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PRODUCTSI N F O R M AT I O N S TAT I O N

Building scenery

Been procrastinating? Sooner orlater all the track is laid and wired,the trains are running, the equip-

ment has been detailed and weathered,and you can no longer put off buildingscenery. Fortunately, it’s easier todaythan it was, say, 20 years ago, thanks toall the quality scenery products nowavailable. You can get nearly everythingyou need at a well-stocked hobby shop.

Remember that no stretch of sceneryhas to last forever. If you don’t like it,you can just knock it out and try again.(Lots of fine modelers have done justthat more than once.) You’re out only afew bucks worth of materials andyou’ve gained valuable experience. Likemost everything else in this hobby, themore you do it, the better you get.

The three elementsAs my friend Bob Hayden says, there

are three elements of scenery-making:form, color, and texture. Get all threeright and your scenery will be right.

Let’s start with form, the shapes ofthings. Your best friend here is obser-vation. Our memories don’t serve uswell; looking at the real thing and study-ing photos is much more reliable.

After considerable squinting andhand waving over imaginary contoursyou’re ready to start. Figure 1 showstwo popular techniques; I’ve listed someadvantages and disadvantages witheach. Modeling with extruded foamboard is extremely popular with today’smodelers, so if you have difficultychoosing, choose that.

Color and textureOnce we’ve modeled the ground, it’s

time to paint it. Lots of modelerschoose browns that are too dark. Soilsare lighter than we think, plus our lay-out lighting doesn’t approach the inten-sity of sunlight. Medium tan in a flatlatex wall paint works very well formodel railroad scenery.

Usually we thin the latex paintabout 50-50 with water, brush it on,and then begin sprinkling scenery mate-rials on immediately to take advantageof the paint’s adhesive quality. We can

Some sceneryfundamentals

Materials andtechniques for trans-forming a PlywoodCentral into a realisticmodel railroad

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Fig. 1 MODELING SCENIC FORMSB. Foam board method

1. Stack up layers cut from foam insulation board; 1" and 2" thicknesses work well. Bond with Liquid Nails for Projects.

2. Smooth surface with hot-wire tool, knives, Surform tools, whatever works. (Hint: Hot-wire tools are great.) That’s it. You’re ready to paint the surface with tan latex paint.

First foamlayer supportedby wood risers.

Advantages

1. Controllable, easy to achieve the shape you want.

2. Lightweight and quite durable (especially good for modules and portable layouts).

3. No wood formers ever needed.

Disadvantages

1. Slow, particularly if building a large layout.

2. Expensive if foam insulation board is purchased. (Scraps can often be picked up at construction sites.)

3. Can be messy, although a hot-wire tool eliminates much of this problem.

����

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yyyy

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yyyy1. Hot glue vertical

1"-wide corrugated cardboard strips in place.

2. Weave in horizontal strips and staple (or hot glue) where strips cross. (Stapling is much faster and easier, but requires a pliers-type stapler.)

2. Weave in horizontal strips and staple (or hot glue) where strips cross. (Stapling is much faster and easier, but requires a pliers-type stapler.)

3. Lay on surface of hand-sized paper towel strips dipped in soupy plaster (messy method), or plaster cloth strips (neat method). Plaster cloth is sold in hobby shops.

4. Apply finish surface with putty knife, using plaster (messy), or Sculptamold (very neat). Sculptamold is sold in hobby and craft shops.

3. Lay on surface of hand-sized paper towel strips dipped in soupy plaster (messy method), or plaster cloth strips (neat method). Plaster cloth is sold in hobby shops.

4. Apply finish surface with putty knife, using plaster (messy), or Sculptamold (very neat). Sculptamold is sold in hobby and craft shops.

Cut strips acrossthe corrugations.

Advantages 1. Inexpensive (particularly with messy methods).

2. Fast (particularly on broad expanses).

3. Easily modified.

4. Lightweight (particularly if Sculptamold is used).

Disadvantages

1. Need carefully applied finish layer to hide outline of strips.

2. May need modifications to obtain final shape desired.

3. Messy (unless plaster cloth and Sculptamold are used).

Fig. 1 MODELING SCENIC FORMSA. Cardboard Strip Method

Increase flexibility by bendingwhile pulling across a handy surface.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY KELLIE JAEGER

To unify a rock surface apply plasterbetween castings and use a knife to carvethe wet plaster so it blends with the cast-ings. (A palette knife works best for me.)

Painting rocksMost modelers use artist’s acrylics,

usually out of tubes. They dry quicklyand clean up with soap and water.(You’ll note that the materials we’ve dis-cussed here are all water-soluble. Gen-erally this means you can keep workingwithout waiting for work to dry thor-oughly, can clean up easily, and won’tget chemical reactions.)

When painting rocks I begin with athinned coat of white, but many model-ers go straight to work with colors. Forthe most part we stick with earth tones:burnt umber, raw umber, burnt sienna,and raw sienna. Of these burnt umber(a rich brown) is the most useful. You’llalso need some Titanium White andMars Black to lighten or darken colors.

Squeeze out short ribbons of painton a palette, a white dish, or whatever ishandy (as long as it’s white so you cansee the colors). Keep a cup of cleanwater handy (change it frequently), andstart mixing with your brush and paint-ing. This may sound artsy and difficult,but you’ll get the hang of it quickly.

Washes and drybrushingSeveral special painting techniques

will prove helpful. The first is washes,wherein you flood an area with a thinsolution of paint, applying it with a largebrush, say a 1" or 11⁄2" flat. See fig. 3.Besides being good for establishing acolor base, this technique is also usefullater in the painting process. You can,for example, apply a thin coat of darkcolor that will settle into nooks and cran-nies and help bring out the detail.

