# Scenery and Layout



## coleys0 (Jun 22, 2012)

Hi Guys

Do you guys have any tips for making your own scenery, I have done some research myself and everyone seems to have their own prefered materials and techniques.

I am thinking of a country / mountian layout as I am looking to start with the basics and thought it would be a good idea to get the kids involved as I imagine it will be good fun.

Mountains dont seem to be hard with rolled up paper or cardboard as the frame and then covered in plaster which you sculpter. I'm looking to make the scenery entirely myself as the shop bought scenery is really expensive although I appreciate some things will need to be purchased from the shop like signals and other fine detail accersories.

So do you have any ideas for trees, grass and buildings, any ideas will be appreciated.

Thanks.


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

i know lots of people who use there own dirt or fine gravel from the backyard or whereever. Make sure you sift the dirt then run a magnet through the dirt as well.

I know a few people have made trees out of shrubs and what not, but im not exactly sure how they made this. 

I honestly think the woodland scenics fine turf for example goes a long way, but i do understand your point of trying to save money and use whats available from around the house, I basically build my benchwork for my layout with what was available from around my house.


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## new3801 (May 25, 2012)

Mate, greetings from "Down Under" and in the same situation as you.

To start with you have ventured into the right forum for asking questions as you have, as there is so many members here in the very hallowed forum who will be more that eager to assist.

With that said here are some of what I am doing on my layout.
What I have stated below is what " I DO" and it works for me...
Believe me this is only some of the idea's that I use, I am quiet confident that many more will add the way they do things as this post progresses.
So many things can be done and with little expence.

Will add some pictures *if you want *so you can see for yourself.

You Need, 
A good sharp craft knife, 
White glue, is cheap and readily available in good sized containers from Craft Shops or the local newsagents. Good to use as it can be thinned with water and little bit goes a long way
Also can be used to glue balsa, foam etc together, but not good at all for plastics kits.
Poster Paints, yes the very same as you used when you were at school.
Can use oil paints as well for finerd detrails.

Buildings:
Make your own out of balsa. Very simple to use, cut and paint.
Can build any size or shape of building. If you have a building you need to put up against a wall then only make the front fasard. 
Or seeing your in the UK, you could look at plastic kits made by *Dapol*, very cheap and easy to use. I bought some cut them in half for one of my towns, The towns called Dapol by the way for obvious reasons.

Scenery;
As has ben delude to by another member of the hallowed forum, garden dirt and sand. Use river sand and not beach sand (SALT content) 
You can add small sized rocks found on the side of the road or pieces of slate.
Blend these together with plaster and there you are.

Tree's & Grass etc.
Look at using "HERB"S" brought from the local grocers. Mint etc comes in large packets and very cheap. Good for ground cover etc. Various types of herbs give different effects, depends on what you want and many different colours as well.

Tree's, go to the local car wreckers and purchase some old wiring harness's from wrecks. Its a bit hard to explain here but you cut the wire into various sized lengths, depends on how big you want the tree, then strip the plastic cover off. Wire wrap the bottom of the strip (so it doesnt unravel), from the top take one piece of wire at a time and bend them out to form branches, and then cover in strips of cotton wool and paint. Drill a hole in the base board to the size of the wire, Dob of white glue into the hole, insert tree say no more. 
Done right get top looking "Willow tree's'". 
Hedges are easy. just find some foam or green scouring pads (ones used for cleaning pots & pans) cut into strips and paint if needed in water colours and there is your hedge. 
Fences, use match sticks (Buy packets of them from craft shops). Use sewing cottom as the wire and caefully glue cotton to match sticks.

