how to create sceneries

No, but a lot of guys have written up how they did the scenery on their layouts. Try searching on "model railroad scenery". You'll get a bunch of commercial websites, too. Arizona Rock (a vendor of scenic supplies) has some pretty good info.

OTOH, Kalmbach's book on the subject is just as good as any website. Better, IMO, as it's kinda awkward to lug a laptop around while your getting your hands messy in plaster. Look for "Simple Scenery" to start with. Kalmbach also publishes books on building complete layouts, which cover all aspects of layout design and construction.

HTH

-- Wolf K.

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Bill Carl's Basic Scenery Page (excellent):

A good book, "Scenery for Your Model Railroad":

Bill Bill's Railroad Empire N Scale Model Railroad:

History of N Scale: 's Store--Books, Trains, and Toys: to 1,200 sites:

Many Thanks for the responses. I do have another question though, aside from hot glue used on foam, what can I use should I want to lay the board with grass. I have the grass (various colors), but I know I need to 'paint' some glue prior. I'm wondering if white glue or carpenter's glue will work. Any suggestions is greatly appreciated.

regards.

Do not use hot glue on foam. The glue gun can get hot enough to melt the foam. Use water-based acrylic-latex glue, available at your builder's supply store. There's thick stuff in tubes that's used to glue insulation foam and wall board in place, and thinner stuff that comes in cans. Use the thinner stuff. LePages used to offer the thinner glue in tubes but hasn't done so for at least a year. Both are contact cements with a working time of about 5 minutes.

To glue the grass, use thinned white glue (2 to 3 parts water to one part glue, and a drop or two of dish washing liquid per pint). Sprinkle the grass on it. After it's dried, dribble the same thinned white glue onto the grass. I use an eye-dropper. Add more grass as desired, and repeat the process. Use a variety of shades, and avoid bright green. Use the cheapest white glue you can find.

But you need a base for the glue to stick to. I prefer plaster painted with latex paint, but latex paint alone can be used. Cheap house paint in a sandy-earth colour will do nicely. Not too dark, though. You can vary and darken the colour by applying very thin washes of other colours

-- dark browns, greys, greens, etc.

HTH

-- wolf k

"Wolf K." wrote in news:477e9cac$0$24061$ snipped-for-privacy@news.newshosting.com:

There are low temp hot glues, but it's probably still a better idea not to use it on foam. I've used latex caulk on my foam, and it seems to be working alright. (I'm still new to the material, however.)

I strongly disagree. Stick to Elmer's school glue, but wait until it's on sale. DO NOT use Rose Art white glue. It leaves a white residue and doesn't dry fully clear like the Elmer's.

Sounds like good advice. I'll definately try painting before I try "planting" more grass on foam.

On my Ntrak module, I stained the plywood brown before "planting" grass. Where there's thin spots, you get the dark brown "dirt" showing through rather than manilla plywood.

Puckdropper

Huh??? Elmer's School Glue _is_ a white glue, Puckdropper. It's what I use, actually. ;-)

I made the mistake of adding the washes after I had on the first layer of grass. Better do it first. The purpose is to break the monotony of a uniform colour of "dirt", and make the steeper bits look like rock outcroppings and cliffs.

Try adding a very light scattering mixed red, orange and yellow ground foam (foliage), to simulate wild flowers. If you an find some nice medium to bright blue ground foam, try that too. And tell me where you found that colour.

"Wolf K." wrote in news:477ebc27$0$23943$ snipped-for-privacy@news.newshosting.com:

I was responding to the "Use the _cheapest_ white glue you can find." (emphasis added) part of your post. The cheapest white glue is often Rose Art, and it dries with a white residue when used for this purpose. It's worth the 50 cents difference to get a bottle of Elmer's. (If you can't wait for the sales, that is. They'll often go on sale for $.15 - $.20 a 4 oz bottle around here.)

*snip*

Do you like the blue foam color from 2" insulation foam? I've got several pieces left over from "excavations" on my newest layout projects. (But no grinder... wonder if a blender would work? Food processor and grain mill? That'd get me kicked out of the kitchen for sure!)

Puckdropper

Sorry about that, never heard of that brand. The cheapest white glues hereabouts are found in the dollar stores, and they often sell Elmer's School Glue. Home builder's supplies are good sources of cheap white glues, too. ;-)

H'm, hadn't though og grinding up blue insulation foam. Would be kinda staticky, eh? By "ground foam" I was intending the stuff sold by Woodland Scenics and others.

On 1/5/2008 1:04 AM Puckdropper spake thus:

Just another data point here: I also use the cheapest white glue available, which 'round these parts is also found in dollar stores. It's Ross white glue (made in the U.S., oddly enough), $1 a bottle (pint), and it seems identical to Elmer's.

But I'll be sure to stay away from Rose Art glue.

That's why they invented thrift stores.

"Wolf K." wrote in news:477f8393$0$14095$ snipped-for-privacy@news.newshosting.com:

*trim*

I knew what you meant. :-) I think it's called "ground foam" because it's simply foam that's been ground up, and not because it's ground cover. It would be staticy, I'm sure. I'm not quite sure how to solve that issue.

Puckdropper

Erm, I think that the ground cover is ground from rubber foam, not polystyrene foam.

"Wolf K." wrote in news:47800f81$0$14101$ snipped-for-privacy@news.newshosting.com:

That explains it. Hm... Looks like time for some quick Google work.

Puckdropper

Puckdropper wrote in news:478026b4$0$47162 $ snipped-for-privacy@authen.yellow.readfreenews.net:

It looks like the ones making their own ground foam is using foam rubber, a different beast all together. (Considering how cheap it's likely to be found, I might consider just making my own rather than paying $8 a bottle.)

If you've got a blender, you may want to give construction foam a try... It might just work.

Puckdropper

On 1/5/2008 5:04 PM Puckdropper spake thus:

Right stuff (foam rubber), but wrong tool (blender). A blender would make a huge mess.

It's actually much simpler than that, speaking from experience. What a guy would want to do is get ahold of a hand meat grinder. You know, those metal crank thingies you clamp to the edge of a table or counter. Usually come with several grnding plates. Feed in chunks of foam rubber and out comes ... ground foam. Just like the stuff you'd buy from Woodland Scenics or wherever.

You can also dye the stuff, either (or both) before/after grinding, with ordinary Rit dye. I've made many shades of very convincing foliage cover with this method.

I use a blender but put water & the foam rubber in together then chop it up; I cut it into about 1 inch squares first. When it is pretty well pulverized, I simply put it into a bucket, water & all then add some colored dye. (I have also used thinned latex paint for coloring) Finally, I wring it out really well then let it dry on a piece of cloth over a piece of screen wire. It's better to do this in the winter months as the home heating system tends to dry out the air making drying times much shorter. It seems like it takes forever in the muggy summertime.

BTW, the foam rubber I use comes from one of those mattress covers that you can buy at most discount stores. I think I paid like $8 for mine and haven't used but about one fourth of it.

Well, according to the expert (my wife who teaches 1st grade), there IS a difference between Elmer's White Glue & Elmer's School Glue. I believe that the school glue is a little easier to clean up as in get out of first graders' desks, book bags, clothes, hair... you get the picture. : ) Seriously, they are two different products.

Besides, you all know the futility of arguing with your wife!

dlm

Oh sure, there is a difference, but they are both white glues, ie, PVC glues. White glue comes in many varieties, with different additives to produce different characteristics, such as the high tack desired by crafters, and the washability desired by school teachers and parents. ;-)

And model railroaders create their own versions by thinning the stuff to dribble nicely all over the scenery.

HTH

Obviously you don't live in Sacramento!