# Ideas to practice scenery skills



## FzCruzer (Dec 24, 2016)

Hello all,

I am currently in the development stage of my layout and am having fun already conducting research and learning new things.

I am pretty comfortable with building the bench work, wiring and most other aspects of the hobby with the exception of the scenery. I am a builder, tinkerer, mechanical type of person and the detailed cosmetic skills have always been a weakness that I have.

Seeing the amazing work that you have shared here, on the internet, and seeing very impressive layouts in person, a high bar has been set.

I am thinking about a way to learn and try different techniques that don't require a lot of wasted resources and provide a final product, instead of using scrap material and doing one thing at a time.

The layout that I am planning has a lower level staging area that will not have scenery and will not be readily visible but accessible. I am thinking of building pullouts, drawers basically that will be 12"x12" or 24"X12" or similar size. This small area would be big enough to experiment with, but not too large to consume a lot of material or time.

The front of these drawer(s), one or two, would be clear in the front and be visible, when the drawer is pushed in the track that is in the drawer would line up with a track in the staging area.

This would provide a stage, or diorama that would allow me to practice creating depth, merging of backdrop and 3 dimensional objects on the layout, building of trees, water or whatever, and would have the ability to run a train through it. I could put structures in them that will be used on the layout, or not. 

I think the controlled small space will let me play with lighting, forced perspective and viewing angle much easier than trying to learn these skills on the layout itself. 

It would also allow me to do detail work when I feel like it, while I am still building the rest of the layout.

Any thoughts?
Rob,


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## tr1 (Mar 9, 2013)

*Some ideas to practice scenery skills*

A few years ago Model Railroader came up with the "Hard Shell
Scenery Technique" And"Zip Texturing" for producing a landscape.
I believe it was around the time of the mid 70's. This process
can get somewhat messy if care is not taken. So cover up your tracks
and roadbed with some kind of tape.
This process employed Hydrolcal; A casting plaster, and the use of paper toweling.It is dipped into the plaster and water mixture.
Try googling "Hard shell";"Lynn westcott";"Zip Texturing" for
instructions. You can make rock face castings and use ceiling
tiles for rock strata.
When the plaster has set mineral oil and oil paint washes or water base washes from woodland scenic (WS) are applied with a
brush slopped on.Most applied washes/ colors are in the burnt umber and other earth toned paints Black paint is not really
recommended,maybe a grayish color.Now good luck with your
:hah:landscaping washes!(another wash technique is applying in a Zebra like pattern of washes. You'll have to experiment,( trial and error and so on). Good luck there with this! Regards,tr1


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## J.C. (Dec 24, 2016)

FzCruzer said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I am currently in the development stage of my layout and am having fun already conducting research and learning new things.
> 
> ...


if there is a modular club near you might think about joining it as you would have only a 2 by 4 area to practice on.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I have made several dioramas to practice on, or even to do something (winter scenes) that has no place on my layout. It's a good idea.

Also, though, nothing says that your first layout has to be the permanent, lifetime one. Many of us make a disposable layout, that never-the-less survives for several years, on which we hone our techniques before beginning the masterpiece.


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

You could try this technique. I'm going to try it soon.






My history has been with using aluminium window screen covered with goop. The screen is cut to size and hot-glued to small wooden risers to give it some contours or shape. Then I mix the goop and layer it about 1/2"-3/4" thick over the screen, mixing many batches.

The goop comprises one part Portland cement, two parts plaster of Paris, a pinch of masonry dye of your choice, and three parts fine-ground vermiculite. Here is how it turns out, including carved once it is just cool to the touch and nearly dry. Spray it with a dilute white or yellow glue solution and blow or shake ground foam grasses and flocking of your choice (at least two, better with three types):










Here is an outdoors diorama I built using the same technique, but with the goop slathered over extruded foam:

(The entire diorama is on a 4' shelf)










Here is a tall rock-face I carved out of the goop and then stained and painted:










It goes easier than it may seem without ever having tried it. It's quite intuitive.


