Newbie questions about scenicking

[liquidcross]

Forgive my stupidity...I've never done this before, so I know I'll need some expert advice. :D

Okay, so I'm building my N scale layout. All the track is laid and wired, and I can operate trains all over the place. However, now it's time for landscape, buildings, ballast, etc. This is where I'm a bit stuck, and I have a few questions:

1) When laying ground foam, how many layers should I use? And how do I keep the excess to a minimum (i.e., if I move the layout, I don't want ground foam falling off)?

2) How do I secure buildings to the board? And should I do it before or after I lay down ground foam?

3) Anything else I should be aware of? (Specific glues, mixtures, tips, etc.)

Many thanks in advance! :D

[ndbprr]

) When laying ground foam, how many layers should I use? And how do I keep the excess to a minimum (i.e., if I move the layout, I don't want ground foam falling off)?

I would definitely invest in one of the books at a hobby shop about scenery as you will learn a lot that way but basically you glue down foam. If you spread dilluted white glue and water (50/50) and the make yourself a shaker like a big salt shaker to sprinkle the foam into the glue you can vacumn up the excess when it dries. Other use sticky glues like spray on types also.

2) How do I secure buildings to the board? And should I do it before or after I lay down ground foam?

Don't! You may want to relocate them or change them around or light them or detail them inside some day.
3) Anything else I should be aware of? (Specific glues, mixtures, tips, etc.)

This is the big advantage of looking at thepictures in the mags and visiting other layouts - ideas.

[egmurphy]

Well there probably about 100 different views on how to scenic your layout, including opposite opinions on everything from materials to techniques. Another idea on securing the ground foam, as opposed to vacuuming up what hasn't stuck (which is a workable method) is to simply use a spray bottle of dilute white glue (or matte medium) and water and spray over the ground foam, getting it very wet. This will get everything to stick. You should probably mist with a mixture of 'wet water' (water with a couple drops of detergent) first as this will help break up the surface tension in the glue/water mix and help it penetrate.

Use as many layers as it takes to either cover the board (painting first with a suitable ground colored latex paint will help hide whatever you used for the board) or achieve the mix of colors you want. You can do it with one or many, up to you. Just keep spraying wet water and glue to tack down each layer.

Just as a suggestion, you might want to look at the following thread (it's on the Atlas forum) where a guy did a demonstration diorama with step by step photos and description for constructing with foam and adding scenery.
http://forum.atlasrr.com/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=38052

You can lightly glue down your structures with just a couple of points of glue at a couple of corners (so you can pry them up later with minimum damage to the structure). Place the building first so you can work the ground foam up around the edges to hide the obvious joint between the building and the base. That way you avoid the look of having the building sitting up on top of the ground.

Regards

Ed

[simon1966]

I got Dave Frary's DVD's because I felt very unsure about the way forward. I have found them to be really very helpful in getting me motivated to attack some of the projects. mrscenery.com is his web site. His methods are easy to follow and have given me good results so far.

[FJ and G]

I use very fine sawdust, dyed with paints. When it comes to scenery, there are no hard and fast rules. You experiment.

dav

[orsonroy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by liquidcross
1) When laying ground foam, how many layers should I use? And how do I keep the excess to a minimum (i.e., if I move the layout, I don't want ground foam falling off)?

I generally use three layers. The first layer is a basic thin application of ground foam added to the base paint layer while it's still wet. Once the paint's dry, I use my scenery dust buster (a $15 dust buster used ONLY for picking up scenery stuff) and vacuum up the excess. I'll then add an even layer of 50% white glue, 45% water and 5% rubbing alcohol over the scenery, and add a second layer of mixed ground foam and static grass. The third layer is tall grass, bushes and trees, applied with full strength white glue.

Excess is vacuumed up using my scenery dust buster (see above), and reused. If you still have some foam that's loose in places, either add another layer of the dilute glue mix (I usually use a small turkey baster), or use full-strength, unscented Aqua Net hairspray.

QUOTE:
2) How do I secure buildings to the board? And should I do it before or after I lay down ground foam?

It all depends. For city buildings, I suggest building your roads and sidewalks first, then adding a foundation for the building. The foundation should be even witht he top of the sidewalk. Add thick square rods of plastic or balsa to the inside corners, and you can slide the buildings onto the foundations without having to glue them down. For buildings in the middle of nowhere, I's suggest either building a detachable foundation for them, or gluing them to the base first. Nothing looks worse than a building that's obviously just perched on the layout. With either method, make sure you hide the dividing line between the bottom of the building (or foundation) and the scenery with a good amount of ground foam or gravel.

QUOTE:
3) Anything else I should be aware of? (Specific glues, mixtures, tips, etc.)

Scenery can really make or break a model railroad. Good scenery (even OK scenery) can make generic model trains look good, but horrible scenery usually makes fantastic models look bad. The real key is to play around with stuff, read a bit, and ask questions.

Probably the most important thing you can do is to take a walk outside on a nice day and actually STUDY the outside world. See how grass grows differently on a lawn vs.an abandoned lot. See how trees and bushes grow around each other. If you have a digital camera, definitely take it with you and fill the memory stick with whatever you'd like to model.

Once you realize that scenery is more than a layer of solid green ground foam with widely spaced trees on it, start investing in just about one bag of everything Woodland Scenics makes. You'll see how everything looks, and you'll be able to play with it all. True, you won't use a lot of it, but you'll be surprised at how much of the "odd" stuff you WILL use.

One other thing: in general, ballast last! Ballasting regular track usually isn't an issue, but ballasting switches can readily kill a layout. I suggest going to a swap meet, buying some used switches (of any scale) and practice ballasting switches until you get it right (basically, use little ballast, oil all moving points, and use little glue). I wish I had practiced before I started ballasting around my first switches years ago...

And don't be afraid to post questions or discoveries on the forum!

[Anonymous]

A suggestion that I read a while ago that I thought was clever. Use brass tubing and brass rod to make locating pins for the building to secure it to the layout. The building can be removed at will and the pins and tube make electrical contact for interior lighting.

[AggroJones]

Everyone already said everything. Soooooooo........all I can add is:

Use lots of sifted real dirt. Don't use brown/gray ground foam for dirt. It doesn't even come close in appearance. Your first layer of foam should come after you sprinkle dirt over the white glue. Even in areas of the country that are lush and green, the earth is visible is some spots.

Run a powerful magnet over the dirt you choose, as to remove metallic particals that will destroy locomotive motors.