Essentials of Great Scenery
Essentials of Great Scenery
Workshop tips
Essentials of
great scenery
Disadvantages
Painting rocks. Most modelers use
artist’s acrylics, usually out of tubes. 1. Slow, particularly if building a
large layout
They dry quickly and clean up with
2. Expensive if foam insulation
soap and water. (You’ll note that the board is purchased. (Scraps
materials we’ve discussed here are all can often be picked up at
water-soluble. Generally this means construction sites)
that you can keep working without 3. Can be messy, although a
hot-wire tool eliminates much
waiting for things to dry completely, of this problem
and that clean-up is fairly easy.)
When painting rocks I begin with a
thinned coat of white, but many First foam layer supported
modelers go straight to work with by wood risers
colors. For the most part we stick with
earth tones: burnt umber, raw umber,
burnt sienna, and raw sienna. Of
these, burnt umber (a rich brown) is
the most useful. You’ll also need some
Titanium White and Mars Black to Fig. 3 Adding ground cover 2. Sprinkle on scenery materials
lighten or darken colors. (sand, ground foam, etc.)
Squeeze out short ribbons of paint 1. Paint surface with
on a palette, a white dish, or whatever’s 3. Bond by spraying
thinned tan latex paint
with diluted adhesive,
handy (as long as it’s white so you can detergent added
see the colors). Keep a cup of clean
water handy (change it frequently), and
start mixing with your brush and
painting. This may sound difficult, but
you’ll get the hang of it quickly.
Creating realistic
rocks, turf, and trees
By Sam Swanson • Photos by the author
To make the dense stands of deciduous trees that To add leaves to the trees, I use Woodland Scenics fiber
characterize Appalachia, I use three different types of and clump (or cluster) foliage. The key to making realistic
trunks covered with fiber and clump foliage, as well as trees is to cover the sunflower and twig branches with
fine ground foam. My goal is not to model specific many small puffballs of teased foliage material individu-
species, but to vary trunk and foliage sizes, shapes, and ally glued to the branches. I start near the bottom of the
colors enough to produce realistically wooded hills. tree and work out and up along the trunk and branches,
For my homemade tree trunks, I use sunflower roots gluing the foliage balls on with white glue. After those
and various twigs. They’re realistic and free! I preserve have had time to set, I fill in any unwanted open spaces
the natural trunks by allowing them to dry thoroughly over by gluing puffballs directly to each other. I highlight the
a couple of months and then submerging them in a pool treetops by dusting them with light-colored fine ground
of diluted white glue (you can also use diluted matte foam, holding it in place with Dullcote.
medium). Later, I add a 3 ⁄8" length of .020" brass wire to I install the trees on the diorama last, only after all the
the base as a mounting pin. other scenery has been completed. First, I test the
To make larger trees, I combine sunflower roots and placement of the trees in the scene, either individually or
twigs. Sometimes I thicken the trunks by sculpting root in groups of three or five. Once I’m happy with how they
bases from Duro Master-Mend green epoxy and then look, I plant each tree by pressing it firmly into the foam
paint the roots to match the rest of the tree trunk. base, securing it with white glue.
I also use Scenic Express SuperTree commercial kits With that, your lush, textured Appalachian scenery is
for their light and airy appearance. This method is shown finished, and you can to amaze your friends with your
on page 11. realistic re-creation.
Like the paint job on a locomotive, branch line, or spur. Main lines have slope of your wood, cork, or Homasote
ballast is the finish coat on your track. the tallest and best groomed ballast roadbed base. Glue filler materials in
It covers the many blemishes of profiles, as shown in the photo on the place as necessary. See fig. 1.
roadbed construction, such as joints, bottom of page 10. Spurs and sidings In general you want to avoid the
shims, screws, and wire holes. More typically have lower profiles, which trap of 45-degree jigsaw cuts and
important, if done properly, ballast can be modeled by using thinner sharp edges and create a natural angle
adds a lot of polish to a layout. roadbed material under the track than of repose for the ballast material. The
Ballasting is usually the last finish the main line. steepest slope should be no greater
work I do on any given section of the Ballast profiles do vary. Today’s than 1.5" of horizontal run for each 1"
railroad. I like to at least add the basic railroads use a lot more rock ballast drop – in other words a 1.5:1 slope.
