Total Landscape Noobie here...1st step??


Night Train

Night Train

Member
F I n a l l y got all of my track work done and everything runs perfectly on all parts of my layout. I can reliably run my trains with no derailments or other track related problems. Whew!

Now I'm looking at starting to add some scenery to the whole thing and am wondering about the first step. Should I start ballasting the track or start doing something else and if so, what? If you were starting the landscaping process again, what would you tackle first?
 
I am in the exact same part of the process. Trains up and running and track all working great, but not sure what the next step should be. I think the general consensus is that ballasting should come last. Looking forward to the group's input.

Jeff
 
You didn't mention if your layout had elevation changes..........if so, your hills/mountains/streambeds/ect would be your next step. Pretty much every method used for those features will be messy, so you want that out of the way before you start to make things pretty. Most people use some cheap paint to put a base coat over the wood or foam they laid the track on, so it doesn't show thru. Then any coloration different from the main undercoat.........the paint will make a big difference in the appearance of the layout even without any scenic material. Then you can start adding ground cover, then low shrubbery, working up towards the trees. That's what works best for me. You don't have to do the WHOLE layout with each step before moving on......you can break your work into smaller sections and complete them separately, but for me it's best to work from the dirt up.
 
Brakeman, If your layout represents an area you live in or near, gather materials for your scenery from Mother Nature; dirt, tree twigs, small rocks, etc. My layout, a work-in-progress, is the Union Pacific and Rio Grand. I gathered dirt from a field near my house and sifted the dirt through a large kitchen strainer I bought at a local hardware store. My first step was to approximate the dirt's color with some acrylic paint, put a couple coats on the 2" foam then sprinkle the sifted dirt on the wet paint. I use a parmesan cheese container to sprinkle the sifted dirt. When that has dried for a few hours, I come back and sprinkle more 'dirt' on the dried area, spray it with 'wet water' (water with a couple of drops of dish washing liquid' and then go back over that with a 50/50 white glue/water mix. Needles to say, work in one small area at a time. Don't forget to cover your beautiful track work during the process. Lot easier to cover the track than try to clean the glue off after it dries. Especially if the glue gets into switch frogs and throws. And believe me, the glue/water mixture has a way of doing just that.
 
When I built my dioramas I did just as Dave said. I hand-laid the ties and track after the sub-roadbed and roadbed was down. Next the track was taped off with some care to make sure I didn't leave any loose areas for stuff to get into my track. Then I sculpted the terrain using various methods and finished the scenery. I usually saved trees that would be in the way til the later stages. Once all the scenery was done I ballasted and blended the ballast into the scenery. The closer I got my scenery to the track the easier it was to blend it all in after the tape is removed. At least it seemed that way to me.

So when all the scenery was done I usually had 1/4" - 1/2" from the ties to the finished scenery. This is the area where I was scared to paint all the way up to the ties with the larger brush. This was perfect because I usually tried to model this strip as dirt and later I would add some weeds into it. So to accomplish this I put down the ground paint but usually I would add a touch of black into it. I would use a finer brush blending up to the ties and the finished scenery then I sprinkle really fine dirt into the paint. Peel the tape, carefully sprinkle the ballast, then blend it all in with scenery like grasses, weeds, etc. This is a process that worked rather well for me that I hope I can repeat when the time comes.
 
I am in the middle of a new layout at the moment and do pretty much what has already been stated. Layout the track work with elevations. Remove track, plaster in risers (if Woodlands type) prime the foam/ply wood, lay the track bed (unless using track with track bed attached), do the hills, lay out where your structures will sit, form the terrain, drill for wiring, fix the structures, shrubs,tree's etc.

As said, work from the ground up and you shouldn't haven't a problem. If you do, just ask :)

Cheers,
 
Thanks for all the ideas so far.

I'll be starting to collect supplies to start this process real soon here and will let you know how things progress.... (unless I get distracted and run my trains instead... :)
 
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