- Scenery details

Trees 101....

Sat, 13 Sep 2025 14:49:19 +0000

Got a request from Charlie yesterday to do a detailed dive into how I model trees on my layout. Since most of the track that I model is deep in the Lehigh Valley Gorge away from industries and towns, I have had my fill of modeling the deep green of the forest.

  DSCN3478_2r.jpg (Size: 232.69 KB / Downloads: 1169)

I will first say that most of the ideas that I'll present in this primer are not my own, and I pick and choose how and what advice I use to suit my own tastes. I also model trees in the late summer timeframe, so there may be some leaves turning, and the color palette is generally more faded than the bright green of spring. With that said, many people also model fall foliage, but there's nothing to say you couldn't model winter - after all, many trees don't possess leaves for up to 6 months of the year. I would think that modeling bare trees would be much harder than the leafed varieties. Adding some sort of cover over a tree armature covers up a multitude of sins.

As with all things natural, I have a few basic rules that I follow in creating scenery:

1) Try something. The worst that can happen is that you toss it or paint over it and start over.

1A) Don't assume you have to be Van Gogh. Reread guideline #1....

2) Nature is random. (In other words, just about anything is possible). A beer while you work on an organic scenery project can be highly influential because you care less and your subconscious can take over (I swear that's where artistic talents (if they exist) are buried).

3) Nothing in nature is uniform. (There are many shades of green and every shade is represented in just about any tree, shrub or plant. Take a look at a mountain - from a long way away the colors are fairly uniform, but as you get closer to it, there are all kinds of different trees with different shapes and different colors). Caring less while you have that beer is going to be beneficial in an environment with few rules.

4) Anything made by man is not random and tends toward uniformity. A beer while you work on something manmade (a structure, vehicle, or a model) is discouraged because you have to care more.

5) Take frequent breaks and look at your project from a different perspective as you work (view it from a different angle, a different distance, different lighting).

6) Have a plan, but keep it loose. Sometimes your best ideas are inspired while you work.

Trees.... So much variety in nature. I model Northeastern Pennsylvania. Spruce, hemlock (all dead now), oak, maple, locust, pine, walnut, birch, etc., etc., etc. The area you model may be completely different and some of my suggestions aren't applicable, but maybe they can be altered. I don't model cacti, sequoia, redwood or the great plains. For those that do... good luck!

We model things in miniature and we try to convince the viewer that there's more space than just what we have available. Backdrops help, but there are also some basic perspective methods that are applicable with building trees.

1) The greater the distance, the smaller the tree. The further away the viewer is, the less distinct that tree will appear. Conversely, the closer the distance, the larger the tree can be and the more detailed that tree should be. Also important - the further away the viewer is, the more the color of the mountain becomes unified. The closer you get to the trees, the more you can see that there are actually many shades of green, blue, brown, red, etc.

2) For those that model trees on mountains (as I do) - Take a look at a mountainside and look at the trees. Only those on the bottom of the slope can be seen in their entirety. Anything higher than those base trees is nothing more than a green 3-d blob. Therefore, for a very flat simulated hill, you really only have to have detailed trees on the base of the mountain in front of blobs of green to convince your viewer that there is a mountain there.

Here's a great example. I actually fabricated ZERO trees to create most of this mountain, and the distance between the track and the backdrop here is no more than 4 inches. Note that the colors change more at the bottom of the moutain and the trunks are not visible other than at the base of the mountain. I got this idea from a short article in Model Railroader from an issue in the early 80's...

  DSCN0356_2r.jpg (Size: 260.66 KB / Downloads: 1158)

Well, this is a start. In the next submissions I'll focus in on details for tree creation, placement, etc. I hope you can take some of these tricks and apply them to your own version of reality.

Crops

Sun, 07 Mar 2021 00:07:16 +0000

Hello,

I am modelling a L shaped layout with a rural grain theme. I picked the Walthers Scenemaster wheat which comes on 3 inch rows.
My questions is what do people suggest to 'plant' this wheat in? I have painted the insulation board a mid brown.

I liked the ploughed ridges that come with a crop field but as this part of a larger unseen wheat field is on a curve I wont have straight rows as the follow the bend in the track?

Any suggestions what to plant this crop in/on?

Static Trackside Signs

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 01:18:13 +0000

How does one know which trackside signs (not signals) to use (for what purposes) and where they would go on a layout when many prototype signs consist only of a letter, a number or a symbol of one kind or another and no wording?

My GN freight layout, c. 1945-1955, is a small 5' x 7' with a double reverse loop, five track crossings by road, a wayside siding and two freight depot sidings, so there would be a need for only a modicum of signage.

