General Techniques
Pre-coloring your plaster can make it easy to quickly achieve a realistic look.
It it very useful on a traveling layout, as damage to the plaster doesn't shine through as
a pure white gash.
Using Woodland Scenics liquid pigment
Formulas for dilution
- For black, slate gray, or red umber use 1 part pigment to 32 parts water (1 teaspoon to
5 1/2 oz water).
- For all other colors use 1 part pigment to 16 parts water (2 teaspoons to 5 1/2 oz
water)
- Mix color as above and squirt, spray, or daub on.
Yes, track is scenery too. A little bit of weathering will make your whole scene look
much more realistic.
- Start with the ties. Chip and split a few tie ends with a hobby knife,
- Prime the track with Polly S. Roof Brown.
- Paint the sides of the rails with a mixture of equal parts of Polly S Rust and Roof
Brown.
- Next heavily dry-brush the tie tops with a mixture of two parts Polly S Earth to one
part Reefer White.
- After this dries, brush random ties with black India Ink relief wash, and hit a few
others with Flo-Stain Oak and Driftwood.
- After the paint dries, clean the rail tops and inside edges with a cloth dampened with
thinner.
- Finish up with a Brite-Boy track cleaner or other mild abrasive.
There are two good ways to add terrain to your railroad; cardboard webbing and
Styrofoam. The best way to go depends on the benchwork you are building upon, and the
final effect desired. If you are starting on a solid, flat base, such as a sheet of
plywood, and want to end up with flat areas to place structures on, Styrofoam will work
well. If you are starting with open benchwork, or are going for a more rugged topography,
the cardboard web technique works well. Both methods are easy and inexpensive.
With this method you first cut cardboard into approximately 1 inch strips, precision
isn't important here. Glue the strips in a criss-cross pattern in the general shape
you are trying to achieve. When gluing either use something like Elmer's Glue and
clothes pins to hold while drying, or a hot glue gun to make the work go faster.
When you have something like the general shape you are going for, just mash the cardboard
around until you are satisfied.
Once the cardboard webbing has been formed, cover it with plaster. You can take
cheap paper towels, dip them in plaster, and lay on the webbing. An even even
easier method is to use the plaster cloth sold by Woodland Scenics. Just cut it to
the right length, dip in water, and apply. Whichever way you go, make sure you apply
the plaster strips in a overlapping manner. When this dries add additional plaster
and other textures to achieve a realistic look.
Terrain bases of Styrofoam can be both easy and realistic. For best results use
either the pink or blue types of Styrofoam. The white stuff falls apart in very
small balls, and is hell to clean up. Although simply sawing to size is effective,
the least mess is produced when using what's known as a hot wire cutter. This handy
tool basically melts through the foam allowing one to easily cut curves and angles.
Basically what you do is cut a piece of Styrofoam to match the terrain area.
Multiple layers can be glued on top of each other. When you have the basic size
needed, take a knife and carve out the shape desired. This can be done off the
layout, just attach the completed foam when you're satisfied with it. Once this is
done, I cover the foam with a layer of plaster paper towels or plaster cloth to serve as a
base for additional textures. Now add plaster to complete shaping as needed,
rounding off hills, smoothing off roads, etc. When this is done texture as needed.
This is the basic
procedure for the metal trees, like those Woodland Scenics makes. I have found them
to be very economical and fairly good looking, although somewhat time consuming to make.
I think they are best used for your "medium distance" scenery. Not
quite good enough to go right up front on the layout, but too good to hide in the back.
Procedure
- Bend and twist branches into shape
- Attach base wire
- Drill #62 hole
- Use 1/32" brass wire
- cut wire 1 1/2" and insert into hole
- seal with epoxy or CA glue
- Wash in soapy water and let dry
- Dip into primary color and let dry
- Dip into wash color and let dry
- dry-brush bases with Reefer White
- Cover branches with white glue, and press into foliage material
- Fix with matte medium, hairspray, or other flat clear
Highlight about a quarter of the leaves you can reach easily with a slightly whiter
green. This represents the backs of some leaves and gives the realistic illusion that the
trees are swaying slightly in the breeze.
