Landscaping Tips

 

Tip #1 - Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow
Snow scenes are fun to look at. They're also hard to make and a source of problems if loose, powdery snow gets inside motors. Snow also covers up all the hard work you've put into your landscaping and detailing. This tip is a good compromise.

Create a mountainous area in your layout. Put a small train station in a picturesque location along the mainline. Name the station Snow Valley, Frostbite Falls, etc.

Plant some pine trees near the station and on the surrounding hills.

Spread some white glue around in selected locations, such as rooftops and the sides of roads.

Then, using a spoon, sprinkle baking soda on to the glue.

Let dry, and then use the nozzle attachment on a vacuum cleaner to carefully remove the excess baking soda.

To make icicles, gently squeeze a tube of clear plastic model cement. When a blob appears at the tip, touch it to the desired spot on a model, such as a roof overhang or gutter. Slowly pull the tube away in the direction you want the icicle to hang.

After the glue has dried, trim the icicle to the desired length with scissors. When finished, make sure the icicles are hanging straight down.




Tip #2 - Vary The Ballast For Improved Realism
In the full size railroading world, ballast colors and textures vary. This reflects the amount of use, weathering, and maintenance different sections of the track receive.

After applying ballast to your track, weather sidings more heavily than the mainline.

Leave a few spots without weathering to imply recent track repairs.

Sprinkle some coal and ballast along the tracks in a few locations to indicate spills from hopper cars.

An airbrush can be used to add rust stains to the ballast next to the track rails, oil spills down of the tracks or to slightly vary the color of the ballast.


Tip #3 - Don't Forget The Ditches
When a road is constructed through mountains, drainage ditches are usually included along the sides of the road to catch the runoff from the mountains. Don't overlook these details in our models, they can add a lot of realism to your layout.

Different sizes of gravel can be glued to the ditch you make to complete the scene. Glue some weeds in the ditch too.

Tip #4 - Do Weeds Grow Between Rails?
You betcha! If you walk by seldom-used sidings and spurs you'll find that plants are growing through ballast. You can model this several ways.

Use small pieces of Lichen and glue them to the ballast.

For variety, save the bits created when you trim trees. Plant these in the ballast.

Since there are many different color trees, your weeds will have lots of variation.

Be sure to keep the tops of the weeds even with or lower than the tops of the rails so your couplers don't snag on them.


Tip #5 - Mulch Ado About Nothing
Be creative with your earth flock. Glue earth flock under trees and bushes in residential areas of public parks to simulate mulch.

For an added touch, use a man with a wheel barrow and one with a shovel spreading the mulch.

Tip #6 - Vines to Hide Your Corners
No matter how hard you try, no matter how careful you are in constructing structures, plastic or wood, sometimes you just can't get the corner just right. The seam will show because the plastic or wood is warped and a huge, at least in HO scale, crack appears at the corner. Well, a time honored cure to this problem is "cover-up"!

What you can do is add ground foam vines held in place with full strength white glue. Apply the glue along the corner seam starting at the top, working your way down to the bottom. Continue to apply the glue along the bottom of the building, trying to visualize how the real thing would grow along the bottom and up the corner.

Tip #7- Masking Tape Rolled Roof
 Get a roll of 1/4" wide masking tape for the rolled roofing. Lay the first strip on the bottom edge of the roof and work your way up. Cut it a little longer than the length of the roof . Continue the process on up the roof until you have completely covered the one side of the roof. Repeat the process on the other side. Where the two sections meet at the peak, cut a thin strip to represent the cap strip. When done, paint it in place with some Floquil roof brown or weathered black, or whatever color you want your roof to be. Use a sharp X-acto knife to trim the roof edges after the paint has completely dried.

 

Apply it just like you did the T.P. roof material, except the adhesive will hold it in place. After the roof is covered, paint it the desired color.
A side note - masking tape also makes very nice window shades, and you don't have to use glue to hold them in place.