Another technique is drybrushing,wherein you dip the brush into paint,wipe it dry on a paper towel, then brushvertically over raised surfaces. (Yes, anall but imperceptible amount of painthas remained on the brush.) A 1⁄2" flatbrush works well for this.

All I’ve attempted here is to touch onsome primary concepts, techniques,and materials. For a wealth of furtherinformation, get Dave Frary’s book,How to build realistic model railroadscenery, published by Kalmbach.

Give scenery modeling a try. It’llmake a tremendous difference on yourlayout, and if you don’t believe me, justsprinkle some green ground foam on astretch of plywood next to the track andrun a train by. What a difference! 1

sprinkle on sifted real dirt, tiny rocks,ground-up leaves, or kitty litter, but thefavorite material today is ground foam.

This is plastic foam (the materialinside seat cushions) ground up anddyed. Woodland Scenics is a majormanufacturer. A variety of grinds (fromfine to coarse) and colors is available.

Bonding scenery materialsAs you build up scenery materials

you can bond them in place by sprayingthem with a dilute mixture of adhesivefrom a household plant sprayer, asshown in fig. 2. (Clean the sprayer after-ward if you expect to be able to use itagain.) I like to use matte medium, anacrylic varnish available from art sup-ply stores. A good ratio for spraying is 5parts water to 1 part matte medium.

Adding about a half-teaspoon of liq-uid dishwashing detergent will help theadhesive penetrate the scenery materi-

als. Otherwise you can end up with acrust that breaks away, revealing stillloose materials underneath.

For small areas spray on “wet” water(water with liquid detergent added),then apply the adhesive (mixed the sameas for spraying) with an eyedropper.

RocksLots of modelers carve rocks in plas-

ter as it is setting up and some get goodresults. For the rest of us a better, fastermethod is to cast rocks in rubbermolds, available at hobby shops.

Plaster of paris, patching plaster, andmolding plaster all work well for castingrocks. Just mix the plaster to a thickcream consistency and pour it in themolds. Either let the castings set up inthe molds, then glue them to the layout,or else keep an eye on them and asthey’re setting hold them in place on thelayout to cast rocks in place.

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4. Sprinkle on more materials, spray again. Repeat cycle until desired results are achieved.

Fig. 2 ADDING GROUND COVER

1. Paint surface with thinned tan latex paint.

2. Sprinkle on scenery materials (sand, ground foam, etc.).

3. Bond by spraying with diluted adhesive, detergent added.

3. Lightly drybush to highlight surface detail. Don’t overdo it.

Fig. 3 COLORING ROCK CASTINGS

1. Paint rocks with acrylic paints, let dry.

2. Flow on black wash with wide brush, let dry.

Highly detailed, prize-winning foreground scenery doesn’thave to be time-consuming or overly complex. In fact,with a little effort and research, building show-quality

scenery can be fun, easy, and rewarding.My scenery techniques were inspired by a convention

clinic given by late MODEL RAILROADER staff member ArtCurren in the 1990s called “Scenery as I See It.” The mainpoint of Art’s clinic was that density, shape, size, and colorvary greatly in nature. As a result, the more texture you canadd to your scenic details such as trees, brush, and under-growth, the more realistic they’ll appear to the viewer.

Follow along as I take you step-by-step through the processI used to build the scenery for my HO scale model contest dio-

rama, Hall Hollow. It is an Appalachian valley coal mine sur-rounded by muddy roads, dense brush, rock outcroppings,and wooded hills, adding realistic texture to the scene. 1

Sam Swanson, of Cincinnati, Ohio, enjoys scratchbuildinghighly detailed structures. Having won many awards for hismodeling work, his Hall Hollow diorama, as seen in this article,won first place for On-line Display at the 2001 National ModelRailroad Association convention in St. Louis, Mo.

The scenery techniques Sam Swanson uses on his HO scale layoutand award-winning dioramas are fun, convincing, and most impor-tantly, simple to duplicate for your own model railroad.

BUILD REALISTIC

SCENERY Landscaping from the foam up By Sam Swanson • Photos by the author

For a solid foundation I use extruded foam insulationboard. I build the rough topography by stacking layers offoam, holding them together with Liquid Nails for Pro-jects adhesive and bamboo skewers. After the glue dries,the land features are easy to define using a serrated-edgeparing knife. Other tools that work well for shaping thefoam include a Surform tool, a rasp, various wire brushes,and even sandpaper. (A Shop-Vac is also a handy item tohelp control the mess.) Next, I pencil in roads and track-work with a permanent marker, and cut spaces for struc-ture bases that will be incorporated into the scene.

ROADS AND TRACKS WITH PURPOSE2

A SOLID YET FLEXIBLE BASE1

I use track spurs and roads as leading lines to guideviewers into a scene. Typically the lines provide a colorcontrast – dark-ballasted rights-of-way versus light clayroads – and each helps catch the viewer’s eye.

For rail spurs, I glue flextrack into place with a thinlayer of Liquid Nails spread on top of the foam roadbed. Ithen spread soil and ballast around the track and secure itwith diluted white glue (two parts water, one part glue).

For dirt roads, I mix fine clay soil with diluted whiteglue to a consistency of peanut butter as seen in the photoon the right. Then I spread it on the roadway about 1⁄8"thick and work in ruts with the end of a paintbrush. NextI sprinkle dry clay on the non-rutted areas and let the roaddry thoroughly. For the final touch, I rub the road with astiff brush or my finger to give it that dusty, hard-packedclay road appearance as seen in the photo below.

