how would you guys go about varying something like the flat areas of my layout here? (part of this layout in this thread http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine...nez-sub-davis-cal-P-line-just-a-snippet-of-it) i plan to putty up the nasty cardboard edges and make some slopes. but as for the foreground, im not sure what i can do. i want it to have some farmland/grassland and maybe a little pond on the lower left. should i leave it all flat? it looks too pristinely flat. the actual prototype of the area has a freeway going through it but i dont wanna model that. any ideas appreciated, thanks!
How about a field of alfalfa or beans. You could add some orange balls for pumpkins or green for melons. Make it rows or solid with a small road with farm equipment. That should be simple to do and you could have a couple different overlays for different seasons.
If you are going to be puttying anyway, simply take some of the cardboard you were already using, and cut some irregular shapes....maybe do varying thickness by stacking a couple layers.....and glue it down to your board, then putty over it to "smooth" it out. If you do several layers of cardboard, then leave a hole in the middle, the hole can become a pond. If you want bigger hills, you might want to use foam board.
Try rumpling up some newspaper and cover it with a layer of Woodland Scenic Plaster Cloth. That's what I did for this farm pasture. It doesn't take much height to create the illusion of rolling hills. The hill between the pond and the barn is less than two inches high, and the mound between the house and the near tracks is about an inch high.
How about using trees and small buildings to provide texture and variation to the flat space? The 14 foot long peninsula pictured is flat, except for a 2 inch high ridge at the back of the peninsula that is only about 4 inches wide and 2 feet long. The rest of the variation in height is provided by adjusting the tree sizes and using buildings, tanks, and scrap piles to disguise the flat surface.
I'd pretty much do MRLdave's way. can work the putty I hope to create overall surface textures. BTW, how does cardboard stand up to moisture, nicks & dings, age?
b-16707. I have driven pass this on Hwy 80, and the area you are modeling is flat so any hills will change the setting as they are much farther to the west. Just use the type of foliage, trees and bushes that or in that part of the valley as there are a lot at that place. The fields at the top left and right get some kind of a crop in it every year. You could model the farm are that sets to the top right of the track crossing. Just my opinion and two cents worth.
I've got to agree with Ken - that area is "flat as a pancake". Use shrubs and maybe small rills for drainage ditches, etc. But don't add any extra elevation besides the right-of-way.
I wouldn't be that sure about being as flat as a pancake. Of course i might be wrong on this one, coming from the Netherlands i noticed lots of rather subtle changes of altitudes. In my country i lived in Muiderberg, translated as the "mountain near the mouth" of a river. This mountain is almost a staggering 10 feet high, only called mountain while the pancake around it is seems so flat. Since also in Holland tracks are not build over the top of the mountains a very slight elevation of altitude remains possible, one inch is enough; and when covered with bushes, trees and houses the view on the railroad is completely blocked. Subtle changes, we call if "False Flat" (vals plat), you don't see it, though you feel it when cycling. It might be just enough to create a great viewblock. Paul
You might consider just putting the edge of the freeway (the berm, the guardrail, and a foot of asphalt) right at the front of the diorama to indicate the freeway frontage. For the middle ground, you could add interest with a tractor/combine/farm crew. Maybe a half-mown or half-cultivated field, to show that it is farmed, and not just pasture.
Just because an area is flat open space-- even unfenced, it doesn't have to be "plain." Look at the patterns and textures of the ground in an irrigated field... Would it be challenging to model? Doggone yes. Are you gonna let that stop you? This is supposed to be a cotton field...
Paul, believe Rick and I about it being flat:angel::angel:. It does not even undulate like so many other so called flat places do. Kansas and Iowa look like all hills compared to the Sacramento Valley. Kenneth's pictures really capture the look.
"flat as a pancake" made me think of the foam food trays I have. They are about an 1/8" thick and easy to cut / stack / layer. Maybe you can get your local restaurant to give you a few "to go" containers made of the same stuff.
Drainage ditches and furrows. I like Ken Anthony's idea of varying what's in the flat field (puddling, equipment, some crops) to give the variety in this section. From when we were living in Sacramento when I was seven, I always remembered how "steep" our driveway was - house was "on a hill". Going back when I was older, it was about a 3 ft rise from street level (and that was because we were "near" the river - officially in the flood plain on the Sacto side). All the houses were raised for flooding. The real "hill" in the area was the levee along Sacramento River.
Hi gentlemen, In one of Ken's pictures you see mountains on the background. Rick described an other slope. Just picking the completely flat part of the area is probably not the best choice when you want to separate scenes. If this is what makes your motor run go for it. I have friends in Boulder Co, who came over to visit the Netherlands cause it was that flat. So in the end it turned out pretty difficult to find railroad tracks through these area's. When the railroads were build they prefer-ed the still empty and not completely flat sand grounds. A stable subroadbed, easy and very cheap to buy and great for developing residential and industrial area's. Of course some stretches through the flats can be found. Weird enough my friends from the mountains were loving the flats, while i prefer-ed the false flat area's; slopes though you have to look twice before noticing it. Most interesting are the parts where those two met. A model railroader surely has to make an awful lot of decisions. Paul
A model railroader is an artist who happens to use their layout as their creative medium. "Decisions" implies an arduous task, whereas model railroading is an exciting artistic outlet based on whim and personal expression.
I use foam for my ground and when I want to vary a flat area, i just rough it up by using a wood shaver. I pull the shaver (using a lot of pressure) across the foam and it pulls up chunks of foam, then I paint the foam and put ground cover on it. Here is what I have: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...P_PARENT_ID&storeId=10051&Ntpr=1&ddkey=Search I have a picture of the results too, I will upload it soon.
Hmmm, living in northern Illinois and the Chicago 'burbs, I'd argue that there is nothing around here that is absolutely flat - even the runways at O'Hare have a bit of a crown for drainage. And if you ever ride METRA, you'll see plenty of "cuts" and "fills" although they're quite small in scale compared to other places. Anyway, I use extruded foam and cork roadbed. I sand down the roadbed to slightly varying heights and use an electric sander to add random slight changes in elevation in the foam. The sander can dig a drainage ditch pretty quickly if you don't watch what you're doing. LOL. Personally, I'd not use cardboard - I'd be afraid it would warp and / or get soggy too easily. Just MO...