I've already placed crossbucks where the roads cross the tracks. What other non-operational signs would be appropriate and practical for the GN line in my era? Color photos with interpretations (uses) and appropriate locations along the route would be most helpful.

I've already contacted the GNRHS, but did not receive a helpful reply. I've also since learned that the only books even remotely related to my question are long-winded recitations of rules and regulations, with basically zero graphics, that were written for railroad employees, not the general public.

HO Road Striping Tape

Mon, 13 Jul 2020 21:46:04 +0000

Where can I buy a roll of thin, 1/32" wide, one-sided white tape suitable for road stripes on an HO layout? I've struck out at all the usual craft and office supply store options, as well as eBay and Amazon.

Wooden HO Crossbucks

Sun, 17 Nov 2019 21:26:37 +0000

Who makes wooden HO crossbucks with signage appropriate for a U.S. railroad in the transition era, c. 1947-55? I'm not finding any on an Internet search.

I'm looking for ones such as these on the Rix Products website with numerals, etc.

https://rixproducts.com/product/crossbucks-milepost-ho/

Better still, I'd like to make them myself using scale lumber and decals. I believe I once read an article in MRM or a Kalmbach book on how to make them, but cannot find it now. Any ideas?

Modifying cheap fir trees

Fri, 01 Nov 2019 00:35:15 +0000

Spruce/fir trees 2.0
Faller's fir trees are really not at all good looking, but they are cheap! With a few minutes of work their appearance can be much improved.
I use Polak model turf and some spray adhesive for this project.

They are very coarse as they are...

I trim the armatures to avoid the cone shape.

Less is more...

I applied some spray glue and two layers of turf.

This group of five trees took me 10 minutes to do, a time that can be reduced severely if made in a series.
I have over 1000 trees to do, so any savings of time and money are very welcome.

Scenery Challenge, camouflage opening

Mon, 29 Jul 2019 04:32:51 +0000

Please step forward all of you fellows that are knowledgeable about scenery.

I'm trying to place a Walthers 'New River Coal Mining' structure into the upper deck, back left corner of my layout. A portion of it would sit over the double crossover fixture I made, while the loading tracks themselves would be out on a 'flat' like I show in these photos,...the foam flat

Two of the most immediate questions that come to mind:

Is it possible the 'camouflage' that opening in the rear wall that is bringing a single line track into the room from the outdoor helix? Is it possible to make that NOT look like a tunnel entrance??
In that same sort of vein, is it possible to create a 'fake background scene' on a small portion of that rear wall would appear to be a track (or several of them) coming in to the loading tracks for the coal cars?...(at the wall end of those straight pieces of track I laid down there)

Sorry for the rather crude mock up

!! Fabulous MRR Optical Illusion !!

Sat, 15 Dec 2018 03:55:21 +0000

Hi. I just had to tell you guys and gals about a wild optical illusion you can see, too, right way.
Go to YouTube, MSNBC for today, 12/14/18, and find "Meet The Press" with Chuck Todd. Check out 12:38 - 13:43 !
Tell me it doesn't look like Barbara MCQuaid is standing in the middle of a greatly scenic-ed HO, O, or G scale MRR !!!
To our left it looks like a 1"x 4" bench stringer touching her right shoulder and at our right some sort of white painted horizontal industrial slab or roof.
Though all the structures are 1:1 scale in the background (her home city, I guess), they look like scaled down, large, shallow-relief buildings; sort of a George Selios-like, layout. Really a rare or never scene before model railroad optical illusion, isn't it !?.....I hope you too get a kick out of this as I did, while watching a news show..Let me know if it does the same thing for you... It's only my particular neurosis that causes things like this.....

To moderators: I do think you'll agree that I'm not at all bringing up politics. Nothing Ms McQuaid is saying has any value in this OP. In fact, turning off the sound and closed captioning would be ideal..It's only for the odd, trick, visual-scenic relationship it has with our hobby that I'm citing.
Mark, So.Pas.,Ca.

A brake man with the wrong lantern!

Fri, 21 Apr 2017 10:52:34 +0000

There was a bit time so I started a small project for an future addition on a caboose which will be prepared for use with an SP loco model. This caboose should receive a switch man with an illuminated lantern who should receive his place on the platform steps of this caboose.

I built some small red and white lanterns – see also my description on my website http://us-modelsof1900.de/?p=12891 – and I have given one of the lanterns into the hand of this switchman.

Caution! Surgery on open backbone – new (electric) nerves are inserted!

