I have made my first hill out of foam. I plan on covering it with a layer of Sculptamold to smooth it out. I welcome any feedback.
Richard
Richard:
Unless you are planning rock outcrops, the sculptamold is not necessary.
A thick layer of earth tone latex paint, with ground foam sprinkled into the wet paint is simple to apply, and makes it easy to apply trees at a later time.
Dave
That's a darn good first effort. Getting the slopes natural looking is the trick and harder than it looks.
I'd just say to think bigger. There's as lot of space between it and the tracks. I've found that making sure hills and cuts block at least some of the view of the tracks, it adds to the illusion of distnace and going somewhere. Having a ridge that recahes over toward the trcaks, maybe is even bisected by the tracks, would be a great next step depedning on your plans.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Mike,
Thanks for the suggestion. The hill is still loose, I could always add another layer or two.
BTW, as far as planting trees, I've found a thin layer of Sculptamold helps keep trees planted. It's a little more trouble to start a hole, but an icepick or awl will do the trick. Sometimes in foam only, the tree is too easy to loosen. It is more work, but after 7,000+ trees that's what works for me.
What do you plan to do w/ the remainder of the "flat' area surrounding the hill? If the entire inside is to be only scenery, lay another base of foam to gain the appearance of differing humps/ bumps of the grade. Sculptamold, ground goop can do the same with randomly placed cut sections of foam. You just need to break up that hill uniformly "popping" out of otherwise totally flat terrain. The added sheet of foam will allow for some carving below the new base if desired.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
Bob,
I am loosely basing my layout on the southwest where hills do just pop up in the middle of the flat land. (Has to do with the volcanic history of the area.) Having said that, I am going to make the hill larger to fill more of the area and will have it span the track. Hopefully it will make it blend in a little better.
All, thanks for all of the kind words and suggestions. I enjoy picking your brains.
mlehmanI'd just say to think bigger. There's as lot of space between it and the tracks. I've found that making sure hills and cuts block at least some of the view of the tracks, it adds to the illusion of distnace and going somewhere. Having a ridge that recahes over toward the trcaks, maybe is even bisected by the tracks, would be a great next step depedning on your plans.
Just to add to Mike's comment, another illusion you can create with the hill is an explaination for the curve in the track. A curve to avoid a hill looks better than a curve to avoid the edge of the layout.
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
I have to agree the hill is to small, take it in closer to the track as well with A rock cut if you have to.
Your train needs to apear and disapear in part and in full at different places just like it does in the real world so it looks like it's going somewhere
Even if you have no plans to run one I sugest geting one of the monster High cube freight cars the biggest comercialy avalable is the one you want.
Set your cearances so it can just get through with the minimum space you can get away with having done that anything you plan to normaly run should not have any problems getting round the layout.
And no embarising moments when model railroading friends visit.
Corrugated packing box card board and other card odds and ends cut in contours like found on a map stacked two or three layers high will once covered in plaster or other similar product will provide the subtle lumps and bumps needed for flat ground which in reality is not very flat at all
The only dead flat areas will be in the towns and man made even then there will probably be some variations in level.
regards John
John,
Generally, I agree with flat areas being relatively more broken up when looked at closely. But since Richard is modeling what he's seeing around Mesa (just outside of Phoenix, Arizona) there really are pretty darn flat areas with hills and mountains that pop up from otherwise boring flatness.
I think Carl's comment is a very apt one for adding more topography, as it's a really useful thing to have something other than the edge of the benchwork causing your track to curve away. This would certainly be the case with even isolated hills if the RR was moving in that general direction across generally falt terrain as the right of way would duck around, rather than try to surmount such an obstacle.
mlehmanthere really are pretty darn flat areas with hills and mountains that pop up from otherwise boring flatness.
Hey, it's not all that boring. We can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles.
I am not as concerned about this loopback being hidden or disguised. It is a temporary section that is there so I can run my mainline as I extend the layout. It is designed to be modular and will be attached to the end as it grows. The mountain began as an experiment to learn on before I tackle the more formidable mountain that is part of the permanent layout. Here I am truly trying to hide the loopback. Obviously it is currently just roughed out. My intent is not to have the train go through an Inca temple.