4 FUZZY UNDERBRUSHTo give the ground the proper look, I use an assort-

ment of soils, rock debris, and ground foam to createmy basic ground cover. For your layout, consulting pic-tures of the area you are modeling is a must when mak-ing these color selections.

I start by painting the open foam areas between thetrack, roads, and rock outcroppings with a flat interiorlatex tan paint. I then add soil and fine ground foam,along with talus (rocks sloughed from outcroppings)around the rocks. To vary the soil color, I use twostrengths of diluted white glue: The stronger the gluemixture, the darker the color of the soil when it dries.

For the area I model, foam colors include a variety ofgreens, browns, and yellows. I commonly use eight dif-ferent colors, starting with Woodland Scenics Greenand Earth blends. I let the ground cover dry thoroughlybefore adding any other scenic details.

I consider everything from grass tufts, bushes, brierthickets, and weed accumulations to be underbrush.The two materials best suited to modeling underbrushare jute twine for grass and commercial poly fiber forbushes and thickets. They have the “fuzzy quality” thatArt Curren stressed as important in model scenery andsimulate the dense undergrowth found throughout mymodeled region, the Appalachian hills.

To create large areas of thicket and weed underbrushquickly, I use thinly stretched mats of poly fiber coveredwith several different colors of fine ground foam fixedin place with either maximum-hold hair spray orTestor’s Dullcote. I use the same colors as the groundcover and prepare a variety of color combinations, oftenplacing different colors on the front and back of themats. To make wildflowers, I add dashes of WoodlandScenics no. 48 flower mix to a few of the poly fiber mats.

When installing them in the scene, I vary the under-brush mats by mixing up the colors, shapes, and densi-ties. I stretch the mat so some of the ground covershows through and glue it in place with beads of full-strength white glue.

EASY ROCK OUTCROPPINGS3The bulk of the outcroppings on the diorama are

carved from the same foam insulation board I used forthe base. I score and snap 2"-thick foam pieces and gluethem in place to start the rock formations. I then carveand sand the outcroppings until I am satisfied with thelines and shapes of the rocks.

Next, I use a four-step finishing system, as shown inthe photo. First I paint the outcropping with a suitable tancolor. In the second step, I stain crevices and shadowedareas with a thinned complementary dark color of paint.

For the third step, I add texture to the rocks by what Icall the “soiling” process: affixing fine clay to the rockswith diluted white glue. I brush diluted glue over thepainted/stained (and thoroughly dried) surface. Then Isprinkle or brush the clay liberally on the rock face and letit dry completely before proceeding.

As a final step, I drybrush the rocks with lighter colorsof paint to highlight and accentuate the texture.

BLENDED GROUND COVER 5

6With the poly fiber underbrush in place, I add more

detailed individual underbrush items including grasstufts, bushes, and saplings.

For grass tufts, I stain and tease jute twine. Whendry, I plant the tufts in holes in the foam base andsecure them with white glue. You can also use grasstufts to make small bushes by gluing fine foam to thejute fibers for leaves.

I make simple bushes from poly fiber or tree foliageballs sprinkled with fine foam. I typically use bushes inheavy undergrowth areas to provide some verticalshapes and vary the texture of the underbrush.

For saplings I use the small twigs that break offwhen making trees and top them with a ball of commercial fiber or clump foliage; both work well andprovide variety through color and density. I usesaplings to bridge the transition from underbrush tothe wooded areas, much as they do in nature.

TREE TRUNKS THAT LOOK RIGHT7To make the dense stands of deciduous trees that

characterize Appalachia, I use three different types oftrunks covered with fiber and clump foliage, as well asfine ground foam. My goal is not to model specificspecies, but to vary trunk and foliage sizes, shapes, andcolors enough to produce realistically wooded hills.

For my homemade tree trunks, I use sunflower rootsand various twigs. They’re realistic and free! I preservethe natural trunks by allowing them to dry thoroughlyover a couple of months and then submerging them ina pool of diluted white glue. Later, I add a 3⁄8" length of.020" brass wire to the base as a mounting pin.

To make larger trees, I combine sunflower roots andtwigs. Sometimes I thicken the trunks by sculpting rootbases from Duro Master-Mend green epoxy and thenpaint the roots to match the rest of the tree trunk.

I also use Scenic Express SuperTree commercialkits for their light and airy appearance.

To add leaves to the trees, I use Woodland Scenicsfiber and clump (or cluster) foliage. The key to makingrealistic trees is to cover the sunflower and twig brancheswith many small puffballs of teased foliage material indi-vidually glued to the branches. I start near the bottom ofthe tree and work out and up along the trunk andbranches, gluing the foliage balls on with white glue.After those have had time to set, I fill in any unwantedopen spaces by gluing puffballs directly to each other.When dry, I highlight the treetops by dusting them withlight-colored fine ground foam, holding it in place with hairspray or Dullcote.

I install the trees on the diorama last, only after all theother scenery has been completed. First I test the place-ment of the trees in the scene, either individually or ingroups of three or five. Once I am happy with how theylook, I plant each tree by pressing it firmly into the foambase, securing it with white glue.

With that, your lush, textured Appalachian scenery isfinished and you can to amaze your friends with yourrealistic re-creation.

TUFTS, BUSHES, AND SAPLINGS

8 LEAVES FOR YOUR TREES

Many modelers are drawn toWestern scenery: snow-cappedmountain ranges, twisting

canyons, endless deserts, and pineforests. I suspect some modelers evenchoose the location before they choose arailroad. The photo of Clear CreekCanyon, Colo., (fig. 1) is the sort ofscene that inspires us to model the West,but what we usually see when standing

trackside, as fig. 2 shows, is a few feet ofrocky soil, some scrubby bushes, andmaybe some larger rocks and a hillsidebehind the train. This article is abouthow to model this up-close-to-the-actiontrackside detail.

