Adding scenery to a layout can be very daunting and rewarding at the same time. This was my first attempt at adding scenery to a layout and thanks to fellow modellers Gary Rose and John Perry I finally took the plunge.
My first project was using plaster to build my first scene. I used cardboard strips to form a mountain then used paper towels soaked in plaster. I found two layers of plaster towels followed by a layer of thick plaster was sufficient. I then added rock moulds to add to the authenticity.
After a few attempts I was pleased with the effect and found using cardboard strips makes it easy to form the shape before adding plaster.
This is the finished mountainside, to colour the plaster I painted black coffee over the plaster after a few coats the coffee soaks into the plaster leaving the plaster a rich earth colour. The trees are made using dyed pillow foam on wrapped wire. the wire is then dipped in brown acrylic paint and the foam glued to the wire.
Ballast dust was used for all my track ballast with ground foam used for all other areas (see ballast page). For roadways I cut out 5mm (1/8 inch) masonite then sanded it to the shape of the road. I nailed down the roadway then glued wet and dry sandpaper as the road surface. I used chalk dust to shade the road to simulate actual road conditions
The above picture shows the effects that can be achieved using wet and dry sandpaper as roads