Model Train Scenery: Building The Layout "bones"

The "bones" of your model train layout are the contours of the ground beneath the tracks and the scenery

. In the model train world, mountain terrain is a favorite for adding a 3D dimension. Americans love their mountains, especially the Rockies in the West and the Appalachians in the East. Some of us live in or near the mountains. Some of us vacation in the mountains. Some of us just like a winding, climbing path through our model train scenery. Let's just "cut to the chase," mountains are simply fun to make.

Before you run off to the model train shop to purchase pre-cast mountains, you might want to give custom built scenery a try. Three methods available are hard shell, fragmented ceiling tile and/or screen wire and plaster. Either method will give a layered rock effect.

Here are some tips for using the three methods:

1. The screen wire system is built with screen wire. The wire is shaped to hill contours with pieces of lumber supporting it, and then covered with plaster. Plaster soaked towels are sometimes used.

2. Hard shell framework uses cardboard strips instead of lumber. The framework is covered with Hydrocal soaked paper towels to form a shell. If the results don't turn out right, you can knock off the first layer of Hydrocal-soaked towels with a hammer and redo it.

3. To attach the hard shell framework, staple it to the benchwork where it touches and to the cardboard strips where they cross.

4. Cover the hard shell with a plaster coating using a brush before you color the ground.

5. Spray with water to dampen the hard cardboard to assure that the new plaster will hold fast to the old.

6. The plaster scenery can be colored two ways. Hobbyist may choose dry pigments mixed into the plaster or thinned paint washes. Clothing dyes, the consistency of a wash, are not used today since hobbyist found that the salts in them appear to have a corrosive effect on the model's rails and spikes.

7. Acrylic paints are currently popular. Today a thinned wash of one or two colors, plus black, is applied with a spray bottle. A tiny bit of detergent for dishes will make a better flow.

8. Acrylic paint for hobbies often comes in a thick consistency and is sold in a jar. Thin and mix it to achieve the effect you want, even mixing it directly on the surface. Rather than using the watered down colors found in sprays, you would be wise to paint the wash on so you are able to better govern the application of colors.

The payoff for building your scenery "bones" is the very real pleasure you receive when seeing your surroundings with a new eye. The shape of leaves, the height and width of trees, the colors of the sky, the differing grasses and rocks, all reveal their beauty and detail. As the master of your model railroad world, you are both the creator and the changed.

by: Charlotte Mathes

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