FORUM CLINIC: Building realistic scenery


TOPIC THIS POST: Doing realistic rock faces

We'll start this post out with some prototype and model rock face photos ... of south Roseburg on the prototype SP Siskiyou Line in southern Oregon:

PROTOTYPE LOCATION
RoseburgBluffs1.jpg


RoseburgBluffs2.jpg


RoseburgBluffs3.jpg


SAME LOCATION ON THE MODEL
Here's a couple photos of the same location on my HO Siskiyou Line:

Photo-19.jpg


Photo-20.jpg


I prefer to hand carve my rocks most of the time and it's difficult to describe exactly how hand carving is done other than to say just practice. I use a kitchen butter knife (one with a smooth edge, not one with serations) to do the work.

For this rock wall, I mixed up my standard vermiculite plaster mix (see previous posts for details) and then globbed it on in little bumpy globs, shaping it to look similar to the prototype photos. If you're hand carving and are new at it, it's best to work from prototype photos. If you aren't sure you can do hand carving, try working on a throwaway scrap piece of scenery first.

To get the most successful hand carved rocks, make sure you use plenty of plaster ... ideally 1/2" to 1" thick. This means you will have to plan as you are installing your scenery base to allow for up to an inch of thickness for any planned hand carved rocks, so you still have clearance for the trains.

I did the final shaping while the plaster was still soft -- the vermiculite mix has a working time of about 10-15 minutes, which is just enough time to shape it but fast enough it will hold it's shape without you having to constantly check to make sure something didn't sag on you while you weren't looking.

Once the plaster sets up for a few hours (overnight is ideal), I paint it with my earth-tan 50-50 latex paint mix (again, see earlier posts).

Then, I mix a thin black-brown stain of water and raw umber brown acrylic paint, and paint it over the rock face, letting it settle into the cracks and crannies in order to give the rock face more texture. Plus as you can see from the prototype photos, these rocks are dark volcanic basalt, so tending toward the darker side is correct. However, I avoid making the rocks too dark (erring on the side of slightly too light) in order to compensate for the lower intensity of indoor layout lighting as compared to the sun.

I let the stain dry for a few hours then come back with some dirt brown plaster mix (see the ballasting post) and dust that on the rock faces, giving them a nice weathered, dusty look. Then I mist the face with water to set up the dirt plaster mix.

Finally, I dry brush some very light tan almost white on some of the protruding rock faces to give them a bit of extra highlight and snap. Then I let everything dry thoroughly for a day or so before proceeding on to plant vegetation in the area.

After that, for these rock faces, I planted some silflor grass using a hot glue gun. In comparing the model to the prototype, it's apparent to me I could probably stand to plant even more silflor grass.

NEXT TOPIC: Doing realistic paved roads
 
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TOPIC THIS POST: Doing realistic paved roads

I've tried many different ways of creating paved HO scale model roads. None works as well, in my opinion, as sheet styrene. I made the paved highway shown here using .030 styrene sheet glued down with latex caulking.

crossing2.jpg


To prepare the scenery area for the road, I cut a piece of thin cardboard in the shape of the road and taped it in place on the cardboard strip/masking tape scenery form with masking tape. I made sure this subroad was about 1/4" below the final level of the styrene road surface. I plastered over the subroad with a couple layers of plaster and let it set overnight. Using the plaster, you can smooth out any unrealistic dips and bumps in the subroad to ensure the styrene road will flow smoothly over its bed.

The next day, I cut a final pattern for the road from thin cardboard. Make sure to cut it slightly oversize so you have material along the edges to trim in order to get a precise pattern for final fit. I placed the pattern on the subroad and trimmed the edges to the exact shape I wanted for my final styrene road. Using this final cardboard pattern, I laid it on the .030 styrene and cut out the road, then glued it down with latex caulk.

When gluing down the styrene with latex caulking, I use weights to ensure the styrene conforms to the subroad while the caulking sets.

After the latex caulking sets up, remove the weights and do a little additional plaster work along the edges of the road to create a realistic shoulder.

I painted my road with a slight brownish (very slight) gray mix of acrylic paint. I did not try to get the paint on smooth but deliberately streaked it in the direction of traffic. It took two-three coats of paint to cover the white styrene sheet and get a realistic color for a weathered asphalt road. Next, I masked and sprayed the lines on the road. Finally, I "weathered" the road lightly with dark gray and light tan plaster powder.