Cuttings, cliffs etc.
Go to your local "Electical" outlet. See if ther have any foam inserts from the boxes that contained DVD Players, TV's etc etc, Cut into shape with the kraft knife glue down with white glue and paint. Depend on how you cut the foam you can get a rough edge and looks not to bad when painted.
Also you can get it in big enough sizes to use for your hills etc without the need for crumpled news paper. Just size (can use wood working files here) shape glue down and cover with plaster.
And another advantage is that you can cut & shape the foam "outside" as you go to get the right shape perfect before you fit where it belongs & cover with plaster. 
Be wared though, the foam is very easily "statically/electrically charged" and will stick to you, so use a vacum cleaner against the area your cutting/filing so you dont get bits of foam all over the place. Thats why I said to do the cutting and shaping outside.

Like I said this is not a definitive list by any means.

What I do and works for me.....

Good luck and always here to assist..


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## coleys0 (Jun 22, 2012)

Hi New3801

Thanks for your reply, you have definately given me some ideas and tips I like the idea with the herbs I would never have thought of that I assume you mean dried herbs? Definately put some pictures up so we can see your progress and how you did it.

I have seen buildings that come in paper kit form which you add the paper cut outs to cardboard, have you had any experiance with these and are they any good, they seem cheap enough about five english pounds.

I'm still at the stage of sourcing a board for the layout at the moment and gathering materials so mine is very much in the planning stages, a friend of mine gave me the tip of using pipe cleaners for tree trunks and branches also wooden lollipop sticks for fences and gates.


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## new3801 (May 25, 2012)

coleys0 said:


> Hi New3801
> 
> Thanks for your reply, you have definately given me some ideas and tips I like the idea with the herbs I would never have thought of that I assume you mean dried herbs? Definately put some pictures up so we can see your progress and how you did it.
> 
> ...


Sorry forgot to ask, but is the layout to be in *HO Gauge *?????

Yes sorry should have mentioned "Dried Herbs"

Me personally have tried "Paper buildings" but they didnt work for me.
Have seen some absolutly fantstic ones built by others but I just cant get them to work for me hence, the balsa or Dapol kits.

My frame is built on what I found around the house, but please dont cut corners when building it, as others will agree.

A layout really needs 3 elements to be "as pefect" as possible for good train running.

A good solid base, which can be made at a cheap cost,
The track must be free from "hickup's and the electrical wiring.

For the frame I used a combination of 40mm Box steel or 4x1" hard wood.
Had a heap of old right angle brackets to join every thing together.

I put bolts on the bottom of the legs so I could get all the sections dead level.

For my base I used interior doors.
Sounds funny but found a heap of brand new ones super cheap at a Salvage yard.

They are light easy to move very adapatable.
They have a 1" X 1" frame covered in masonite and a honey comb of heavy duty carboard inside.

You need to give them a good undercoat first, this stops any moisture from attacking the "door" when you come to plastering.

I have cut rivers and ponds etc into the top with a craft knife and then plastered the sides. Very simple very easy to do.

Buy using a hand drill and a 10mm wood bit, drill holes into the top and there is the hole to put your match sticks into for fencing etc.

Honestly could keep going here for ages.
So might be better to do a quick video and post it up later on today for you.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Tips to make your own trees ...

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=9037

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=8600

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=7136

TJ


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## Armchair (Feb 21, 2011)

*Home made scenery material*

I am late coming to the thread but will throw out some more ideas. The kids may have as much fun making the material as you do saving the money. I also like to try using what I have around the house, sort of a challenge.

I have a 10 part clinic on scenery and hill/valley building. I use sawdust, pea gravel, sand, dirt, twigs, etc.

My blog is http:
//armchairmodeling.blogspot.com Look at "Building a Diorama" and "Micro Diorama" Also the 5'x10' club Layout series.


*Armchair*


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## Prospect193 (Nov 30, 2011)

heres a good site to get some great tips!!!

http://www.lauriegreensweb.com/Casting/casting.html

Pat


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## Carl (Feb 19, 2012)

Pat.......great link for making casting, thank you.

If someone is planning on use dirt or sand from their yard or elsewhere, not only run a magnet over it but also cook it in the oven. This is to kill any micro-organism that may exists. Best to do this when your wife is not in the house.


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