01-14-2011, 02:19 PM
tetters Wrote:So, I'm moving on to other things other then track work on my layout. Finally!
So I am curious as to what others have tried. What worked, what didn't, and any tips and hints to get some reasonable results.
Shane
Shane
The only layout where I got as far as adding terrain and scenery was a 4x6 adapted from the Tidewater Central in 1957 Model Railroader (this was built in the mid-70s). At the time, hard shell and zip-textured scenery a la Westcott was all the rage. But in Coos Bay, Oregon, I couldn't find Hydrocal. So I reverted to aluminum and fiberglass window screen covered with kitchen paper towels (Teri, the kind with fiber reinforcement) dipped in Plaster of Paris pre-tinted food coloring. The results transformed that little layout.
I prefer the fiberglass window screen because it doesn't tear up saw blades and drill bits the way the aluminum screen did when I went to make changes. Pre-tinting the plaster was a great idea because the occasional chip that came from the 4 moves the layout made didn't show the tell-tale white. And because I mixed in the food coloring free hand, each plaster batch was a slightly different color. I put plastic under the layout while I was applying the plaster-dipped paper towels, which eliminated any problems with the carpet. The plaster-dipped towels, with their wrinkles and ridges, tend to very naturally simulate quite rugged terrain. The big drawback is planting trees by the plethora for Oregon coastal mountains is a lot of work in plaster shell.
On my Dad's layout, I put in some terrain using plaster cloth over various cardboard forms. I learned from that experience that the plaster cloth isn't that much cleaner than the buckets of plaster unless you wet the cloth in place (which I didn't try). I still got some drips and spatters and fall-throughs. The plaster cloth (2 layers needed in most cases) makes for a much smoother terrain. The plaster cloth is also a lot more sensitive to the shape of the forms it is being laid over. It was difficult to get natural looking terrain unless the forms already had a natural shape. Just propping a box in there wasn't good enough.
I'm now building a small HO/HOn3 layout as a test and learning platform for the "big one". The layout needs to be portable, so I will be using a combination of stacked foam and 1/2" foam shell. The 1/2 " foam will be set up as a form for Structolite or similar lightweight plaster. I haven't tried either method yet, so any comments would be theoretical and not actual experience. But I'm honestly not looking forward to the foam because of the static mess, and the thickness of the shell. On the other hand, planting Oregon forests should be sheer joy compared to drilling holes in plaster and wire screen.
Fred W
....modeling foggy coastal Oregon, where it's always 1900....