Making a tunnel/mountain

[mistyk11]

My son and I are currently making a tunnel/mountain for his train set. We are using a cardboard box shaped with newspaper and cardboard then laying the plaster cloth over it. Keep in mind, this is our first attempt at making scenery and it's for a 7 yr old and his "Area 51" layout. We are finishing up with the plaster cloth however I need some advice on what materials to proceed with next. What have other people used to cover the plaster cloth (like what type of paint or texturing) have you found the easiest to use? We would like to make it look like a mountain on top of the tunnel and we are looking for ways to make it "realistic" looking but not quite to the extent of Model railroading. I'm looking for any ideas that are easy to use (I definitely do NOT have a career at making scenery!) and will look nice-something that will help to not make it look like a lumpy covered box...... 

[alexweiihman]

Hello, There are many teqnices to make mountains and other scenery, I would recomend piking up one of kalbachs modelrailroading guides which would not only help you with the mountains but everthing else.

[trainbrain]

What I've done using the plaster cloth is to use crumpled up newspaper softened with some water just to make it shapable(New word??) and then put the cloth on to reinforce the shape.  After it dries, I put on latex caulking, applying it with a wet brush to smooth it around and make some rock edges  while covering the plaster cloth.  When it dries,  it's easy to paint and apply ground foam and stick trees into with a little glue.  The caulking is cheap and provides a firm but flexible shell. 

[Anonymous]

I use Sculptamold (available at arts & crafts stores) as a final landscape layer over the plaster cloth. It's a plaster-like material, but is not a true plaster.  VERY easy to mix and work with, and dries/hardens slowly enough so you have plenty of working time.  It forms a hard and light surface when dry, and can be carved, sawed, painted, etc.  Easy to clean up with water if you happen to get some where you don't want it to go.  I've been using this stuff for many years, and have always liked it. 

I still use Hydrocal (or some similar product) for casting rock faces, but it's easy to blend the completed rockwork into the terrain by adding Sculptamold to gaps that invariably occur when blending cast rock faces with the surrounding area.

[mistyk11]

Ok, the info on the sculptamold is what I'm looking for. I looked for that today at our local craft store but couldn't remember the name of it. I will have to go back to see if Michael's carries it. I have a scenery book that tells the basics about using the plaster cloth and sculptamold however it didn't show what the sculptamold looked like so that threw me off. This is all new to me and before we got the train set, I rarely ever stepped foot into craft stores, much less actually used this stuff!

[mickey4479]

mistyk11:  I used the method that you are using to make the attached.  I try to maintain the basic edges and corners of a box to help me keep things square and flat for the corners and sides that rest against a wall.  Then I build a substructure out of card board glued to that basic box.  The montains are 4 separate sections because of the size.  Creating them was a fun challenge, required planning and engineering a design.  Results may vary depending on your artistry and talent.  Mine are OK.  I' ve certainly seen better.  But they work for me.  Good luck on yours. 

[mistyk11]

Wow, that is quite a mountain range! Ok, well that gives me hope that I'm at least heading in the right direction with it. I can tell you that mine isn't quite going to be that detailed but it gives me a reference point. What type of paint did you use? Not necessarily the colors but the type of paint. Is it just the standard crafting paint or did you start with a spray paint base? And to attach the trees and plants do you just push it into the sculptamold or are they glued down?

[mickey4479]

After I finished the plaster step and was certain that the plaster was completely dry, I had very white mountains.  I had a lot more to make too.  To paint, I took the components outside, put them together as they would be on the layout and used cheap flat primer spray paints.  (rust red, gray, light brown and black, and a little earth brown near the ground and areas for trees and brush)  To paint, I stood 3 to 4 feet away and just did broad quick strokes of those colors, trying to keep the basic tone light so the colors are highlighted by white patches.  I did not spray every inch of the mountains but did more of an overspray.  I did a little experimenting on previous mountains so I had some confidence that it would look pretty continuous color wise.  On a few occasions I would take pieces down to the layout to look at the colors in that lighting.  The type and intensity of room light are important factors in how the colors will appear.

For the evergreen trees, they are really not much, just cheap after Christmas wreath material, cut up in varying lengths and hot glued to the surface.  If they come loose, I just heat up the glue and replant.  The other trees are pieces of artificial leafy material from Hobby Lobby.  This is my favorite tunnel.

[mistyk11]

mickey4479, thank you so much for your information. That was exactly what I was needing in order to proceed with our mountain. Your tunnel is awesome looking, I can only hope that someday we'll be skilled enough (and patient enough!) to have a mountain range like that. I found that Joann's crafts carries the sculptamold so I will be heading there tomorrow to pick some up. I have a "rock" that we experimented with the plaster cloth on so I will try the sculptamold and paint on it so we can see how it turns out before we use it on the tunnel so I can get a feel for the coloring, etc.