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how to build mountains cheap

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how to build mountains cheap
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 22, 2005 7:32 PM
i'm just looking for some cheap ways to build moutains... does anyone have any ideas?
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  • From: Metro East St. Louis
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Posted by simon1966 on Wednesday, June 22, 2005 8:04 PM
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=39527

Follow the above link to the exact same question that has been running for a couple of days on the main forum. There are several ideas listed that might be of help to you.

Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum

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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 22, 2005 8:05 PM
thanks

QUOTE: Originally posted by simon1966

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=39527

Follow the above link to the exact same question that has been running for a couple of days on the main forum. There are several ideas listed that might be of help to you.
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Posted by nickl02 on Friday, July 8, 2005 8:35 AM
Use the classic cardbord strips net / web method. Courogated cardboard is easy to find for free in recycling bins, beer stores, or any store in general that just unpacked a shippment. You can cut the cardboard into strips and build up an open cardboard frame for the landform. Y ou can then cover the the cardboard web with plaster soaked paper towels. This can become messy so make sure you cover your track where you are working.

Also, try using insulation foam. This can be found in large sheets at places like home depot. You can cut and stack this foam to form a rectangle or square of the desired hieght. Once youve done that, you can carve away. Using foam makes it easier to plant trees once you have completed the landform.
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Posted by RMax1 on Friday, July 8, 2005 11:49 AM
Newspaper balls wrapped in masking tape are good. Pile them up until you get the height you want. Then cover them with hydrocal cloth. Works great and is cheap.

RMax1
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Posted by jkeaton on Wednesday, July 13, 2005 12:51 PM
Bigger sheets of cardboard can be cut into profile boards, so you can have some more variety of slopes and angles in your cardboard strip and plaster towel mountains.

Jim
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Posted by cheese3 on Wednesday, July 13, 2005 1:53 PM
I use screen wire and joint compound. Just shape the wire to how you want and cover in joint compound.

Adam Thompson Model Railroading is fun!

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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, July 14, 2005 1:26 AM
I used foam board to create my mountains, and then used paper mache (news paper strips dipped in a flower/water mix.) It worked really well, and is very light, and cheap. all it cost me was 2 bucks for the flour. The foam board was free broken boards from the home improvement store, and the newspapers were old editions.
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Posted by rtstasiak on Thursday, July 14, 2005 2:28 PM
Another method is one that many real world railroads and cities use: turn your old high-side gondolas and wood chip cars into garbage haulers. Unload the refuse at the destination, compact it, and cover it with soil and grass when finished! There you have it: a railroad that scenics itself. Even though this response is a joke, there really are several landfill mountains supplied by rail in the US and Canada. Literally hundreds of carloads of garbage move through Buffalo, NY every week. Some even end up at the old Union Carbide dump in Niagara Falls, which is now "Mount Trashmore." What the heck, it pays the bills.
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 15, 2005 7:03 AM
What I used for my mountain was paper mache (Not sureon the spelling). What I did was crumble a few newspapers in a ball, I boiled some water mixed with flour. Put it in a huge salad bowl, (Warning: Ask wife or girlfriend first) I waited it to cool down a bit after boiling. I got Newspaper and tore strips off and dipped in the water/flour mix, and put it on the crumbled newspaper until I got my shapre I desired. It takes about 2 days to dry but talk about cheap.
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Posted by cheese3 on Friday, July 15, 2005 12:21 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by marcgabaldon

What I used for my mountain was paper mache (Not sureon the spelling). What I did was crumble a few newspapers in a ball, I boiled some water mixed with flour. Put it in a huge salad bowl, (Warning: Ask wife or girlfriend first) I waited it to cool down a bit after boiling. I got Newspaper and tore strips off and dipped in the water/flour mix, and put it on the crumbled newspaper until I got my shapre I desired. It takes about 2 days to dry but talk about cheap.


I tried that once it got all moldy a week after i did it.[xx(] Thats why I like the screen wire and joint compound

Adam Thompson Model Railroading is fun!

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