To blend the road in with the rest of the surrounding scenery, put some of your track ballast along the road to form a gravel shoulder, and glue it down just as you do your track ballast.

As I said in the beginning, I find I prefer sheet styrene for modeling HO scale roads because I think the results are quite realistic.

It does not take much of an imperfection in the roadway before it no longer looks realistic. And it takes a careful steady hand along with a critical eye to get a model roadway smooth enough using plaster to look correct.

On the other hand, modeling a roadway using styrene is almost too easy. The .030 thickness is stiff enough to smooth out unrealistic imperfections in the subroad, but still thin enough to flow realisticially up and down over terrain level changes.

crossing3.jpg


As you can see from these pictures, the smooth, flowing nature of styrene is hard to beat for a simple but realistic asphalt highway. Yet you can also easily distress the styrene where you need to for chuckholes, cracks, seams, or other details you might want to add to your roadway.

crossing1.jpg



NEXT TOPIC: Doing realistic water
 
Bonus post: Dirt and gravel roads
For dirt roads, you could just skip adding the stryrene and smooth the plaster out to look good. The trick to making a dirt road look good is to weather the tire ruts properly.

If the road is truly just dirt and not gravel, then you can paint the road with your basic ground color, then apply the plaster powder I have been speaking of so much to give the road a dusty look.

The dirt in the tire ruts tends to pack down hard from the passage of vehicles, so to simulate that, get yourself an ink eraser and rub the ruts hard remove the plaster powder and almost polish the ruts smooth. Then I'd wet the road with a mist of water and add another layer of plaster powder, and brush it smooth in the ruts with a damp brush.

Once it all sets up it should look nice and dusty, with pressed, weathered ruts that look realistic. It helps to consult photos to see where the weathered ruts are because it will vary depending on if the road is one or two lanes.

Gravel roads involve the first step of plastering, then using ballast (may be a different color than the track ballast, however) and bonding it with glue the same way you do track ballast.

Then weather the ruts using an ink eraser. You'll probably knock ballast lose in the ruts with this step ... that's okay as long as you don't remove *all the gravel* from the ruts. You'll need to use a lighter touch on this step with gravel roads for this reason.

Then do the final step by dampening the road with water and applying a heavy coat of plaster powder to the damp road, and brush the ruts with a damp brush. If you want more gravel to show through, spray the road heavily with a final mist of water to wash down the gravel somewhat.

If you want the road to look more freshly graveled, then lightly sprinkle some ballast on after the above has dried, then alcohol and glue this fresh gravel in place.

By using combinations of glue-bonded gravel and plaster powder, you can get just about any age of gravel or dirt road you want.
 
TOPIC THIS POST: Doing realistic water

My favorite method for making water is to build a flat area for a pond, river, or slough, paint it the proper colors, and then brush on arcylic gloss medium.

Once the gloss medium dries, the transformation is amazing ... here's an example photo:

cbsModel.jpg


Here's a photo of the same location on the prototype:
cbsloughm.jpg


Or if you're brave, here's a really big version of this photo:
http://siskiyou.railfan.net/images/cbslough.jpg

This area is known as Coalbank Slough and is located in Coos Bay, Oregon.

I first installed 1/2" plaster wallboard (sheetrock as it's sometimes called) over 1/2" plywood to create this flat area. Then I painted the center of the slough a deep green color, and faded the edges to a tan yellow ocre to represent the shallows.

Next I painted on acrylic gloss medium (you can buy it at an art supply store, or online here: http://www.rexart.com/liquitex_acrylic_mediums.html ). Don't be too concerned if you get the gloss medium smooth. A rippled look as you see in the above photo is pretty convincing!

Give the acylic gloss medium a couple of days to dry completely. If necessary, add a second coat to make sure it's evenly shiny over the complete surface.

In some cases, however, you won't have a flat area to work with, but will have a "dry bed" that you want to fill with water. In this case, nothing works as slick as Envirotex, in my opinion.

You can get Envirotex as a decoupage medium at craft stores, or you can order it from Scenic Express ... go to: http://www.sceneryexpress.com/ and ask for their catalog. Scenic Express also sells dyes you can use to color the Envirotex, which makes a big difference in realism (remember my rule about proper coloration?).