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## Nikola (Jun 11, 2012)

mesenteria said:


> You could try this technique. I'm going to try it soon.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvM1XyxC8Bs
> 
> ...


Wow! That is fantastic.


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

Making a micro layout for starters is a brilliant idea FzCruzer. It gives you a chance to hone your skills in just about every aspect of model railway building and because you can see results quickly you don't get bogged down and give up. 

Here's a guy that only used to build these types of layout.
http://www.carendt.com You're sure to find some good ideas here. Keep us posted.


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Wow, I just had fun with it knowing my limitations with certain things so I wasn't expecting an a plus in my scenery. I did do an ok job, I did look up everything I wanted to do, and I did get a nice looking layout the first time around. I used hard foam board for bases and grades. I then added some plaster so I could paint it. I found some surf at the dollar store that was useful, other stuff came from the yard! As with everything if you don't like it , re due it! And the key is all in the planning. Make sure you have a focus on what you want and where it will go. Adding a building afterwards where there isn't room for it can be a pain. But if you anticipate buying it, you could leave that spot as a field


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Small diooramas yes Drawers linning up track no.*



FzCruzer said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I am currently in the development stage of my layout and am having fun already conducting research and learning new things.
> 
> ...


FzCruzer;

First scenery is easy. In fact it's one of the easiest parts of the hobby. That said, your hesitation Re: scenery is understandable, and very common among new ( and sometimes not-so-new) model railroaders. Don't be so hard on yourself that you demand perfect scenery on your first attempt. Think about the first time you rode a bicycle, or the first time you drove a car. Did you do it perfectly those first times? Like anything else, it takes practice. That's where your idea of starting out small, is wise. I don't think your proposed idea of building any track in a drawer, and expecting the rail ends of tracks inside and outside that drawer to line up exactly is wise at all. Yes, it could be done, but it will be anything but easy! Add to that the fact that this will be Only semi visible/accessible track below the layout; and that there will be multiple places where the rail ends will always need to be lined up so perfectly that trains don't derail, and you have the proverbial "recipe for disaster." I would strongly recommend taking the advice that several have given you. Build some small section, on or off your main layout and practice scenery techniques on it, 
Scenery has been made much easier by the introduction of extruded foam insulation board to model railroading. You simply cut the foam to the general shape (hill, riverbed, whatever) that you want and then use a "Shureform" rasp to shape it. Paint, dirt, and ground foam, are sprinkled on; and then fastened down with dilute white glue and water. This method takes a lot less work, and is less messy, than the older plaster hard shell technique. (Keep a shop vac handy though. The foam produces plenty of dust.) 
There are several books on scenery available. You might want to check out this site. https://kalmbachhobbystore.com/products/books there is also bound to be a lot of info available online. You can also look at the "My Layout" section of this forum. Some of the scenery is pretty basic. and other examples are better. On the Beginner's Q&A" section of this forum, I have a post called "Model Railroading on a Budget". Part of it deals with scenery materials, and that may interest you.
Be aware; none of us started out with great scenery! I remember using iridescent green, course textured, grass paper and "mountain paper" (paper with a sort of camouflage pattern printed on it and shiny glitter semi-attached to it. You crumpled this gaudy stuff up, and it was supposed to look like a mountain! Mercifully I think it is no longer made!) on one of my early layouts. I thought it was great at the time! As the photos below suggest, I may have learned a thing or two over the years.

Regards;

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


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## FzCruzer (Dec 24, 2016)

Thank you all for the advice. I am going to scrap the drawer idea, but am going to try some small stuff first before doing big projects on the layout.

I have found a wealth of information online, they all make it look easy.

I am going back through my layout plan now with an eye towards the scenery instead of just the track so hopefully things will come together in the end.


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

Scenery was something I was leery about till I got started, turns out it's easier and 
more fun than I thought it would be. 
You're getting a good start doing small scenes first.
The ideas will come sort of naturally once you get started.
Good luck with it.

Magic


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