scenery adjacent to the track to be than did the railroads of the 1940s. Slopes of 3:1 and 4:1 are not uncom-
ballasted, as there’s nothing worse Also keep in mind that prototype track mon on the prototype.
than dropping a glob of white scenery may have a perfect profile when built, Before ballasting, get rid of any
plaster or paint on track once it’s but the nice, even grading erodes with sharp edges on the roadbed – such as
ballasted. My layout happens to be HO time and lack of maintenance. It’s the jagged corner on cork – and
scale, but these ideas apply regardless probably best to check prototype remove any bumps of plaster along the
of scale. photos to capture the right look. right-of-way. These tend to stick up
Methods of creating an appropriate through the ballast. While you’re
Preparation profile would require an article in shaping the ballast profile you can
The first step is to establish a itself; however, you can shape ballast also make drainage ditches, although
ballast profile foundation. This will slopes using plaster, foam, or a filler those should be allowed for when you
vary with the type of track: main line, material like sand to augment the design your overall scenic plan.
Ballast
I use mixes of various colors of
Highball Products ballast as well as
real cinders, but these methods work
with products from any manufacturer.
If you have a combination of a
cinder subroadbed and stone ballast,
it’s a two-step process. First apply the
cinders along the shoulders. If the Fig. 1 Preparation. Add filler material to the roadbed as necessary, such as the
slope is steep and the cinders tend to foam pieces along the commercial turnout.
slide down, apply a coat of adhesive
first and sprinkle on a light coat of
cinders. Once these set, you can add
more since the roughness of the
original layer will hold the new layer.
See fig. 3.
Be sure that your ballast isn’t too
large, especially cinders. It’s better for
it to be undersize. Pieces of prototype
rock ballast typically measure about
3 ⁄4" to 21 ⁄ 2". I find that many materials
Securing ballast
Once the loose ballast is positioned,
it’s time to cement it in place. Begin by
wetting the ballast. I use water with a
couple of drops of dishwashing deter-
gent in a hair-spray bottle, which I
find provides a very fine mist com- Fig. 3 Subroadbed. Glue cinders or other subroadbed in place before adding
pared to most other pump spray ballast. The spur above also has cinder ballast, while the main line will have
bottles. See fig. 4. gray crushed rock.
The pursuit of perfect model trees is With all the tree kits available from
something of a hobby within the manufacturers like Scenic Express
hobby for several model railroaders and Woodland Scenics, adding a
I know. I’ve even seen a few prepare wooded scene like this one to your Soak the tree armatures for several
scale drawings of trees to ensure an layout is easy. Marty McGuirk photo minutes in dilute matte medium (1 part
accurate result, much like some of us matte medium to 5 parts water) to
approach building structures or model trees that have lost some or all preserve them. Dipping won’t do.
locomotive models. of their leaves, and the speed with
But for many modelers, especially which I can forest a large area.
those of us who don’t model the desert, The photos and captions demon-
trees are a necessary evil. We need strate how I make Super Trees using
them for our railroads to look plau- the HO scale tree kit. A couple of
sible. The problem is we need lots and thoughts: You might be tempted to use
lots of them! hair spray instead of matte medium as
an adhesive. Don’t. The matte medium
Puff balls, sprigs, and twigs seals the tree armature, essentially
Many methods of making trees preserving it and rendering it inedible
have been developed over the years. to any of the many-legged creatures
Puff ball trees, made by sprinkling that may visit your layout looking for a
ground foam onto stretched poly-fiber quick snack. If you use hair spray to
fill, is one way to quickly create tree- secure the foliage in place, the tree After soaking the armature, sprinkle
covered hillsides. will eventually crumble to dust. fine ground foam onto the still wet
You can also make trees from I prefer to model fall scenery but matte medium. For best results hold
natural materials readily available in find that most fall color ground foams the tree upright using a set of twee-
the floral department of craft stores are too garish. I used Scenic Express’ zers, and sprinkle the foam on top.
or picked in the wild. Peppergrass, line of fine fall ground foam colors.