ResearchAmong my primary references for

colors and general scenes are pictures

from railroad wall calendars. The pho-tos are large, very high quality, and pro-vide a detailed view of the railroad andits surroundings. Nothing helps like thereal thing, however, so I have an equallylarge collection of personal pho-tographs. For general how-to onscenery, I recommend Dave Frary’sHow to Build Realistic Scenery for ModelRailroads from Kalmbach Publishing.

Western sceneryHow-tos for handling the subtleties of arid scenery

in foreground locations

By Pat Gerstle • Photos by the author

TerrainIn fig. 3, I have cut and glued some

2"-thick blue foam to form the base of asmall rise on which a mine will beplaced and covered the foam with plas-ter soaked towels or gauze. I thenpainted this base with a soupy mix ofplaster to fill in any holes and thinareas. Next I added rock castings, fix-ing them in place with plaster andpainting around them with the plastersoup to blend them into the base.Finally, without waiting for the plasterto dry, I painted the ground and cast-ings with the base color.

Western scenery is mostly beige withsome light tans and reds thrown in. Iuse Sears no. 770 interior flat latexdiluted with an equal amount of water.Brush it over everything except therocks. On the rocks, mix one part paintwith two parts water for more of astain. Now wait for things to dry, thenbrush on some dilute raw umber forreddish highlights. Finish with yourfavorite black wash (either very thinblack paint or India ink and alcohol) tobring out the details. Your finishedscene should look something like fig. 3.

Ground coverThe next process introduces most of

the surface details, and most of the sur-face detail in the West consists of LOTSof rocks, of all sizes, scattered and piledeverywhere. I used the following Wood-land Scenics products: talus (fine,medium, coarse, and extra coarse in Buffand Brown; ballast (fine and medium)in Buff and Brown; turf and coarseturf in Yellow Grass, Burnt Grass,Earth, and Soil; clump foliage in BurntGrass, Light Green, and Fall Mix; andfield grass in Natural Straw, HarvestGold, and Light Green.

I also use finely sifted dirt and gold-mine tailings I gathered from the areaI’m modeling. I make a palette of thesematerials by placing them in emptytuna cans in a box lid.

Start by painting a small area (aboutone square foot) with a thick coat offull-strength white glue. Now drop thelarge talus pieces randomly and ingroups over the area. If the area issloped, place more toward the bottom.Next, drop the medium talus around,followed by the fine. Use more of themedium and lots more of the fine. Putsome of the medium and fine talusaround the large and randomly distrib-ute the rest over the whole area. Con-centrate the talus in gullies, streambeds, and at the base of rock forma-tions. At this stage your scene shouldlook like fig. 4.

Now scatter small patches of the turfand grass around – not a lot and con-centrated in the areas where moisturewould collect. To fix the groundcover, Ispray on a coat of “wet water” (waterwith one or two drops of dish detergentadded so that it soaks into the ground-cover). Then I use an eyedropper to dis-tribute a 50/50 mixture of white glueand water. Make sure the ground isthoroughly saturated with glue.

Only when all is solidly dry do Iplant the larger shrubs and trees. Theshrubs are clump foliage and the treesare pines and aspens from K&SScenery Products. A lot of the shrubsare placed near the larger rocks becausemoisture collects in the shadows.

The last thing I add is the field grass– I love this stuff! I add clumps in allshapes and sizes around larger rocksand in gullies. I think by striving forrealism in the area you would see upclose I’ve captured the look of Westernscenery without trying to include thesnow-capped back range! 1

Pat Gerstle is a computer programmerwho lives just outside of Lexington, Ky.His primary modeling interests arescenery and photography. This is his firstpublished article.

Fig. 3 BASE TERRAIN. After shaping thebasic landform and adding rock castings,Pat paints the whole area a light tan.

Fig. 2 TRACKSIDE SCENERY. At trackside,you rarely see big vistas; usually you see arelatively shallow scene of rocks and grass.

Fig. 4 ROCKS AND MORE ROCKS. WoodlandScenics talus and ballast provide a widerange of rock sizes to work with.

Fig. 5 PLANT LIFE. Plants don’t dominateWestern scenery, but they’re needed. Concen-trate them where water naturally collects.

Fig. 1 CLEAR CREEK CANYON. This view typi-fies the scenery of the West, but few layoutshave the space to model such large vistas.

Easy scenery you can make with ceiling tile

� Re-creating dramatic scenes such as this is part of the fun ofbuilding scenery. Joe Whinnery relies on a time-honored technique tomake typical Appalachian rock formations for his HO scale Easterncoal-hauling layout.

One of the nicest comments I’ve heard aboutmy layout came during the 1997 NationalModel Railroad Association convention.

Some visitors from back East said the sedi-mentary rock formations on my HO scale East-ern coal-hauling layout looked real, and thatthey knew exactly where the actual scene was Ihad modeled!

That is the essence of model railroad scenery– making it look real. The technique I modelrocks with is time-tested but perhaps new tosome of you. Beside getting great results, it’seasy and inexpensive.

� The Appalachian Mountains are layers of sedimentary rock that themassive collision of two continents forced upward. In some places –like this scene on Cranberry Grade at Terra Alta, W. Va. – the rock lay-ers folded into elongated arches and troughs. Ceiling tile built up inlayers, textured, and painted can re-create this dramatic effect.

By Joe Whinnery • Photos by the author

steps to

7realisticROCKS

Ceiling tile unlimitedI prefer ceiling tile for creating large sedimentary rock for-

mations typical of the Appalachians. I’ve also used plaster cast-ings with good results because the rubber molds duplicate thetextures of real rock. But I’ve found most rock molds are toosmall to effectively and efficiently create large rock expanses.

