Help With Mountain and Portal

[Anonymous]

Hi
I am building my first mountain and need alittle advice since I am building it as a gift for someone. I am building off a life like mountain (one of those prefab ones). I am in the process of painting it and adding the underbrush, lichen,
etc to it so that it is more realistic. I would like to add 2 tunnel portals to it so
it appears more realistic. The train set is a lionel O gauge

I have no experience in trains so any advice will be greatly appreciated.
My questions are

Is it possible to add one of those prefab portals to the life-like tunnel. If so
what kind of glue do I use to make it stick?

Which tunnels portals are the most realistic. I looked at woodland scenics but I noticed they didn't have one to fit O gauge and I also looked at Chooch single
cut portel?

If I am able to use the portal with the life -like mountain, do I buy a portal that is an exact gauge fit or do I need one larger to fit exactly on the mountain?

Is there any better way to make the tunnel portal such as using talus and placing on them the mountain my self

Thanks in advance for any tips or advice on how to make my mountain look
great [:)]

[cwclark]

i don't know much about O scale tunnels because i work in HO but i do know a few things about installing them...I scratch build my tunnels from plaster of paris because most of mine are not on straight sections of track and i need a wider tunnel portal... the pre-fabricated tunnels will not work on my curved track..hint...if you purchase a pre-made tunnel be sure it's on straight sections of the track..if the tunnel is on a curve, the trains have a tendency to swing out wide in the curve and will hit the sides of the pre- fabricated type tunnels..another thing is that I use plaster of paris as the "glue" to hold them in place in the side of the mountain....I coat the portal with plaster of paris and position it in the mountain and just before the plaster sets, i'll take a hobby knife and scratch rock formations into the plaster so it doesn't look like plaster of paris holding the tunnel in place....to scratch build a tunnel is a bit time consuming but it pays off in the end product...first I build a three sided jig on a sheet of smooth plywood and 1/2" x 3/4" strips of wood... the three sides are the outside portion of the portal...next, I'll take card stock and cut it into strips and then shape it into the shape of the inside portion of the tunnel...once the card stock is in the shape of the tunnel portal, i'll drive finishing nails along the outside of the card stock to hold it in place...then I'll mix up some plaster of paris and pour it into the jig between the three sides and the card stock...(add a few pieces of medical gauge into the plaster to strenghten the plaster) ...I'll let it dry for a day, then carefully remove the cardstock and the jig sides, sand the tunnel smooth, then on the tunnel face, take a hobby knife and carve out rock indentures and formations that form the tunnel fascia...like i said, it's time consuming but the tunnels come out looking great...chuck[:D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cwclark

I scratch build my tunnels from plaster of paris because most of mine are not on straight sections of track and i need a wider tunnel portal... the pre-fabricated tunnels will not work on my curved track..hint...if you purchase a pre-made tunnel be sure it's on straight sections of the track..if the tunnel is on a curve, the trains have a tendency to swing out wide in the curve and will hit the sides of the pre- fabricated type tunnels

I used a double track portal for some track on a curve and just put the portal at an angle.
Reed

[pbjwilson]

If you want something simple and toy-like get some nice stones from a pet store(fish Dept.) and hot glue them to the tunnel openings with a cheapo hot glue gun.

Or just get some stones from a gravel driveway, wa***hem off under water and glue them on. Add a little glue in the cracks between the stones and sprinkle with some ground foam.

Another way is to get some gray foam construction material at a craft store. Cut a basic portal shape and glue it to the tunnel.

You could also do a wooden portal using basswood from a hobby shop. Look at a picture of an old time railroad or mining railway. Their construction is pretty simple to replicate in basswood.