My Space

[Postwar Paul]

This location is screaming out for scenery

 

 

 

I'm thinking a deep vertical canyon

[Postwar Paul]

The Black Canyon is what I envision 

[Penny Trains]

To the floor?

[Postwar Paul]

Penny Trains

To the floor?

 

Yes, from the Lionel deck down to the floor. My thought is to make removable scenery panels, in case I need to access under the main layout. Haven't quite figured out the space between the Lionel and Flyer decks.

[Postwar Paul]

Roughing in the shapes

[Postwar Paul]

Styrofoam panels will be reinforced 

[Postwar Paul]

The abyss 

[Postwar Paul]

[Postwar Paul]

Lake Morraine, up in Alberta, is surrounded by ten peaks, and was featured on the Canadian $20 bill, at one time

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[wrmcclellan]

PWPaul - !

[wrmcclellan]

Interesting use of the coin sorter. Does it have a back on it? It appears to be close to  O or S size based on the doors/windows? I never saw one up close.

[Postwar Paul]

wrmcclellan

Interesting use of the coin sorter. Does it have a back on it? It appears to be close to  O or S size based on the doors/windows? I never saw one up close.

 

Thanks, Roy!

I believe you are referring to the Lionel station. It was originally a gift from my Mom to my daughter, when she was small. It was gathering dust for years, but I always felt it would come in handy someday. The base has been removed, and yes, all 4 sides are intact.

Paul

[Postwar Paul]

wrmcclellan

PWPaul - !

 

After building an N scale layout 30 years ago, I said I will never use plaster again for mountains. Many like it, and that's o.k., but I don't.

1. Dries too fast, sometimes never gets out of the mixing bowl

2. Horrible mess to clean up

3. Incredibly heavy, unnecessarily so

I keep searching for alternative materials, this is my latest brainstorm !!

Paul

[Penny Trains]

I agree.  Lately all my terrain features have been heavy kraft paper (butcher paper) over foam skeletons with wads of paper filling in the gaps.  Diluted white glue paintd over the paper makes a nice, paintable shell that is easy to lanscape.  And it's flexible too! 

[Postwar Paul]

Penny Trains

I agree.  Lately all my terrain features have been heavy kraft paper (butcher paper) over foam skeletons with wads of paper filling in the gaps.  Diluted white glue paintd over the paper makes a nice, paintable shell that is easy to lanscape.  And it's flexible too! 

 

I think it's best to use what you're comfortable with. We have heard of many different techniques for scenery over the years, and for a long time, it was variations on the plaster principle:

plaster over window screen

hard shell

hydrocal, and on and on. These all look great, and many fine railroads have been built this way.

But, in '81 I built a 4x4 foot N scale layout from a John Armstrong track plan. It was in an Atlas book: nine N scale track plans. I built the " Monopoly and Octopus ". I built 2 humongous plaster mountains. This was when I lived in an apartment, and this layout would be propped up in the corner when not in use. I would pull out a card table, and strain to heave this monstrosity up on top. That's when it hit me:

plaster ain't it !!

So, I like light weight, thank you very much !!

 

[Penny Trains]

Yeah.  I can gaurunntee I wouldn't be hauling no Matterhorn up and down the basement stairs at least twice a year if it was made of plaster, chickenwire and plywood! 

[Postwar Paul]

Materials test

 

 

 

 

take 1

[Postwar Paul]

The goal is to create a rock textured skin over the styrofoam that is lightweight,

 

 

 

and can can be mass produced 

 

and painted. We'll check on it tomorrow after it dries.

go, or no go