In the same vein, extruded foam board makes fine rock sur-faces, but it’s more difficult to achieve the layered look I wanted.

Ceiling tile has many advantages. It’s inexpensive andeasy to find, cut, shape, and color. But make sure you buynew ceiling tile at a home-improvement or hardware storerather than scrounging for castaway pieces from an oldbuilding. The discarded stuff might contain asbestos –model railroading is supposed to be fun, not hazardous toyour health. And always wear a dust mask when cuttingand carving ceiling tile.

Planning pays offBefore grabbing my carving tools, I take some time to

plan how I want the scene to look. As was mentioned in PartFour of Tony Koester’s Coal Fork Extension series (Septem-ber 1998 MODEL RAILROADER), Africa and North Americahave probably collided at least twice in Earth’s long history,and the last collision created the Appalachian Mountains.And during one of the continents’ earlier collisions, tectonicplate action compressed many sedimentary rock layers, cre-ating arches called “anticlines” and troughs called “syn-clines,” which are prevalent in the Appalachians.

I wanted some sections of my scenery to reflect this sig-nature geological effect, so I tilted some ceiling tile layersupward with a small wedge of material, such as a door shim.

Got your new pieces of ceiling tile and some tools? Good,then let’s make some rocks! 1

BUILDING UP LAYERS. Stack layers of ceiling tile tothe height you want the rock formation to be. Glue eachsuccessive layer to the one beneath it with white glue or a

thin layer of an acrylic adhesive such as Liquid Nails for Projects.Weight or pin the pieces together until the glue dries.

CARVING. This is the messiest part of the rock-makingprocess, so make sure you do it outside and wear a dustmask. You can carve ceiling tile with a wire brush, a

straight-slot screwdriver, and broken hacksaw blades. Use the wirebrush in a long horizontal motion to get a layered look, and thescrewdriver and hacksaw blade to make deep, vertical fissures. Referto photos of real rock formations and use your imagination.

PATCHING. Mix up a small batch of Sculptamold (a clayand paper product available at most hobby shops or fromWalthers at www.walthers.com) and patch any significant

gaps in the tile with it using a palette knife (available at most artstores and some hobby shops). The Sculptamold shows as whiteareas against the gray tile and, after it dries, it will take paint justas well as the ceiling tile layers.

TILE PIECES. Snapping pieces of tile over the edge of a board creates a clean edge. Score the white side with ascrewdriver, utility knife, or old hacksaw blade, then gently

bend the tile over the board until the piece snaps off. It’s a good ideato do this step outdoors because of the dust it creates.

1 2

3 4

Meet Joe Whinnery

Joe’s interest in railroading started in grade school when hisuncle worked as a brakeman for the Baltimore & Ohio’s St.

Louis Division.After a tour in the Army as a photographer, then college,

Joe’s interest in model railroading revived. His current layoutis an HO scale Eastern coal hauler drawing on the B&O,Chesapeake & Ohio, and the Chessie System. The 13 x 30-foot layout has earned the National Model Railroad Associa-tion’s Golden Spike and Master Scenery awards, and it wasone the layouts participants could visit during the 1997NMRA convention in Madison, Wis.

In addition to his career as a professional photographer,Joe works at the Brass Whistle, a hobby shop in Loves Park,Ill., near Rockford.

PROJECT AT A GLANCE

Ceiling tile is a handy material for making easy and realis-tic sedimentary rock formations like those typically found

in the Appalachian Mountains. Coloring the rocks is as sim-ple as airbrushing or brush-painting earth-tone acrylic washesover the sealed surface.

Tools you’ll need include:

❑ straight-slot screwdriver❑ old hacksaw blade❑ dust mask❑ wire brush

COLORING. It’s best to color your rocks under the samekind of light that’s over your layout. You can use an air-brush or brush-paint. If you brush-paint, apply thinned

acrylic earth tones over faces, then spray the rocks with water toblend the colors. An airbrush lets you do more precise coloring, suchas simulating a layer of shale in sandstone. You’ll get better resultswith several light passes of the airbrush rather than one heavy pass.

SOIL AND VEGETATION. After blending the existingscenery base around the rock face, add vegetation and soil.Kudzu, a noxious weed prevalent in the South, often covers

rock faces. Finely sifted dirt or gravel gives the appearance of soilthat’s been washed down the face of the rock. To simulate kudzu,make a light pass with spray glue over stretched-out brown or greenpolyester fiber, then sprinkle medium-grade ground foam on the fiber.

SEALING. Get rid of the “fuzzies” the wire brush caused bybrushing water over the tile face. This step keeps the poroustile from soaking up too much sealer. Leftover tan-colored

latex paint makes a great sealer. Let the sealer coat dry completelybefore applying any other colors. Tile that’s too wet can break apart.

❑ palette knife❑ 2" paintbrush❑ shop vacuum❑ airbrush (optional)

5

6 7

� More on our Web siteFor another basic technique you can use to makerealistic rocks, visit MODEL RAILROADER’S Web site atwww.modelrailroader.com. There you’ll find an articleon how to make rock castings.

As a youngster I spent many quietafternoons sitting in a tracksidefield about a mile from my home

while the breezes rustled through thetall grass. The rails shimmered brightlyin the afternoon sun while birds soaredoverhead and the field resounded withthe sounds of summer insects. Ulti-mately my patience was rewarded whenthe blare of a distant air horn broughtme to my feet so I could see the oncom-ing train.

The tall grass along the right-of-waynever saw a mower so some of theplants tickled my chin when I walkedthrough them.