And then the big fright! I have used a red lantern and not a white one! Maybe that the red color of the lantern is not well visible however this will be my camera where the shiny red is to see mere in a yellow color. Definitively it’s a red lantern where the switch man should held a white one! And now?
What can I do with this man and his red lantern? Is there an idea for a prudent use? I would be lucky to read your mean! Thanks!

One option for background trees...

Mon, 07 Nov 2016 06:34:58 +0000

With a couple of long-neglected areas needing trees - lots of trees....

...I decided to experiment with making some background-type trees. These aren't detailed, but merely fill out the scene beyond the ones which are.
Since the area shown in the third and fourth pictures, above, is the smaller of the two, I decided to use it for my tests.

The raw material is mineral wool, commonly used as insulation. It's known through various brand names, Roxul being one. I had a partial batt of it leftover from a home project and saw some possibility for my layout. I used a utility knife to cut a pieced from the end of the batt, which is approximately 14.5" wide. The cut-off piece is roughly twice as long as what would be required for background trees in the areas shown - my hills required ones between 3" and 6" high, so the various cut-offs were roughly 6",8", 10" and 12". Once the piece is cut, gently tear it in two along its long axis - this yields two pieces with straight ends and bottom, and irregular tops. These pieces can be further divided, depending on the user's particular needs, by splitting the thickness into two, three, or four thinner parts.

After enough pieces were on hand, I set out to paint them, in order to change the yellowish colour to something a little darker. I used a fairly dark green latex paint, but black would work, too (mine should be darker based on the sample card which I chose, but the apparent mismatch should work fine for this application).
My first attempt was to spray paint it, but problems with the sprayer made the application too heavy, and it took a long time to dry. The paint was thinned with water:

As you can see, it's not necessary to cover the portion which won't show - this will vary depending on the topography of your layout, but mine is mostly background hills sloping towards the viewer, and the top of each successive layer will cover the lower, unpainted, portion of the ones behind it.
After the fiasco with the sprayer, I used my airbrush for the rest, with the paint thinned to a somewhat greater degree:

Here's a bunch simply stuck into the scene to see if it still had possibilities:

Here's some of the heavily-painted stuff with an application of ground foam:

...and the airbrushed version, with a first coat of foam:

I was originally going to sprinkle the foam onto the still-wet paint, but that made it very messy to handle. Instead, I sprayed the tinted and dried insulation with hairspray. I used a pump-type dispenser rather than a spray can: it's more readily controlled, and when the level drops below the pick-up tube, the remainder can be poured into the next pump dispenser - very little waste. A spray can often stops spraying before the contents are used up, resulting in wasted material:

As you can see in the photo above, I used only finely ground foam, and only two colours. The fine foam keeps the material low-relief (not too much detail), and, when the dark foam is applied first, then another application of hairspray followed by the lighter foam, the effect is of sunlight on the trees.

To "plant" these background trees, holes were drilled into the plaster-on-aluminum-window-screen-landforms, and short pieces of bamboo skewers glued in place. The individual sections of insulation were then pushed onto the skewers - I didn't bother gluing them, but a blob of white glue atop the skewer before impaling the "tree" material could be used.

Once the actual background and mid-ground trees were added to the scene, I did add some small patches of polyfibre to a few areas of the insulation to help tie it in to the foreground and break-up its somewhat row-like appearance. Those got some hairspray and ground foam, too.
I think that when I do the area with the two bridges, I may fluff-out the individual hunks of insulation to give them a little more irregularity in their depth.

Here's the scene with the background "trees" in place:

Once the background "trees" are in place, more fully-modelled ones are needed as the scenery moves closer to the viewer. I started with some twigs, gathered locally from fairly large bushes which grow wild in this area of the province. I don't know the species, but a google search yielded some images which indicate that it may be Round Leaf Dogwood.
No matter where you live, there should be a local plant or shrub which can provide useful material for tree armatures.

After painting the trunk grey, using craft paint from the dollar store and a 1/2" brush, polyfibre was stretched thin and draped over the branch structure. It's important to stretch the material thin, and to place it in a logical manner...I use several separate pieces for all but the smallest trees. Note that I seldom bother to glue the fibre in place - the hairspray holds it somewhat, but once the tree is to your satisfaction and installed on the layout, there should be no need to touch it again:

Here, the lower portion of the fibre has been sprayed with hairspray, and some fine, dark green ground foam has been applied. One could follow with additional spray and more of the same or perhaps some coarser material. I then spray the tree's upper surfaces and apply some lighter green, usually of medium coarseness. Depending on the lighting over your layout, you may wish to spray the top again and add a little bit of even lighter green or perhaps some yellow - this can help to suggest sunlight on the upper portions of the tree...

