Sencery

[Anonymous]

I am thinking about what to use to make sencery on my layout and was wondering what method is easiest and is best for the Western Oklahoma praries. Thanks !!

[Anonymous]

You might be opening a can of worms with this one. There are several methods in use for producing scenery and each method has its advocates. I would suggest you take a small piece of plywood and try several of the methods reported in the model railroading press, then chose the one that is easiest for you, and gives the results you are looking for. Just do it your way, and enjoy.

Steam is not just for heat.

Tom

[Jetrock]

Western Oklahoma is pretty flat, I reckon (kindly correct me if I'm wrong--I've never been there), so scenery shouldn't be too difficult--unless you want to do lots of things below track level (like a bridge over a river or gully) you might be able to just lay track on roadbed onto your plywood (or tabletop surface of choice) and just lay down Sculptamold to represent gently rolling hills and valley floor.

If you want something a bit more 3-D, foam scenery might be a good choice.

[trollw]

Growing up in Oklahoma and living/working in Texas, my experience is that it should be pretty simple, especially if you are modelling July /August: 1) get a piece of plywood, 2) sprinkle on some ground foam for grass (but only cover about 15% of the surface), 3) take a can of spray paint and paint the whole thing brown. VOILA, you are done.[:D]

[Anonymous]

Hey, I've been to Western Oklahoma, and it's not completely flat. I've heard that if you drop a marble in Oklahoma City, it will roll all the way to the Texas panhandle. So you'll want to tilt your layout to the west, just a little.

m

[Anonymous]

I was told by a gentleman in a home center that he uses drywall joint compound over aluminum window screen. this seems very easy, no mixing and long working time, no ru***o use what's mixed before it cures. But it doesn't seem very strong or durable. Any comments?

[Anonymous]

I use joint compound a lot, but I mix it in with Cell-U-Clay brand papier-mache (and I add in other things like dirt and paint or ink), and I place this over an expanded foam substrate. This results in a fairly soft surface (it is not a self-supporting shell) which doesn't possess the brittleness of straight gypsum. The problem I see with aluminum screen is that you must make sure you get genuine aluminum, so that you can sculpt it into shape; most screen these days is plastic and won't hold a shape. As long as the screen holds its own, I think the joint compound will work, but it will have a tendency to crack and chip. The papier-mache admixture would reduce this tendency (as well as reduce the weight, if that is a concern). The expanding foam I use comes in a can and is sold in hardware stores ("Great Stuff") for insulating the cracks around doors and windows. I just have so much fun sculpting with it, because it comes out kinda random and you end up creating all sorts of "happy accidents" (as painter Bob Ross would say).

[snowey]

get 1 or more of the EXELLENT "how-to" books on scenery from KALMBACH PUBLISHING. They're avalible from your LHS (Local Hobby Shop), online through a number of dealers, or at WWW.KALMBACH.COM/BOOKS A good one is "EASY MODEL RAILROAD SCENERY" by Dave Frary.

[Anonymous]

I was viewing these comments and they all seem to have great ideas. I have used drywall mud a lot on most of my layouts, ( I've modeled HO , N and G Scales from time to time over the years) and it does tend to make a layout very heavy. I have usually cut strips from cardboard boxes about 1 to 2 inches wide then hot glue them into place on the layout then use plastic window screen dipped in drywall mud draped over the strips. (Messy but it does make decent scenery)
I have tryed using 4' x 8' sheets of Foam a couple of times and was never very proficient at making it look like scenery though I have seen some great layouts that others have made by using it. I have thought about using expanding foam from a can and one of your responders highly recomends it. (should keep down the weight quite a bit) (maybe I'll try his idea on my next layout).
Another item I have used sucessfully on my layouts for scenery is large chunks of tree bark layed in layers horizontally (or otherwise) then airbrushed for making different stratas of rock layers.

But these are just ideas for you to consider. use them if you want .