Over the years, I’ve attempted anumber of techniques to duplicate thesehigh grasses in HO scale using fake fur,twine fibers, and ground foam. Unfor-tunately, ground foam evokes leavesand foliage better than it does tall, ver-tical grass, and fake fur comes on awoven backing that’s too dense.

In 1998, I received a German modelrailroad magazine which had somesuperb photos of scenery with tall grassthat made me look twice. The articleindicated that the scenery was madeusing products from Silflor, a Germanmanufacturer of scenery materials.

First sampleSilflor makes a variety of grass mate-

rials as shown in photo 1. My first sam-ple was a square of winter pasture. Thismat represents grass that’s been stand-ing for some time so the leaves closestto the ground are still green, but the tallblades have been bleached by the sun.The fine nylon fibers are tightly packed,providing an excellent representation ofa densely planted field of standing hay.

Turning the sample over, I found thegrass is woven into a backing of heavierfibers. You can pull this substrate apartto produce a scattered, irregular field ofhay. See photo 2. The grass never gets

Modeling knee-deep grass with a new material and methods

By René Gourley • Photos by the author

Splendor in the grass

sparse, but clumps spread farther apartuntil they detach completely. As theclumps pull apart, some of the grassesfall over, but enough vertical bladesremain to represent late season grass.

Being nylon, the blades of grass areshiny so they reflect light in a distress-ingly unrealistic manner. Fortunately,this sheen is easily remedied with a finespray of matte medium. I use an air-brush to keep from gluing everythingtogether in a big mess. I can apply thisdulling spray before or after planting.

Planting proceduresThe photos show how easy it is to

duplicate the coarse grasses and under-growth common along the railwayright-of-way with the Silflor grass mats.It takes a little time, and the materialsare somewhat more expensive thandyed sawdust.

Begin by stretching and teasing themat as far as it will go. Then cut it to fit

the space. The spaces in the mat requireapplication over a painted surface orone that has a soil texture so an appro-priate color shows through. See photo 3.

Full-strength white glue is the pri-mary adhesive for this grass mat.Spread the glue liberally in depressionsand anywhere you plant the grass. Thewhite glue soaks in and dries transpar-ent, making a permanent bond thatholds the grass fibers upright.

Use tweezers to press the grass matinto the glue as shown in photo 4. Avoidthe temptation to press with your fin-gers as that results in a matted jumble.The tweezers also comes in handy tomake minor adjustments. Don’t worry ifthe edges of the mat overlap the gluearea as they can be easily trimmed oncethe glue has dried overnight.

To hide the substrate fibers, pour thefinest dirt you can get over the area. Usea retired toothbrush and your fingers towork the dirt into the grass and pull the

blades of grass back into view (photo 5).Flood the area with water wetted with afew drops of dish soap, followed bydiluted white glue to secure the soil.

The next morning, or when the firstglue dries, add some fine dark greenground foam and a few bits of chunkierlight green foam and glue it down torepresent some of the other plantsmixed into the grass.

Patience rewardedThese steps take a few evenings to

accomplish, although it goes fairlyquickly when I work on several areas ata time. It’s a small price to pay for thechance to go back to those youthfulsummer afternoons of lying in the grasslistening for the first sounds of a train. 1

René Gourley, an S and HO fine scalemodeler, recently moved from Canada toEngland, where he’s a consultant for acomputer database company.

1. VARIETY. Silflor’s grass comes in short bristle spring, summer, and winter colors. Theautumn mat has the longer bristles to simulate tall grass. Other mat colors and textures sim-ulate forest ground cover, moorland, pasture with weeds, and pasture with long grass.

2. THINNING GRASS. As delivered, Silflor’s grass is too dense for the scrubby growth along theright-of-way. Pull it apart until the grass begins to look more realistic.

3. GRASS AND SOIL. Once the mat has been teased out, it’s glued down to a layer of soil usingwhite glue. Some of the soil will show through between the clumps of grass.

4. GRASS APPLICATION. Set the mat on the wet glue and press it down with tweezers to pre-vent matting. Adjust the clump positions as needed with tweezers. Trim off any excess grassafter the glue has dried overnight.

5. ADD DIRT. Use fine sifted dirt, worked into the grass mat with an old toothbrush, to hidethe substrate fibers. Then flood the area with wet water and diluted white glue.

Sources

Silflor Products are available fromthe following mail order companies:

Blue Ribbon ModelsP. O. Box 333Swampscott, MA 01907-3333www.shore.net/~jdf/tswelcome.html

International Models22 Harold Rd.Birchington, Kent, CT7 9NA, UKwww.internationalmodels.net

1 2 3

54

We’ve all heard that variety is the spice of life. It’s easyto follow this advice when adding scenery to our lay-outs. But if we add a little of this and a little of that,we soon have a mishmash of scenes that don’t relateto each other in a realistic way. On the other hand,distinct scenes are essential to helping portray dis-tance and variety.

The solution is to take clues from nature, so slightly dif-ferent scenes can be developed which will be realistic andalso faithful to the prototype.

As my prototype, the Yosemite Valley RR, left Merced inCalifornia’s San Joaquin Valley and headed for YosemiteNational Park, it quickly crossed three creeks: Bear Creek atmilepost 1.35, Black Rascal at 1.90, and Fahrens less than amile later at 2.70.

Regardless of proximity, these crossings are all unique.Bear Creek has relatively uniform banks covered with wildbamboo. Both Black Rascal and Fahrens flow along non-native eucalyptus groves with occasional sycamores or cot-tonwoods along their banks.

Initial modeling All three creek crossings have standard YVRR concrete

abutments, so I made a mold and cast the six abutmentsfrom Hydrocal plaster. I scratchbuilt the bridges fromprestained stripwood and n.b.w. (nut-bolt-washer) castings.

