterfall. Lots of Mike’s around, so easy to confuse us.
Hoping I inspire more than I discourage. I do seem to have a bit of an eye for forced perspective and proportion, but everything I do tends to be pretty standard techniques and materials, easily anc cheaply obtained. I do mix them somewhat unconventionally, but I can say there’s no real secrets. If there’s something that I didn’t make obvious, let me know and I’ll revisit things to make them more clear. I really enjoy sharing stuff, rather than taking the “secret sauce” route than some prefer.
I use the standard, stinky, two-part resin like used for making paperweights with bugs and flowers embedded inside. You can get it at Michael’s or Hobby Lobby. I color it with stuff used to make stained glass when that’s needed.
For getting holes through thick foam build-ups, I bought an extra long 3/8" bit, maybe 1’ long? Works great. I often use a long bamboo skewer to push the wire through the hole.
I will note that foam over plywood is usually a bad idea in the long run. 2" thick foam is structural. Support it on 16" centers or less and yo
I guess I’ll jump in here, thanks guys, for the remarks. For my water, I used a resin kit, I think it might have been Envirotex because there was no fumes to deal with. For water waves, ripples, flowing water, I used a super clear silicone caulk, it comes in a clear tube (standard caulk gun size) and the name starts with "Lex—or,Lax ? I don’t remember. I think it was Lexal or Lexon, something like that. It’s in all the hardware stores, and big box stores, in their caulk section. What gives it away is the clear tube it comes in. It dries crystal clear. Which is also what I used on the water fall. I ran some beads of the caulk on a clean glass mirror, let it set for a couple days, then peel it off, cut it to the length I needed, and fastened it to the layout with the same caulk. I also used this caulk to make the splashing where the falls hits the pond below. Then I drybrushed some of the splashing, after it dried, with gloss white, to make the “foamy” look.
For wiring, I drilled through, because of the plywood.
Have fun !
Mike.
EDIT:
The reason I used the plywood under the foam, was because the bench top needed to be strong enough to hold me, during layout construction, and under my benchwork, is all of the rubbermaid storage containers with all of the other misc family junk everyone saves, like holiday decorations, etc., etc. Thats why I covered it all with a drape, to hide it. (along with my stash of rr stuff…ssshhhhh…)[:^)]
My foam is on open grid and I also had to get up on the 6’ wide benchwork. I just layed a small 18" x 30" piece of ply on top of the foam and all 200 Lbs. of me climbed up on that. It never left a mark.
Good move. If your RR stash is discovered, it’s for holiday decorations, right? [swg]
BTW, good work on that waterfall, too.[:)]
You bet, Mike. Along with “Oh honey, jeeessss, I’ve had that for years! remember?” and she usually walks away laughing. She knows I’ve done my time, 40 years in the construction trades, and two pensions, it’s all good.
And thanks for the cudos on the water fall.
Mike.
Can someone give me an idea about how to model things below grade? Just North of the IC passenger terminal is an interesting underpass where E Noleman Street passes under both the IC and CB&Q.
Do I build the benchwork lower there?
If just one side and near the front edge of the layout, you may only need to trim the fascia back, glue in some foam for a new scenery base and you’re good. Other places it’s better to plan ahead and make the entire scene lower except for the roadbed carrying the RR through it.
Looks like more of an underpass situation in your pic. Depends on how much space you have, but trimming the fascia lower would probably work for you.
I haven’t seen any pictures, as Mike L. as seen, but 1" in HO scale, would be about 7’ 3" . So if you built your bench work to the lowest grade you plan on, that would work, or, you can build up the scenery area as you approach that area, to make room for the street to under pass the railroad.
While typing this, I did a Google map thing. Are you talking E. Noleman St. in Centralia, IL. ? Looks like everything is flat, and the street slopes down under the tracks, and back up on the other side. So, plan for this as you build, by either raising scenery, along with railroad grade, so you can drop the street grade, or maybe lowering the bench work in that area, or as I mentioned above, plan where the lowest elevation of the layout will be, the thickness of your scenery base, and go accordingly.
Mike.
