I’m a college student and Thanksgiving break is coming up. I should have about 4 days to work on my layout, which is at this stage right now. I need to pull up all of the track, lay roadbed, and then do as much scenery as I can before I have to go back to school. Now is about the time for me to start gathering supplies so what do I need? Plaster cloth, plaster, etc? How much ground covering and ballast would you recommend? The hill will probably need supplies for making rock formations. I doubt I’ll get to the trees, but if there is anything you can recommend, feel free. Thanks!
Interesting questions! Most college students don't have a large budget. So I don't know how much you have available to spend? The first thing you'd probably do, is the roadbed. Will you be using cork? I just grabbed a box of Midwest (cork) that I had close by. The pieces are 36" long. 25 per box. I don't believe you'll need that many. But with that 36" measurement, you can calculate how many pieces are needed. That should get you started. Boxcab E50
I already have the roadbed for it, so that’s not an issue. As far as budget goes, I am a poor college student, so cheaper is better, but don’t let that impede the ideas. The main reason I’m asking is with only 4 days I don’t want to be wasting my time driving to the hardware store to get sand paper, or not being able to do more than lay plaster cloth because I forgot to buy paint for the base coat. So any ideas to minimize the headaches would be appreciated.
Plaster cloth - 1 roll 4oz bottle of trail tan (or darker brown) base coat 4oz bottle of forest green base coat 1 bag sculptamold Small bags of fine ground cover (10oz I think?) - 1 earth color, 1 green, maybe 1 yellow or red (depending where layout is based on) Paint (earth colors) Brushes (regular and foam) assorted Fine ballast (your choice of color(s)) Should get you a very good start without having to leave for store
Other stuff you may want to add to your list, some duplicate the other lists. Some cheap items: -Dirt baked at 350 for about 20 mins to kill bugs. Most of my layouts ground cover is always real dirt. -Twigs gathered from ground for loose debris. -dry weeds gathered for tree armatures. It's really easy to make tree's with weeds and spray mount and clump ground foam. Cheap too! -Small pebbles and rocks. -Spray bottle for soaking down scenery with. -Straws for use as eye droppers, dip and plug end with thumb then release watered down glue onto area to be soaked. Mcdonalds free scenery tool. -Lots of plastic container tubs like margarine tubs, and jars with lids for storing Scenery supplies in. Working from those plastic bags sucks. Also lots of tubs to use to mix up various things in. the handy thing about having lids for them is you can save time by stashing them till your next scenery session the next day. -A set of deer and elk figures -A set of cheap people figures ... nothing sets the scale of your layout like people and animals. Once you place a couple figures around you'll see what I mean. -some cars and trucks, get cheap ones to start with, then upgrade as time passes. model power or bachmann stuff. -masking tape to cover track with. Not so cheap but necessary: -matte medium for use as an adhesive for ground foam and ballast, make sure to pre mix with water then let it sit so that that talc settles out. -Gloss medium for water effects or some of the gel mediums they have in art supply stores if you want white water effects. -Paint brushes in various sizes and shapes. -Acrylic paint for painting your rocks with. -india ink for doing washes that will make the crevices pop out more on rocks. -white acrylic paint for drybrushing onto rock surfaces. -spray adhesive for making tree's -spray paint gray for tree trunks -ground foams. Lots of them. various colors. I sprinkle mine on by hand so I can get the right mix of colors for each area I work in. -clump foam for making trees -It's almost worth it to buy one of those woodland scenics starter sets because they come with a little of everything. considering the size of your layout you may be able to stretch it a bit and get by with just extra plaster cloth and a bag or two of ground foam. -Bag O plaster for rock castings. -Most critical... DROP CLOTH OF SOME KIND!!! Scenery is messy. -latex gloves -Xacto kinfe to use for carving plaster when blending rock castings together. -A vacum is a useful tool for cleaning up the floor when your done. Work your scenery in 1x1 foot areas. If it looks wrong just add more layers of ground foam. The more the better. I think it is wiser to do your ballast last. Granted i'm no expert on this, It's always a learning experience.
Geeky, could you explain the watering down of the matte medium technique? (Talc?) I have yet to venture into the world of matte medium but I'm thinking i should... Thanks
What you need the most is the one thing you haven't got - TIME! It took me thirty-five years to finish a 2x4 model railroad. While scenery is not difficult, it cannot be rushed to give good results. Your elevations are going to require a good many rockfaces and I see a couple of weeks worth of work right there. Work slowly, get part done and stop and analyze your technique. Once you see how to improve that, start up again. Remember, it's a diversion, not a race.