Next I installed the bridges and roughed in the scenerywith plaster. I used real dirt to form the banks.

The water for Bear and Black Rascal Creeks is castingresin that I poured in layers 1⁄8" to 1⁄4" deep. Since Bear Creekis relatively deep (a scale 10 to 12 feet), I added color directly

to the casting resin, using brown and green tints for thefirst layers and green and blue for the middle layers. Thefinal layers I poured clear. These darker colors emphasizethe deep, slow water.

In contrast, just the first layers of casting resin for BlackRascal Creek were lightly colored with green and blue toresult in a clear, cool creek.

Once the casting resin had cured, I dappled the surface ofthe creeks with a coat of acrylic gloss medium.

Bear CreekI duplicated the dense wild bamboo covering the banks of

the real Bear Creek using Woodland Scenics field grass (fig. 1).I applied it by cutting small clumps and gluing it in placewith white glue. This was tedious but produced the look I wasafter. While there is a tendency for the material to lean over,just keep pushing it up. As the glue dries, it will finally holdposition. Using sticky white craft glue rather than regularwhite glue also helps.

Once the bamboo was in place and the glue had dried, Iused a moustache scissors to trim the material to a relativelyeven length. Since the banks of Bear Creek were covered withbamboo, little further detailing was needed.

Black Rascal CreekIn contrast to Bear Creek, Black Rascal (fig. 2) is more typ-

ical of the meandering creeks draining the foothills in theMerced area. Moisture in the adjacent ground allows the grassto remain green during the hot summer months.

To duplicate these conditions, I airbrushed Noch electro-static grass a light green. The willows which encroach into

A tale ofthree creeksThese waterways illustrate bothvariety and consistency

By Jack BurgessPhotos by the author

the creek are a combination of Woodland Scenics field grassand flower pieces from dried artichoke heads dyed lightgreen. (Dried artichoke flowers can be found in craft stores.)

Since the area next to the bridge seemed an appropriatewatering hole, I mixed diluted white glue with fine-grainedclay soil and spread it on the banks. I gave the muddy area alight coat of acrylic gloss medium to make it look wet.

Fahrens CreekUnlike Bear and Black Rascal Creeks, Fahrens (fig. 3) is

modeled as a dry creek bed, typical of the Merced area inmid-summer. I used Woodland Scenics field grass to modelthe bullrushes along the creek banks, hot-gluing it in place.

Cattails were made with short pieces of fishing monofila-ment which had been dipped in white glue and allowed to dryto form the heads. I then painted the heads brown.

I used fine beach sand to form the creek bottom andbonded it in place with diluted white glue. The sand wasadded after the field grass was in place, covering the hot glue.

Portions of the real Fahrens Creek banks are covered withwild blackberry vines. To model this, I started with smallpoly fiber balls covered with ground foam, bonded the foamwith hair spray, and glued them in place with white glue. Alight sprinkling of red foam replicated ripening blackberries.

Modeling scenery accurately requires no more thanobserving nature and, sometimes, developing techniques toreproduce what you observe. Detailing scenery can be a relax-ing diversion from working on the rest of the layout. 1

Jack Burgess, who models the Yosemite Valley RR circaAugust 1939, contributes frequently to MODEL RAILROADER.

Engine no. 28 crosses Fahrens Creek on Jack Burgess’ HO YosemiteValley RR. It’s one of the three distinct creeks he models.

Fig. 2 BLACK RASCAL CREEK. To complete the meandering creekscene Jack added a steer and muddy hoof prints.

Fig. 3 FAHRENS CREEK. Detailing on the dry creek bed includedadding cattails and bullrushes.

Fig. 1 BEAR CREEK. The deep, slow water is perfect for fishing, soJack added a raft and a youngster whiling away an August afternoon.

Ivisit Cajon Pass at least twice a yearto shoot photographs and collectinformation for my HO Atchison,

Topeka & Santa Fe. In January 2000 Iwas exploring the pass with Al Bowen, agood friend who is well versed in thehistory and geography of the area.

My question for him that day was,“Where does the water come from?”Despite the dry desert look of the passsome water always flowed down CajonCreek. In the many times I’d been there,I had never looked into the creek’ssources. Al promptly drove up a narrow

road to the north of the tracks; wewalked up a short trail where we founda small, clear lake nestled in the centerof the San Andreas fault line.

Water seeping up from cracks in theground formed the lake, providing asource of water flowing through thepass year-round. I was amazed to bestanding in a dry landscape looking atmore water than I had imagined.

But modeling this water would be alittle different from what I had seen onmost layouts because Cajon Creek isvery shallow and clear, reflecting the

How to modelthis meanderingmountain stream

By Ted YorkPhotos by the author

Cajon Creekstep-by-step

color of the streambed itself, varied byshadows from the surrounding rocks,vegetation, and clouds passing over-head. The following photos and cap-tions take you step-by-step through howI modeled my steam. 1

Ted York’s previous byline in MR wasa story on detailing Union Pacific FA-1s.

First I prepared the streambed, usingcardboard strips to form my scenery

base then attaching cheesecloth withhot glue. Next I painted on two coats ofplaster of paris mixed to the consistencyof latex paint. To form the final sceneryI came in with a coat of casting plasterabout the consistency of cake batter.

I formed the smooth areas of theriverbed by spreading the plaster with aspatula, then smoothed it as it set up bysimply rubbing the plaster in a circularmotion with my hand.

I modeled the concrete under thebridge (the Santa Fe called them con-crete blankets) with sheet styrenescribed to represent expansion joints,then installed it with casting plaster.