...and a few more fully-developed ones - keep in mind that these are still background trees:

...and a few temporarily placed near the area where they'll be planted:

Here, a bunch are ready to be planted. I drill holes in the plaster, vacuum the resultant dust (not yet done in the photo below), then remove the tree, add a small glob of white glue on its base and plug it back into its spot. Keep in mind, too, that you can always do foliage touch-ups after the trees are glued in place - some careful work with the hairspray and a light dusting of ground foam can repair damage which occurs during installation or improve spots which you may have missed during the construction.

As seen below, all of the larger trees are in place to the rear of the bridge, which was re-installed for the photo. It'll be removed in order to add smaller trees and underbrush, before moving to the foreground:

Smaller trees are required, too. These are about 2" or 3" high, and many still have the bush's dried fruit on the branches. One or two pieces of fibre drape nicely over the fine branch structure, and once the foam is in place and more trees added, those unprototypical details won't be noticeable:

The scene required quite a bit of underbrush:

Perhaps I should mention here that I work on the layout room's floor. To keep things relatively organised and neat-ish, I spray the fibre-covered trees over several thicknesses of newspaper, then apply each colour and texture over their own newspapered area. This allows any foam which doesn't stick to the fibre to remain loose and be returned to its container for re-use.

I haven't touched too much on ground cover, but should note that the area immediately in front of the insulation-based trees was painted, using a 2" brush, with the same dark green, unthinned, as was used on the insulation. The rest of the ground had been stained using thinned latex house paint directly on the plaster soon after it had hardened (many years ago :oops: ).
For the foreground area, ground cover was added by painting the steeply sloped portions with full-strength white glue. Various colours and sizes of ground foam were sprinkled on that, and the area below that, then all of it was sprayed with "wet" water (water with a few drops of dish detergent added). This helps the painted-on white glue to wick-up into the applied foam and also preps the material which was added to the rest of the scene to better absorb the diluted white glue which was applied using a dropper-type bottle.
The area took a few days to dry, and then more underbrush and small trees were added. I also selected some fine lichen and after applying hairspray, dusted it with ground foam. This was affixed directly to the ground as ground cover, using white glue, or place over skewers implanted into the plaster, and secured with white glue to represent dense undergrowth.

Here are some skewers in place, awaiting the lichen, along with an as-yet-unplanted larger tree and some loose lichen, not yet covered with foam:

...and with the lichen installed:

This is the upper portion of the right-hand slope, with more trees yet to be planted...

...and the lower portion of the same slope:

...and a few views with the undergrowth and larger trees in place in the foreground:

...and a view from the layout side, looking towards the aisle...

...and north, towards Park Head:

...and, finally, a view of the area. I purposely kept the trees away from the layout's immediate edge, since anything snagging on the foliage could quickly denude half of the forest.

I hope that some of you will find something here of use or of interest.

Wayne

Oil lamps in HO-scale - illuminated!

Sat, 08 Oct 2016 10:45:17 +0000

In last days I finished a series of small oil lamps, here a picture.

See a gallery on my website with some remarks how I built them - http://us-modelsof1900.de/?p=12891

Here yet one of my railroad employees.

Rock & Foam???

Mon, 04 Apr 2016 23:28:49 +0000

hink its supposed to be rock and roll.... any way was on good ole you tube today and found this neat idea to make light weight rock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGknDkl-B1Q

New material for trees

Mon, 28 Mar 2016 22:19:38 +0000

So maybe it's just new to me, but this Lentil Leaf flock looks quite good. I haven't seen it before.

This tree is made with a twisted wire armature with lightweight sparkle on the trunk, poly fibre with find ground foam, and then the leaf flock over the top. Fixed with diluted white glue and cheap-o hairspray.

Andrew

image.jpeg (Size: 2.56 MB / Downloads: 1076)

image.jpeg (Size: 1.2 MB / Downloads: 1019)

NJ state police decals?

Tue, 05 Jan 2016 18:24:18 +0000

Does anyone know where I can find 1/87 HO scale NJ Trooper police car decals? I've been looking for the Busch models Nj trooper Caprice but have had no luck. I figure I could try a 3D printer Crown Vic if there are decals available.

Pelle Soeborg scenery techniques books

Mon, 05 Oct 2015 19:11:34 +0000

Does anyone own and/or know of these 2 MRR scenery books and if they have the same contents with different front covers?
http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/ ... 92x300.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5 ... 3,200_.jpg