Well, finally took the plunge, speaking of doing scenery. I can build benchwork, I can wire a layout up. I can super detail locomotives and rolling stock. Heck I can even do some custom painting and decaling. But when it comes to doing scenery, I just don't know. Well I had a visualization in my mind. I know it does not look like Wisconsin, but one could argue that it could be the bluff areas next to the Mississippi river. I only know of one tunnel , that was in the twin cities area, so I took a little modelers license. I do plan on filling the little holes with some sort fo plaster. But I just did this today and it is my first attempt. I am hoping that I can put the base color and some ground foam on it tonight. If I do not like it, I can always surfoam that ground foam off and start again. I wish I could have Dave Frary right next to me, to show me how it is done,LOL. I do plan on updating this thread with more pics as I progress. On the bottom, I am planning on having a river that flow along the edge , with rocks, rip rap, and stuff, adios till next time. Wyatt [ 24. January 2005, 04:10: Message edited by: SOO,MILW,CNW ]
Looks like a great start to me. "If I do not like it, I can always surfoam that ground foam off and start again." One of the great things about foam based scenery, and something I'm counting on myself. Regards
Nice Job! It looks like a fine start. You will get better and better as you go. You can always rework it if you want. So don't be afraid of making mistakes. Loco1999
looks good wyatt btw are you double layering the plaster cloth? 2 or more layers add alot to the stiffness i noticed. looking forward to more pics as you progress
Sam, I am using a elastomeric sheetrock compound. Whichs means, is does not shrink when it dries, the label says it is supposed to expand when it dries. I used to my fingers and water on my hands to smooth the bottom. I am going to do the same on the mountain/hill also. I plan on putting the river bed in this week. I am going to use the woodland scenics pourable water stuff. We will see how it goes, adios , wyatt
Greg- Since you are not doing a particular prototypical scene, it is whatever you want it to be. It looks terrific from here. You might want to put another layer of paper. It might be lighter than the sheetrock compound after drying and easier to work with.
Wyatt, To fill in those holes in your scenery, may I suggest a plaster of paris (or similar) mix. Mix it like normal (I think thats a 2-1 mix) as if to mold some rock formations. With an expendable 1/2" or 1" brush, apply the normal diluted mix after about 1-2 minutes of stirring. I think if you look at my making mountains tutorial in my webshots album (link in my signature block) you'll see how I did mine. See Step 5 for the effects. Hope this helps
Greg, It looks great, I used plaster on my rockwork and used black coffee to stain it earth colour I was pretty pleased with the effect. Looking forward to seeing more pics.
Wyatt, I don't know Wisconsin from Mongolia. On my layout I want to see trains doing certain things. Whatever fits that vision. I'm with you mate. I love the "drama" of the track coming out of the tunnel and being framed by the cliff and the edge. It makes a very nice effect.
i live in wisconsin, and that aria looks more like the kettle morain aria, very hilly over there. there is one type of platster that i like to use to fill up the holes and other stuff. it is joint compound. it comes in a gallon bucket and its all pre-mixed. put a plop on and work it in the holes. the plaster is in the perfet consinsticy to work in, pudding like or a little runnier. it says it takes 24 hrs to dry, but it dosnt take that long. after it dries, sand it down with a sanding sponge, it is a awsome product to use. you can get the joint compound at menards or any harsware store.
This is going to be good. Looking forward to the pics. You will notice that there is no shortage of advice here!
i am also new to the whole seanery game. i am not happy with my first seanery job. i used way too much dirt. i can tell that by when i stared tareing up my seanery with a buddy knife and a shop vac, it was much lighter. i also used way too thick of a ammount. there is still seavery, but there are white patches all over. i also noticed my ballast was comming off. i barley tuched it. so i got rid of the ballast on the out side track"it was way too wide, it was about 1.5 times bigger." so some time soon im going to go to greenfield news and hobby to get some more seanery material.going to get 2-3 bags of green blended terf. i am also put the material on the outer edges of the layout so itll match the layout, that is where most people try to find a matching paint, im going to use the same material as the layout. what are some ways i can improve my application of seanery material and sicure my ballast perminatly, and get it down to a reasonable width.
Great photos. Is this the NEW standard of doing scenery. When I was doing HO in the 70's we used chickenwire, wet paper towels and plaster. This looks alot cleaner and lighter. Everyday that I look at this site, the more I'm impressed. You ALL give me a standard to shoot for. Mophead
This is one aspect I love about this site, photos like these for inspiration. Perhaps if I see a few more I'll get off my (beep) and head to the basement and build something myself. Nice job.
Looks like a great start to me! I see a lot of folks have listed what they use as filler- mine is Sculptamold- available at most fine craft stores near you. You can even add acrylic paint to it (like burnt sienna) so that it turns that color, eliminating the need to paint it after you apply it. Leightweight- just add water to the Sculptamold in a bowl to get whatever consistency you like, and smooth it over and fill in the gaps. I've made entire hills and ridgelines with it. The ridgeline that my B&O Alcos are riding on was made entirely of sculptamold, and then covered using WS ground foam, grass, and ballast.