Base Colors
These colors are based on acrylic tube latex paint. I am a big fan of latex paint
because it is easy to clean up and relatively non -toxic. These are the recipes I
use, and they seem to work fine.
Gray-Brown (most trees)
- 2 cups 1:1 Earth latex paint
- 2" Raw Umber acrylic tube color
- 2" Burnt Sienna acrylic tube color
- 3 to 5 drops detergent
Red-brown (western pine)
- 2 cups 1:1 Earth latex paint
- 2" Burnt Umber acrylic tube color
- 1" Red Oxide acrylic tube color
- 3 to 5 drops detergent
Light gray (birch and aspen)
- 2 cups 1:1 flat white latex paint
- 2" Mars Black acrylic tube color
- 3 to 5 drops detergent
Bark Relief Washes
Medium dark
- 2 teaspoons India ink
- 1/4 teaspoon Burnt Umber
- 1/4 teaspoon Raw Sienna
- 1 quart rubbing alcohol
Black wash
- 2 teaspoons India ink
- 1 quart rubbing alcohol
Other Colors
Here are three foliage colors based on Floquil paints. I have not used them
myself.
2 parts Coach Green(RR48)
2 parts Burlington Northern Green (RR35)
1 part Reefer Yellow (RR31)
2 parts Coach Green(RR48)
2 parts Burlington Northern Green (RR35)
3 parts Reefer Yellow (RR31)
2 parts Coach Green(RR48)
2 parts Burlington Northern Green (RR35)
1 part Reefer White (RR11)
Many different of weeds are good for making trees. However over time they can
become very brittle and easily broken. This formula will slow down this process
considerably. Weeds for trees are best collected in the fall after they have dropped
their foliage, and have had a chance to dry out. This process is best done before it
gets too cold outside, because you'll want to get as much ventilation as possible.
It's stinky, but it works. The recipe is as follows:
1 qt. glycerin
1 qt. acetone
2 qts. denatured alcohol
Immerse a small bundle of weeds for at least five minutes. Hang them up to dry,
preferably somewhere you can leave them for a while. It will take somewhere between
a week and a month for them to dry, depending on the humidity. This treatment will
keep them supple for a long time to come.
The solution will last for years, with the occasional addition of more glycerin.
This is mostly what is absorbed by the weeds. You can also add dye to the mixture to
pre-color your branches.
- Gather up some vegetable plants, such as tomato or bell pepper stalks. Clean off the
dirt, hose them off, and place in the sun to dry. Exact dryness needed depends on the
effect desired. The drier they are the more wooden they appear. For me about two or
three days seems about right.
- Glue on branches or foliage, or just trim to simulate a dead tree.
- Remove excess roots leaving the larger and longer to drape over the terrain.
- Select position on the layout and position the "trunk" so the effect is
realistic. Create a hollow, and a drop of glue and secure the tree and roots.
- Pat roots down onto the ground, lightly sprinkle fine soil over area, brushing away
excess later.
Tall grass is frequently seen in ditches, along right-of-ways, in marshes and lakes,
and many other out-of-the-way corners. It's presence on a layout can add immensely
to the realism of a scene. Fortunately it is also very easy to apply.
Woodland Scenics makes an excellent product,
which has good instructions printed on the package. I won't cover their method
because it is not what I use, but I have seen it produce excellent results. I do
use their product, but I also use the "Field Grass Planting Tool" sold by Micro Mark (Item #81751) to make the process much
quicker and easier. This tool is basically a tiny two pronged pitchfork. You
take a small bundle of grass, hold it in between the tines, shove the fork down into your
scenery base (drill a hole first if it's made of hard material), and pull
the"pitchfork" back out. The grass will stay planted, and you can move on
to the next bundle. I believe that the tool could also be fabricated out of many
common items, such as the handle of a small model size paint brush, but I have not tried
that.