On many areas along creeks, thebank has eroded leaving the top layersof soil hanging. Modeling this was quitesimple with a sponge. I put some plas-ter on an area then used a damp spongeto push it toward the bank. As I did,excess plaster moved up and over thesponge. I pushed down upward bulgeswith my hand, smoothing it out like Idid the riverbed.

Dabbing at the plaster with thesponge as it sets up gives the plaster asoil-like texture. After the plasterworkwas done I gave it a quick coat of alight tan latex paint.

Then came the fun. I filled papercups with dirt sifted to various gradesand began tossing it over the riverbed.Since my stream was only a small por-tion of the entire bed and very shallow,I used dirt to form the channel thatwould contain the water.

I added various shades of groundfoam on top of the surrounding banks.Even though I’m modeling the desert

there’s a lot of plant life, much of itvery green in spring.

Next I soaked the material with iso-propyl (rubbing) alcohol so the gluewould penetrate. I used a coat ofdiluted Elmer’s white glue to fasten theground cover.

Before working anymore on thestream I weathered the bridge and abut-ments. My weathering materials are onthe messy side and I didn’t want to getthem on the finished “water.” I applieda very dilute wash of black shoe dyeand isopropyl alcohol on the abutments.I used chalks to streak on the rust anddirt colors that wash down from thebridge. Finally, I painted a thin washon the bridge, using a very dilute mix ofthe tan latex paint I used on the plaster.

Preparation

Ted used a sponge to push the plasterinto shape, forming the eroded banksalong the riverbed.

After the plaster set, Ted painted it withlight tan household latex paint.

Before finishing the creek Ted weatheredthe bridge and abutments so he wouldn’tget the weathering materials on the fin-ished stream.

A young railfan watches from below as a GP7helper, lashed to the rear of a Santa Fefreight, crosses Cajon Creek, a year-roundsource of water.

Correctly coloring the water-coveredportion of the streambed is one of the

most important things if you want a realistic-looking stream. I studied pho-tographs of the stream and decided agreenish brown was needed. I used tubeacrylics for the project and experimenteduntil I found suitable colors. I paintedmost of the stream with a raw sienna andwhite mix, but for the deeper mossy bot-tom I used an olive green mixed fromblack, yellow oxide, and white.

I kept a separate container of waterhandy to dilute the acrylics as I appliedthem, watering down the paint as muchas I could and still have it cover the dirt.I first painted the riverbed the rawsienna mix, then added the olive color,alternating between the two so I couldblend them while wet. I also painted a

thin wash of the sienna down the con-crete blanket.

Next I drybrushed some streaks ofolive down the concrete to give the lookof moss build-up where the water flowedover it. Finally I drybrushed some whiteon areas that might have rapid moving

water, such as down the concrete andaround rocks. Don’t overdo this though,unless you want major rapids.

If you care to add junk to thestreambed such as brush, and old tires,now is the time. Let the paint dry beforegoing on to the next step.

Iused Enviro-Tex Lite two-part epoxyresin for water. The fun thing about

this product is that if there’s a way forthe resin to escape from your streambedit will. I was confident my streambedwas leakproof except for the layout edge.

Sealing this escape route was quitesimple: I sandwiched a synthetic spongebetween wax paper and a piece ofMasonite hardboard. I ran a couple ofscrews through the Masonite, attachingeverything to the fascia and forming atight seal. The epoxy won’t stick to waxpaper. Just be sure the dam extends farenough to each side of the stream to pre-vent epoxy from going around the sides.

The epoxy instructions tell you topour a maximum thickness of only 1⁄8". Ifyou need it thicker make separate pours,allowing the epoxy to cure between each.My project took two coats. I used an oldbrush (old, because it’s the last timeyou’ll use it) to direct the epoxy. I alsobrushed a little on the concrete blanket;I didn’t want it to be very thick there.Once I was satisfied with the pour, I lefttown until morning to avoid the tempta-tion to touch the stuff and mess it up.

Be aware that Enviro-Tex tends tocreep up the bank; it also cures assmooth as a sheet of glass. I was model-ing moving water and needed ripples, soI bought a small bottle of Gloss-LusterMod Podge at the local arts and craftsstore. Gloss Medium will work as well.

I used a paintbrush to spread theMod Podge over the cured Enviro-Tex,pushing down on the brush and spread-ing the bristles to form a ripple pattern.

It took three coats, spread at random, tobuild up a nice textured surface.

On the concrete I pulled the brushdown the slope to get a look of downwardmovement. After that set up I appliedmore, this time pushing the brush down-ward to spread the bristles as I had donewith the rest of the stream. I did it sev-eral times in the same spots to give theeffect of water moving down in sheets asI have often seen on spillways. Although

the Mod Podge goes on white, it dries toa nice shine.

Not only does the water now give theillusion of moving down the streambed,it also gave the appearance of distortingthe light as I looked into the water.Another nice feature is that if the waterstarts to look dull after a while, I can justgrab the paintbrush and give the streamanother quick coat of Mod Podge andit’ll be good as new.

Pouring

Painting

To give a realistic look to the water Tedpainted the streambed with appropriateacrylic paint colors.

Ted drybrushed white where there might bea rapid movement of water, like aroundrocks and down the concrete blanket.

Sandwiching a sponge between wax paperand a piece of Masonite stops the Enviro-Tex from “escaping” the layout.

Notice how the epoxy has creeped into theriverbank along the water. This can be covered with ground foam.

Here’s the finished epoxy prior to applyingthe Mod Podge. It’s too smooth to repre-sent moving water.

Ted brushes on several coats of Mod Podgeto build up the ripples that are found inmoving water.

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