However, Envirotex has a couple of problems you'll need to pay attention to: 1) it sets up glassy smooth, which is not especially realistic for most bodies of water, and 2) it tends to "crawl" up the edges of the bank or up any rocks or debris sticking out of the "water" which ruins the effect of scale water.

The first problem is easy to solve -- once the Envirotex has set up, apply a layer of acrylic gloss medium to the top to give it "ripples" and your water will be much more realistic. Here's a pond I did this way, and notice how the ripples really add to the effect.

water2.jpg


For this pond, I poured it in three layers. I added several drops of green and a touch of blue to the bottom layer to give the pond depth. On the second pour, I put in just a drop of green and a drop of blue to give it just a slight hint of color. And finally on the top layer I added a drop of green and a couple drops of yellow to give it just a hint of stirred up dirt look to the surface.

And of course, to finish it off, I painted on a layer of acrylic gloss medium to give it realistic ripples.

To solve the problem of the Envirotex edge crawl, I mixed up some colored plaster powder (see my previous posts in this clinic) with a bit of water to make a thin paste, and painted it along the shore and over any rocks or sticks poking up out of the water. I carefully painted down to the water line I wanted right over the top of the Envirotex crawl. It dried a nice dusty color and disguised the water edge, making it look like dry dusty river bank or rock.

In the background, I brushed acrylic gloss medium over the rocks to create a hint of running water out of the culvert (I model July, so this stream is all but dried up this time of year), and then dry brushed on some white acrylic paint to give a sense of water cascading down the rocks into the pond.

Of course, any time you model water, add lush greenery around it to enhance the sense that life-giving water flows here!

Here's a couple more shots of this scene ... first a more distance shot so you can kind of see the context for this scene:

water3.jpg


And here's an even closer view of this scene:

water1.jpg
 
Bonus post: Working with powdered tempera and plaster "dirt"

When working with the powdered tempera and plaster "dirt" mixtures, here are some additional hints and tips.

Several thin layers of dirt are better than one thick layer, since you can easily dampen the layer well and the plaster will set up nicely, fixing the dirt in place.

Wetting the powder darkens it and once it dries, it lightens again. If you don't get the tempera mixed in well with the plaster, you can get dark spots in the dirt. Not a biggie, I just apply another layer over the dark spot, mist it with some water, and let it set up.

I first mist the area I want to cover with the powder with water and apply the dirt with a tea strainer, dusting it on lightly by tapping the handle with my finger. Then I mist on some more water until it darkens up, which means I've dampened it thoroughly.

You can do other things, like totally soak the powder until it's sloppy wet (instead of merely damp), and when it dries it will tend to crack and look like mud that has been baked dry. On slopes, you can soak it with water such that little rivelets run down the slope, creating some natural erosion effect.

If you put it on too thick, it's hard to dampen it thoroughly and the middle will remain dusty and loose, causing the whole application to come off later in chunks and create a real mess. I try to put down just enough to cover things (think of white powdered sugar on donuts), but not have any thickness buildup. I'll often come back later and do a second application just to make sure I've gotten good coverage.
 
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Just an excellent clinic Joe, it just keeps getting better by the day. I'm wondering about painting the river or lake bottoms. Although I used varnish in the past I'll be changing to the acrylic gloss medium because varnish settles to a flat shiny surface. In regards to painting I start in the center with a very dark green band, then on each side of that band a band of a lighter green, then alongside the bands of lighter green maybe a tan color or rock color. I then take a brush with water and brush over the paint, blending the colors so it is an even lightening from dark center to a tan/ rock colored beach ( Tan if it's sand, or I use gray colors if it is a rocky shore). For deep rivers this leaves streaks of lighter greens in the darker areas, obtaining the effect you will see when looking down from a bridge at a fast running water on a sunny day. I believe the effect will be enhanced using acrylic gloss medium.

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Willis
 
Willis:

Sounds almost exactly like what I do. Should look great under some acrylic gloss medium!
 
Hi Joe, a question about Envirotex. Is this the product that gives off strong fumes while curing? I remember a writeup about some product for modeling water that did, so I've stayed clear of anything that might. Strong fumes would affect my wife, but I sort of recall the product I'm thinking of was a two part mix. A deep clear water lake would be a plus for the coal fired power plant, but I could settle for a painted one if necessary.
I'm impressed with the rockwork around and in the pond, are these individual pieces, or are they carved in place?