Another more economical way to install tall grass is to use small lengths of twine or
yarn. Tie one end of the material with some thread, then cut the material to the
proper lengths. Allow the cut end to unravel, and it should take on the appearance
of a small clump of tall grass. Some careful cutting of the unbundled end may help
in giving it an uneven look. When it looks the way you like drill a small hold in
the layout, put in a few drops of glue, and plant the grass with a pair of tweezers.
The usual tendency when planting grass is to make it way too tall. If your not
careful it is easy for it to tower over your scale figures. When this happens just
trim it down after it's been installed. If you have an electric razor with sideburn
clippers, or hair clippers, these make good tools for trimming the grass down while still
maintaining a realistically uneven level.
Water
This is an easy way to make very realistic moving water. First off,
this is what you will need:
waxed paper
corrugated cardboard
masking tape
tube of clear liquid weather strip
caulking gun for weather strip
clear-blue 8-pound test fishing line
straightedge
utility knife with a new blade
The steps to put all this stuff together are:
- Measure your waterfall to determine the height and width required.
- Cut out a piece of cardboard at least two inches wider and a little
higher that the size of the falls you want to end up with. The width
gives you something to hang on to. The height should be just a
little higher the the falls so that the final product bows out a bit from
the back of the falls. For example with a 1 1/2" high falls, a
1 3/4" high piece of cardboard would be about right.
- Wrap waxed paper around the cardboard form, and secure it with masking
tape.
- Cut short slits into each end of the cardboard form to hold the ends of
the fishing line. Begin wrapping the line around the form in the
direction the water will be falling. Keep the line at right angles
to the edge at all times and build up a layer of line that has no gaps.
- You now have one piece of cardboard with potentially two falls on
it. If you are going to need both sides the step below will need to
be repeated for both. If you need only one, decide now which one
looks the best.
- Now place a bead of the weather strip down the middle of the fishing
line. With your finger work it into the line, making sure the
fishing line is completely covered. Set this aside until it is dry
to the touch, at least one hour.
- Cut the sheet of dried monofilament from the form using the utility
knife and straightedge. Mono can be tough, so it will take a little
practice to get the right pressure to achieve a clean cut. When the
cut is complete carefully peel the cardboard and waxed paper off of the
back of the sheet.
- Trim the sheet to the correct size to place on your layout
- Paint your riverbed and the back of the falls with the appropriate
color. When dry, use quick-setting epoxy to glue the sheet to the
top of the falls. Hold it in place until the epoxy sets in about
three to five minutes. Don't worry about the bottom of the sheet
sheet for now, if it sticks straight out so much the better.
- Once the glue at the top of the falls has thoroughly set, bend the
sheet towards the bottom of the falls and glue the bottom to the
riverbed. Hold in place until the glue sets.
- Complete the river by filling it with your favorite water substitute,
such as artists gloss varnish.
- Step back and admire your work.
Miscellaneous
Although generally replaced in modern times with concrete and steel, it is a time
honored tradition to use wooden "piles", or heavy wooden timbers set deeply into
the ground, to reduce erosion from lakes, seas, and rivers. These piles are driven
into the ground in areas subject to this erosion a few feet back from the water, and do a
good job in holding a embankment together. This can be easily modeled with wood
dowels about the same size or slightly larger than scale telephone poles. This is
the general procedure:
- Cut the dowels to length, about 2" to 3" depending on what scale you are
working in and how deeply you plan on setting them into the scenery. It really isn't
necessary to sink them very deep, a half inch or so is fine.
- Once cut, scratch in bark lines along the length of the dowels, just as you wood to
simulate a tree. A razor saw works well for this.
- Stain or paint the dowels a dark brown, then dry-brush on a grimy color to highlight the
bark lines. A mud colored paint at the base will suggest rotting wood. Barnacles can
be modeled by dipping the pile into sand while the paint is still wet.
- Install the piles in a line several scale feet back from the water in the eroding
embankment. Place them close together, but not too even at the tops. A pile
retaining wall that has been in place for along time will develop radical differences in
the height of each pile as the ground settles and moves. It is not unusual to have a
pile sticking three foot out of the ground right next to one that is six or eight feet
out.