spirea, and baby’s breath all work well. These are available in a wide range of To straighten
Bunch several stalks together, paint shades and textures that are subdued bent trunks clip a
the leaf structure, and plant the tree enough to create a realistic fall- weight, such as
in the scenery. colored landscape. these tweezers,
Ready-to-use trees and kit trees are The main disadvantage of Super to the top of the
also available from several manufac- Trees is the fairly slender trunks, but tree. Hang the
turers. These feature plastic or metal you could build these up with plaster tree upside down
trunks that are bent to shape and or putty or even glue the Super Tree and allow it to dry
covered with foliage material. material to the larger plastic arma- overnight.
tures available from Scenic Express
Super Trees and other manufacturers, including
Some of the best-looking trees I’ve Woodland Scenics and Accurail. I’ve
come across are Super Trees, mar- done that with some success and have
keted by Scenic Express. I like the been able to create some nicely
realistic look, the way it’s easy to detailed foreground trees.
three creeks
both variety and consistency
We’ve all heard that variety is the spice with wild bamboo. Both Black Rascal green and blue for the middle layers.
of life. However, with scenery, it’s easy and Fahrens flow along non-native The final layers I poured clear. These
to end up with too much variety. If we eucalyptus groves with sycamores or darker colors emphasize the deep,
add a little of this and a little of that, cottonwoods along their banks. slow water.
we soon have a mishmash of scenes In contrast, just the first layers of
that don’t relate to each other in a Initial modeling casting resin for Black Rascal Creek
realistic way. On the other hand, All three creek crossings have were lightly colored with green and
distinct scenes are essential to helping standard YVRR concrete abutments, blue to result in a clear, cool creek.
portray distance on a model railroad. so I made a mold and cast the six Once the casting resin had cured, I
The solution is to take clues from abutments from Hydrocal plaster. dappled the surface of the creeks with
nature, so you can develop slightly I scratchbuilt the bridges from pre- a coat of acrylic gloss medium.
different scenes that are both realistic stained stripwood and n.b.w. (nut-bolt-
and faithful to the prototype. As my washer) castings. Bear Creek
prototype, the Yosemite Valley RR, Next, I installed the bridges and I modeled the dense wild bamboo
left Merced in California’s San roughed in the scenery with plaster. covering the banks of the real Bear
Joaquin Valley and headed for I used real dirt to form the banks. Creek using Woodland Scenics field
Yosemite National Park, it quickly The water for Bear and Black grass (fig. 1). I applied it by cutting
crossed three creeks: Bear Creek at Rascal Creeks is casting resin that I small clumps and gluing it in place
milepost 1.35, Black Rascal at 1.90, poured in layers 1 ⁄8" to 1 ⁄4" deep. Since with white glue. This was tedious but
and Fahrens about a mile later at 2.70. Bear Creek is relatively deep (a scale produced the look I was after. While
Regardless of proximity, these 10 to 12 feet), I added color directly to there is a tendency for the material to
crossings are all unique. Bear Creek the casting resin, using brown and lean over, just keep pushing it up. As
has relatively uniform banks covered green tints for the first layers and the glue dries, it will finally hold
Fahrens Creek
Unlike Bear and Black Rascal
Creeks, Fahrens (fig. 3) is modeled as a
dry creek bed, typical of the Merced
area in mid-summer. I used Woodland
Scenics field grass to model the bull-
rushes along the creek banks, hot-
gluing it in place.
I made the cattails using short
pieces of fishing monofilament which Fig. 2 Black Rascal Creek. To complete the meandering creek scene, Jack
I’d dipped in white glue and allowed added a steer and muddy hoofprints to indicate its use as a watering hole.
to dry to form the heads. I then
painted the heads brown.
I used fine beach sand to form the
creek bottom and bonded it in place
with diluted white glue. I added the
sand after the field grass was in place,
which covered the hot glue.
Portions of the real Fahrens Creek
banks are covered with wild black-
berry vines. To model this, I made
small poly fiber balls, sprayed them
with hair spray, and covered them
with ground foam. I used a light
sprinkling of red foam to suggest
ripening blackberries. I cemented the
vines in place with white glue.
Modeling scenery accurately
requires no more than observing
nature and, sometimes, developing
techniques to reproduce what you
observe, which can be a relaxing Fig. 3 Fahrens Creek. To detail this dry creek bed, Jack included common
diversion from other layout projects. features such as cattails and bullrushes, as well as the cattle fence at left.