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Willis
 
Willis:

Envirotex has almost no odor, so it's great stuff for making water.

The rocks around the pond are actual rocks. I hot glued a few large rocks in place, then sprinkled a lot of small rocks in around them, shaped things a bit more with a small rock here and there -- then glued them in place with dilute white glue like you do ballast.
 
powdered tempera and plaster "dirt" mixtures
Hi Joe, do you have a specific ratio of powder to plaster that you use? I have an old copy of Bill McClanahan's zip texturing, where he put the mixture on a creased paper and blew it on with his breath. I recall using the technique on a GG&N 5x9 layout in the 70's and it worked fine. Somewhere around then I dismantled the layout and that was it until about 98. I tried it on this layout, well the results were not too encouraging, but the tea strainer idea adds a new twist to it maybe I'll try again. The loco (GP9) is about finished so it's back to the scenery next week.
Hmm! seems I'm working back through this clinic :D

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Willis
 
Sorry for the out-of-sync post, but just now got to try this.

Joe, I finally decided to try the 'masking tape on the cardboard lattice' idea instead of using plaster gauze. The only problem I had, was the tendency of the plaster wanting to slide around on the slick tape. Because of this, I had to apply an additional layer of plaster to cover the thinner/bare places. I use a patching plaster/vermiculite only mixture. I definitely like the economics of this method over the medical plaster gauze that I have been using. Do you have any comments or suggestions to this problem.
 
A Couple Questions

Joe,
I've read all the articles you've posted here and it really got me interested in improving the scenery on my layout. I've got a couple questions.

First off, I noticed that you paint your rails by hand AFTER laying ballast. I've always airbrushed my rails and ties prior to laying ballast. Do you see any advantage to painting the rails after ballasting? It surely must take quite a bit longer than painting them before ballasting.

Second question is on the sisal rope conifers. I attached an example photo of conifers I made with furnace filters and ground foam. I have the manufacturing process down to a science, I've made more than 700 of these things. The trouble I have with them is that they are not transperant enough. I note that yours have more of a see-through apperance. I think it might take about 1-2 minutes apiece to make mine. How long does it take to make one of yours? That's a huge consideration because trees just don't seem to go very far when trying to forest an entire layout.

thanks,
Bill Kosanda
P.S. A couple years ago you invited me over to see your layout when I was preparing to come out to Oregon to railfan the Cascade Subdivison near Oakridge. I can't believe I did not take you up on it!
 
CBCNSfan said:
Hi Joe, do you have a specific ratio of powder to plaster that you use? I have an old copy of Bill McClanahan's zip texturing, where he put the mixture on a creased paper and blew it on with his breath.

Willis

Willis:

I tend to use less plaster than the zip texturing ratios: 3:1 or 4:1 plaster to color is typical -- it depends on how light you want to make it. Zip texturing formulas often have 8:1 or 10:1, so they use lots more plaster and less color. I sometimes go this high, but for things like weathering powders (see the track ballasting post), I tend to use much less plaster.

The folder paper trick is good for vertical surfaces, but you should always wet the surface well first, and then mist it afterwards as well. This will set the plaster in the mix and make it permanent.
 
RexHea said:
Sorry for the out-of-sync post, but just now got to try this.

Joe, I finally decided to try the 'masking tape on the cardboard lattice' idea instead of using plaster gauze. The only problem I had, was the tendency of the plaster wanting to slide around on the slick tape. Because of this, I had to apply an additional layer of plaster to cover the thinner/bare places. I use a patching plaster/vermiculite only mixture. I definitely like the economics of this method over the medical plaster gauze that I have been using. Do you have any comments or suggestions to this problem.

Rex:

Try painting the tape with some latex paint first, like a dirt brown color. This not only will make the taped scenery look nice very quickly (you can use this as a "quickie" technique when you are in a hurry), it will give the tape some tooth and make the plaster mix stay put better. Also add a few drops of dish detergent to your mix, which will break the surface tenshion of the plaster and make it penetrate better instead of just bead up on the tape.

I only do this if the scenery is more vertical in nature, since it helps the plaster stay put ... on flatter areas, I don't do anything special. Also with more vertical surfaces, I often mix the plaster pretty thin and put on a base coat first, almost like painting it on. Then the second less runny coat really has lots of "tooth" to hold it in place.
 
