The coffee table layout I described in the design section, is under construction. The biggest portion of tracks are tacked down, and feederwires are put in. (pics on the progress will be available soon). I am as always gathering info. and since the layout will be in a wintersetting, I would like to know: How do you model snow? It would be nice to see snow on the roofs, and snow on much of the lawns. Since there will be a pond on the layout, how to model ice? Strange timing this question? maybe , it's 28 degrees celcias here in Holland. Where is my sunlotion? gota go!!!! john_mrrf [ 25 July 2001: Message edited by: john mrrf ]</p>
I think Model Railroader did an article about modeling snow and ice on Rand Hood's Moffat Tunnel layout (I THINK, NOT SURE!!) in 1994 or something. I guess you could call the publisher and ask for back issues. Later, Dave
I found a cheap, but messy way of manufacturing "snow". Got white styrofoam in 2" thick sheets, ran it through my radial arm saw a bunch of times. Gathered the mess up and sprinkled in on the layout and glued it down with hair spray. Use a pump rather than spray, the spray will blow the snow off.made that mistake too!
At a recent train show in Denver, a club had a module with the best snow cover I've ever seen. He explained that he used powdered marble (the stone) in the mix of other available materials. The shine and sparkle were the best ever.
Thanks for the reply's I also found another way to model snow. Somebody told me i could use grinded polistyreen. Witch you can buy as fake snow around xmas time. Or you could try to get some leftover sheets from display manufacturers and grind it yourself. This stuf seems to give that nice sparkling affect. It is still verry warm here. Keep your engines cooled
Mrff, Last year I built a small layout to go under the XMAS tree. I made my snow the following way - sprinkling (craft store) glitter over white latex paint. This looks great for a Xmas scene viewed from afar but has it's limitations (toy-like look) from up close. But, it is cheap and easy. By the way, I was modelling in N-Scale and while at the craft store bought a bunch of bumpy Chenille. I sprayed that with Krylon Forest green, trimmed them and hot glued them to the layout. The whole thing came out pretty good. By the way, Brian Holtz wrote about modelling a snow scene in MR in the 1980s. He used plaster, misted with water, as his snow. If I recall the article correctly, he also discovered that he needed to tone down the plaster with diluted india ink so that the scene could have some relief. Also, the December 1989 MR also features an article about a XMAS layout and that builder told how he made snow.
Mrrf, I guess you could wait until winter, then spray water lightly over the scene, and open the windows letting it freeze! (I'm kidding!) I just thought of something I saw years ago in a store window display. They mounted a mirror level with little people sitting on the glass. Each person had a small bit of sheet steel glued to their feet. Under the mirror was a slowly revolving motor with a large flat wheel with small magnets on it. As the wheel rotated, the Ice Skaters went around in a slow circle. They had used cotton to make snow around the mirror, with glitter sprinkled over that. Above, they had a light shining on a revolving mirror that made the snow seem to sparkle as the light moved. The rest of the store's window had Lionel trains running, and a lot of other toys too. The store was Raughabough-Buck Department Store, at Wichita, Kansas, that became Rowe & Buck, that became Sears & Rowe Buck, now just Sears. [ 07 September 2001: Message edited by: watash ]</p>
An if you have a pond, don't forget to use aluminum foil for fish. This was also in the MR article from years ago. They looked real from a distance : ) DJ [ 08 September 2001: Message edited by: in2golfz ]</p>