You're going to have one monster of a cliff with that one!
RideOnRoadHey, it's not all that boring. We can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles.Headphones Wink
Yeah, definitely did not mean to diss Arizona terrains and landscapes. It just seemed the flat spots were boring to me as a kid. We lived in Mesa during one of my dad's two assignments to Williams AFB during the early 1960s and I loved AZ's mix of views.
Hello All,
Great sculpting!
I don't know if I agree that it needs to be larger. Rather than having it centered in the loop you might want to move it to the left and towards the tracks in the bottom of the first photo.
In the second photo I see potential for a body of water or, depending on the base material, an Arroyo.
With the Arroyo you could also model culverts or bridges that pass over it as it meanders across the desert floor.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
mlehmanYou're going to have one monster of a cliff with that one!
Actually, the camera makes it look steeper than it is. The slope averages around 80% (m=0.8, for you geometry folks), or about 30 degrees, similar to the grade of the other hill.
jjdamnitIn the second photo I see potential for a body of water or, depending on the base material, an Arroyo. With the Arroyo you could also model culverts or bridges that pass over it as it meanders across the desert floor.
Excellent suggestion! The base is 1" foam so I can dig out an arroyo. (That's a dry wash, for you non-desert folk.) Since I have already laid the track, I don't want to try to retrofit a bridge, but a culvert would be perfect.
Hi mlehman
Sounds a little bit like the Nullabour plain except no mountains or trees
In which case the lumps and bumps need to be far more subtle and should follow the same method only using nothing thicker than corn flakes box card, for the two or three contoured layer lumps and bumps.
it's worth the effort I know I have done it on several layouts.
I most certainly agree with the board edge comments falling off the edge of the know world, is visualy not a good look for curving the railway away from the edge.
Mind you its a good excuse for a fun road warning sign I saw once it said caution model railway ends, It did not register at first as it was for the layout a correct patern road warning sign
Well, I have gone bigger. I need to let all of the glue dry, then I will cut out the section for the track. Also, the hill now extends beyond the edge of the layout. I am much happier with the look. Thanks for all of the help.
Oh, YEAH!
In an effort to keep any interested parties up-to-date, here is the latest on my hill. I bought a Woodland Scenics foam cutter to use to make the cut out. To determine the correct location of the cut out, I pressed the hill down onto the track which scored the foam with the location of the tracks. I bisected the foam in between the track lines, then used an adjustable square to score the foam 3/4" from the track line. (I chose 3/4" as a starting point. I figured it was easier to cut off more foam that to try to add on later.) The foam cutter was amazing and here are the results.
The cutout is barely wide enough for my passenger cars, so it is going to need to be widened. I am going to add castings to the interior walls so once I determine the width of the castings, I will widen the cut out to accomidate the castings with a bit more room to spare. (This will also be my first experience with castings. Wish me luck. )
You are making really good progress and should end up with some nice results. As you are making your cut a wider give the sides a little slope to add to the realism of your rock outcrops.
Joe
Richard, great progress, do remember to allow sufficient side clearances on both sides of the cut. The sections may be just test fit now, but it appears rather tight. Also, the sides of the cut could be slightly angled. Do you plan on carving the foam or adding rock castings? If you are using castings you need to allow for added clearance. Tore out a cut once, encroached on the track too much.
That's looking pretty dang good. Just keep checking your clearances as you progress...
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
This is a very interesting thread. Watching things develop and improve has been very informative. Thanks for sharing.
By the way, you have proven that 'bigger is better'!
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Thanks to everyone for the positive comments and suggestions. I will keep you posted as I progress. Unfortunately travel for work is keeping me away from the layout for a few days.
It has been awhile but I have made a little progress on my hill cutout. Here is the proof.
With life, somethings go slowly.
Coming along nicely!
It looks great to me! One of my pet peeves with using foam is the joints between the layers showing through and even though the layers of scenery. You have a fairly smooth hill, I would make sure that no layers of foam would be visible by using Ground Goop; or, Sculpt-a-Mold to fill the cracks. In this case, I guess I'm a bit more fussy than some. I like the cut through the hill you've made. Like Dave said: You're coming along nicely!
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/