Pulh-ease keep this thread going with pics? Especially from those who use plywood bench tops as opposed to foam? Foam makes all of this much easier but I've just never been able to "warm up" to the material. Just a traditionalist at heart, I guess. Nice work everyone. I personally would include using rock work in place of or as the facia in this same vein and we seem to rarely see pics of that technique to build up the vertical aspects of layouts here. Anyone?
Raised on the Erie Lackawanna Mainline- Supt. of the Black River Transfer & Terminal R.R.
Thanks for all the advice and especially for posting pictures. It makes it much easier to see examples.
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I think you're on the right track when you said you could build up areas with sculptamold , keeping your 'building' sites level. To me that is the easiest way to handle the problem. My layout, like yours, is on a 2 inch foam base, and I try to keep that level, but here and there I've built up a level spot using foamcore board (you could use anything that wouldn't warp over time) to have an elevated spot for a structure of some type. I'm a fan of the Ground Goop school of scenery and I use it to make ditches, uneven slopes and the like. If you really want to place buildings on a hillside Mr. B posted a good example of this above.
The small industrial area on my layout in this photo is all on level foamcore, but the little lake and use of uneven ground made with ground goop more or less disguises the flatness a bit.
Doing this with a flat city/town area is a little harder but the concept is the same.
Jarrell
In architectural modeling (I teach HS architectural drafting & design), we often use a series of irregular iso-forms to represent changes in elevation around a structure, generally using foamcore. These often represent built-up terrain to a certain grade line, above which the structure is built.
If you draw (or have drawn) a diagram of your layout- or the urban portion- you can sketch out a similar series of "islands of elevation change" both positive and negative from the tabletop level. Using various scenery materials, you can then insert minor elevation differences- even making one city block go up a bit from horizontal- and increase the visual interest in that city area.
Cedarwoodron
Critical concept that is overlooked by many is that railroads are typically about 4-8 feet above most of the surrounding terrain for drainage. About half to one third of the area should be below the railroad as above the railroad. Making some parts lower makes the higher parts seem higher.
Scenically if you wer going to build on 2" foam, I would put a layer of 1/2 or 1" foam over the 2" foam, then cut away the thinner layer where the tracks or industries weren't. Then do all my scenery based on the datum of the top of the 2" foam.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
The only town on my Yuba River Sub that isn't actually 'off set' so to speak, is Sierra City, at the bottom of the Sierra Buttes. Though the town itself is a 'flat' surface, it's surrounded by mountain peaks and canyons, so that the effect is that of a town that was built on the only level surface in the area.
Hope this helps. Only the main street of the town itself is flat, everything else is on a series of foam risers.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
Whenever I mix up any plaster or whatever I use the leftover and spread it around the flat area's to give it a little elevation. You can also take small scraps of foam, like 8x8 inches, and slice it down to 1/2 or 1/4 inch. glue it down with caulk and them use your foam tools to blend it into the surrounding area.
Kelly
www,finescale360.com
I use flat-top (currently 16" wide shelving) as benchwork, but I use Woodland Scenics foam risers under all the track. Even "flat" areas get 1/2" risers. I use flat foam pieces under buildings. That way the rest of the scenery is usually a little above or below track level.
This is from the City Classics web site. It's the portable layout they take to shows:
It shows the option of "stair-stepping" your structures up a hill, and also a retaining wall to give you a fast level change down to a rail line or waterway. This sort of scene can also be done with row houses.
On my own layout, I keep my cityscapes relatively flat, but surround them with elevated and depressed terrain. In the real world, towns would have been built on flat areas anyway, so doing this actually follows prototype.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
One good trick I use to break up flat spaces is to cut in an underpass for a highway or a road. Small bridge (on the flat) with a road below. If you have a river, add a small hill (or change the height of one side) on one side even if you need a cut for the right of way.
If you have some land contours just outside your building area, a river or a hill, it breaks up the flatness, even if your buildings are built on a flat surface. Sidewalks and such also help. Using buildings of different height makes it much less obvious. If you want, you could take a piece of 2" foam, shim one end of it up an inch or so. When you make your foundations they would have to be wedge shaped so your buildings set level. Even though you had a flat surface it would be sloped. Then add shape to the edges of your sloped piece.
Just some thoughts.
Good luck,
Well, what I am doing, or going to do, is carve down into my blue foam base. My benchwork is sections that can be moved, and the surface is one inch blue foam glued to Luan. I then laid my roadbed and track on the foam surface.
When the time comes to work on the land contours in some of the flat areas, I plan on carving down in some ares and building up other areas for a slight rolling hills effect. Once the rough carving is done, I am planning to use 'ground goop' to cover it all with and smooth it out. This is the first time I am using foam so I hope it works. I don't see why it shouldn't.
Right now I have been working in my city and yard areas, so I have only carved a river in at the end of my loco facilities. About half my layout is city and industrial area, and the other half is country with a few mountainous areas. I haven't got to the country areas yet.
This photo shows one of my industries that will be on a hill beside the mainline. A siding goes up to it on the left. A foundation under the building will be added as represented by the wood block to bring the buildings main floor to the siding track level. The existing contour is just a rough shape so far. The hill will continue up on the left behind the industry siding.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
just a quick bump, i'd love to see and read more about this
Ray (from the frozen tundra that is MN)
hi Uhlrich and Aralai,
already 50 years ago, i am that old, i was reading Miniaturbahnen. I bought one of their publications, called Anlagen Fibel(1962). The main theme: never use a table top; a lot of scenery is below track level.
It will be to late to change it now, you could build up terraces of foam, and scrape away the non needed parts.
Paul
Looking at the prototype situation around my neighborhood, which is, superficially, level, I would say that you should build up from the flat with thin layers of material. Bare land, even land which has been leveled with a bulldozer, typically has little heaps of built-up dirt. The land slopes, gently or not so gently, toward watercourses. In many places, development has completely re-contoured the ground - once-hilly urban areas are now almost totally flat. Your observation about building up to curb and then 'beyond the curb' level is valid. If you can't provide obvious water courses in town, provide storm drains and manholes in the streets.
If your tracks have been laid on roadbed to raise them above the base surface, then adding additional height to the surrounding area should be no problem. Digging into the foam will only be necesary if your track has been laid directly on it.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Well, the easiest way to achieve a plausible terrain is to put "level" surfaces only where your track buildings and roads go. If you put the trackbed on risers, you even have the chance to go below track level. Unfortunately, most of us start with some sort of a flat table (me too)...
I have been successful in making terrain outside of my 'town' and 'city' areas - valleys, cuts, etc, but am faced with having my town on completely flat foamboard.
When I look at what seems to be flat land in towns in reality, land is almost NEVER flat. I'm looking for advice on the best way to avoid that 'table-top' flat look in my town area.
The land needs to be fairly flat and even, but I'd like it to be as realistic as possible.
It seems that starting to carve up flat foamboard may not be the best approach. I'm thinking that perhaps using the foamboard as the base for the roads, and adding curbs and then building up some spots with Sculptamold and carving out things like drainage ditches etc might work.
Any experience with success in this? Photos appreciated if you have them...