B_Kosanda said:
Joe,
I noticed that you paint your rails by hand AFTER laying ballast. I've always airbrushed my rails and ties prior to laying ballast. Do you see any advantage to painting the rails after ballasting? It surely must take quite a bit longer than painting them before ballasting.

Second question is on the sisal rope conifers. I attached an example photo of conifers I made with furnace filters and ground foam. I have the manufacturing process down to a science, I've made more than 700 of these things. The trouble I have with them is that they are not transperant enough. I note that yours have more of a see-through apperance. I think it might take about 1-2 minutes apiece to make mine. How long does it take to make one of yours? That's a huge consideration because trees just don't seem to go very far when trying to forest an entire layout.

Bill Kosanda

Bill:

My main problem with painting the track first is removing stray grains of ballast from the railsides and tie tops. It usually scrapes the paint off, then I have to go back and repaint ties and the railsides. Hand painting the railsides goes pretty quick, as you will be able to see in my Siskiyou Line video volume 4 (due out next April) when I demo the ballasting. I can probably paint about a foot of rail per minute, so in two minutes, I'll have both rails painted.

At that rate, in an hour, I can paint about 30 feet of track ... so it's not that hard and the result visually is really worth it for me, and you can see in this photo:

trackDetail.jpg


As to the trees, I do furnace filter trees as well for foreground trees, using the techniques espoused by one of the masters in furnace filter tree making -- Pete Vassler of Canyon Creek Scenics. See:

http://www.canyoncreekscenics.com/gallery/bcsjforest/forest02.html

It's possible to make furnace filter trees more see through, if you know the tricks. Here's a photo of my friend Charlie Comstock's layout using Pete's trees ...

forest03m.jpg


Here's the tricks to making furnace filter trees more see through:

1. Prepaint the furnace filter a dark green-brown color.
2. Put a large piece of filter on the trunk, then a small spacer piece, then a larger piece ... and do that all the way up the tree. This gives the tree more of a natural conifer shape and makes it less dense. You get less of a "Christmas tree" look to your conifers when you do that.
3. Use super-hold cheap hair spray, then *lightly* sprinkle on *fine* ground foam, first a dark color from the bottom, then a lighter color from the top.

The results will look a lot more like the trees that Pete does, which look absolutely *stunning*.

However, I only use Pete's technique for a few foreground trees, I use the Dennis Brown bottle-brush trees for the mass of trees I need. Each tree takes me perhaps 2-3 minutes each to make once all the materials have been assembled. You'll be able to watch it done on video in my upcoming Siskiyou Line video volume 4 due out next April.

Hope that helps, Bill, and the offer's still open to come for a visit if you are ever in the Portland, OR area!
 
jfugate said:
David:

That's why I recommend silflor only for small patches of grass or along the edges of a huge fake fur grass expanse. It economizes on the cost of Silflor and makes use of silflor where it looks the best.

Check out this link on my Siskiyou Line web site for an explanation/comparison of fake fur versus silflor: http://siskiyou.railfan.net/model/constructionNotes/silflor.html

Hi Joe,

congratulations to your layout and this clinic. If you recommend Silflor for grass, did you ever use the companys material for fir trees. I tested it and with more experience, the result will be much better.

Stefan

My Gallery

sd45_trees.jpg
 
Post 64 by Joe Fugate:
modeling a roadway using styrene is almost too easy. The .030 thickness is stiff enough to smooth out unrealistic imperfections in the subroad, but still thin enough to flow realisticially up and down over terrain level
(Talk about being out of sync :D) Hi Joe, what width do you use for your styrene roads? It looks almost too easy.
Now back on track again, thanks for the update on the Envirotex, I guess I'll be using it for the Power Plant water source lake. I find that's the one thing (water source) that seems to be missing on a lot of model steam power plant photos. Of course water could be piped in but usually that is not the case around here.

Hi Stefan, those are teriffic looking trees, I for one would like to see a "How To" thread with your procedure for making them.

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Willis
 
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Willis:

I use 12 foot lanes, plus another 2 feet for shoulder past the fog line. That makes a road 28 feet wide. Stripes are 6" wide.

I also use forced perspective as the road recedes into the distance, dropping the road width by perhaps 20-30%.
 



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