DIY Scenery Material

thetramp May 17, 2022

  1. thetramp

    thetramp TrainBoard Member

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    This is the first gondola load I made about 8 years ago. I have learned a lot since then. I used a piece of track and glued everything to it. I think it came out fair for the first time. You can see it in a gondola in the car of the day section.

    first homemade load.JPG
     
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  2. thetramp

    thetramp TrainBoard Member

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    These trees are made from air conditioner filters and skew sticks. Painted, cut round, pulled apart into thin layers and glued to the sticks. Just trying to be resourceful as possible by repurposing material instead of throwing them away.

    dio. pic.JPG
     
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  3. Mike VE2TRV

    Mike VE2TRV TrainBoard Member

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    Nice trees.:)

    With very good results. That kind of activity gets the brain going and it quickly learns to spot usable stuff in rubbish that would otherwise be sent to a landfill (i.e. a dump). Keep it up!
     
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  4. thetramp

    thetramp TrainBoard Member

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    With nothing to do today so I thought I would add a hill to my diorama. I made a cardboard base and added bracing. It will fit over the small hill I had previously made. I am doing that instead of taking up the small hill just in case this larger hill does not work out. Next I will hot glue dryer sheets to form the hill.

    IMG_8342.JPG

    IMG_8344.JPG

    IMG_8343.JPG
     
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  5. thetramp

    thetramp TrainBoard Member

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    I than hot glued dryer sheets to the cardboard base.

    IMG_8345.JPG

    IMG_8346.JPG
     
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  6. Shortround

    Shortround TrainBoard Member

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    Lookin good. But, I do have one (probably silly) question. Are those drier sheet new or used?
     
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  7. thetramp

    thetramp TrainBoard Member

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    They are used. My wife saves them for me.
     
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  8. Shortround

    Shortround TrainBoard Member

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    Guess I'll have to change back from Downey. Do you use the drier lint for filler?
     
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  9. thetramp

    thetramp TrainBoard Member

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    No I don't. There is no filler.
     
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  10. thetramp

    thetramp TrainBoard Member

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    I put a thin layer of plaster over the dryer sheets and added a few rocks I made from molds

    raw hill 1.JPG

    raw hill.JPG
     
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  11. thetramp

    thetramp TrainBoard Member

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    After touchups with plaster, I used washes and this is what I came up with. I used black, two shades of brown, some yellow and a touch of rust.

    Hill - good picture.JPG

    hill 2.JPG

    hill 3.JPG
     
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  12. thetramp

    thetramp TrainBoard Member

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    added foliage to the hill

    with grass 4.JPG

    with grass 5.JPG
     
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  13. thetramp

    thetramp TrainBoard Member

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    I put the new hill on the diorama to see how it would look. It looks good but I realized that the first hill I made looked out of place so today I pulled the old hill off and I am starting on a new one for that section.

    with car.JPG

    with car1.JPG
     
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  14. Mike VE2TRV

    Mike VE2TRV TrainBoard Member

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    The colors of the two clash quite a bit! A big change in geology in a small space...

    The route of least effort (there's a RR slogan!) would be to simply repaint the rock face part in the same pattern as the new one.
     
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  15. thetramp

    thetramp TrainBoard Member

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    I pulled up the first hill I made and started making a replacement. The larger pieces of plaster I stuck on with caulking and the smaller with hot glue.

    new hill.JPG

    new hill 2.JPG
     
    Last edited: Sep 15, 2022
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  16. thetramp

    thetramp TrainBoard Member

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    After adding plaster to fill in gaps and void areas, I used black, gray, 2 shades of brown and yellow washes and this is what I ended up with.

    color new hill 1.JPG

    color new hill 2.JPG

    color new hill.JPG
     
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  17. thetramp

    thetramp TrainBoard Member

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    positioning the new hills before I glue them down permanently.

    2 hills 1.JPG 2 hills 2.JPG 2 hills.JPG
     
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  18. Shortround

    Shortround TrainBoard Member

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    Some how that doesn't look like regular scenery.
     
  19. thetramp

    thetramp TrainBoard Member

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    I am willing to learn, what am I doing wrong with it?
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2022
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  20. Shortround

    Shortround TrainBoard Member

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    I enjoy your postings and didn't mean to be negative. There's a lot of different shapes and colors. But, it looks more like the added scenery I saw in my youth. Outside of bars. ;)
     

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