Model railroad layouts plans

Rob’s been back in touch with his model train water effects.

This time he shares how he made the waves on his harbor wall look so realistic:

“Hi Al,

This video is about painting and adding a little relief to my harbor water element. It was easy and fun to do. It is a method that is for anyone.

You do not need a high skill level to manage this method so it is for beginners and advanced hobbyists.

I used a product called matt medium. It is generally used for thinning acrylic paints. If used for that it does not thin the color as water does. It just adds liquidity to the solution so it applies and brushes more easily.

I used a graining brush to apply the white foam accents but any brush would work as long as you wiped the excess paint from it before you touched the waves.

The graining brush offers more delicate bristles at the end and that is why I used it.

I wanted to be sure the traces of white paint were very fine and my graining brush worked a treat.

I also use a graining brush for certain aspects of weathering rolling stock so it is a good tool to have in the toolbox.

Thank you so much for your daily email. I know sometimes it probably seems like a bit of a grind to get one out every day, but I and your other readers really look forward to seeing what other modelers are up to.

Thank you so very much,

Rob – Farland Howe”

A big thanks to Rob for sharing his model train water effects. Stunning stuff.

Now on to Andrew:

“Dear Alistair,

It is always a pleasure to open your blog every morning to see other peoples layouts and receive tips and guidance to improve our modelling skills.

I was puzzled when I first saw this post as a platform to me is the raised area beside the track at stations to allow passengers to embark/disembark from trains. Much higher in the UK when compared to many European mainland stations and some in USA.

Having said that I also use platform modelling as described by Gary. Building scenery on a workbench which allows easy viewing, sculpting, and painting from every angle without getting mess on the track or layout. Something advantageous when the layout is against a wall as is the case with my layout.

Please find attached a railway cutting built to fit into a corner of my layout.

A paper template is made of the area to be modelled and transferred to a thin ply or MDF base on which the scenery is constructed with sufficient rigidity for transport onto the layout.

Thought has to be given to hiding the joins between the baseboard and the platform and there are many creative ways to achieve this.

Thank you and best wishes to all you contributors.

Andrew”

A big thanks to Andrew, and to Hall of Fame member Rob for sharing how he created his water scene.

I’d like to think of a word besides stunning, but I’m struggling to do so. Leave a comment below if you can!

Rob’s post also reminded me of Brian’s tips on water effects.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you stop dreaming and start doing, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS More HO scale train layouts here if that’s your thing.

Need buildings for your layout? Have a look at the Silly Discount bundle.

What makes a model train landscape? Detail!

And Rob has been back in touch to show us how he’s making his layout look even more realistic.

He’s really dialling in to the detail now – have a look at how he made his cobble stones.

And the waves on the harbor are just as impressive:

“Hi Al,

I have been spending quite a bit of time on my harbor scene lately.

I replaced the craft foam representing concrete with Wills embossed plastic sheets representing granite paving stones or setts.

When I completed that task, I painted the plastic to look like granite paving stones. The information about how it was done is in a pair of videos. I will provide links to both at the end of this description.

When I originally started this area 3 years ago, I tried putting some of the paving stone plasticard down but found it to be very tedious and slow.

At the time I was trying to get the whole layout pretty well landscaped so wanted to move on to other areas as soon as possible.

This craft foam was okay and it served well until I felt I wanted to replace it with something more interesting.

I am now going back over the entire layout spending whatever time is needed to improve it and get it up to the best standards possible.

I find this process rewarding, very satisfying, and fun.

As you and others have said, “A layout is never done.”

When you live with a layout for a while, you start to see where it could be improved. Some folks never get around to doing the things that would improve their layouts and that is okay.

Layouts are personal things and if you are enjoying what you have as is whether it is bare plywood or highly detailed it is okay.

It is yours and you can have it any way you want. I work on my layout for entertainment. I probably have more time to do that than most since I am retired and my wife is still working. It means I have 5 days per week to spend on the layout if I choose to do so and I usually do.

The photos are of the harbor area with craft foam being used to emulate concrete. It can be cut and painted to simulate cracks and relief joints as I tried to do in the photos.

It works quite well, but I always longed for something that would illustrate more the time period I was after on the layout. The last one I added because it is one of my favorites. It has nothing to do with concrete or granite paving stones.

Here are the two videos about installing and painting the granite setts.

Laying the embossed plastic sheets.

Painting:

I hope this material is helpful to someone who wants to do this on their layout and wondered how someone else may have done it.

Thank you Al for all you do for the modeling community worldwide. We all appreciate you and I personally look forward to your email links every morning before I read the newspaper.

Cheers,

Rob McCrain – Farland Howe”

A huge big thank you to Hall of Fame member, Rob, for sharing his model train landscape tips.

I’d love to hear what you have to say on this one – please do leave a comment below.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get started on your layout, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

PPS More HO scale train layouts here if that’s your thing.

And there’s the Silly Discount bundle too.

Jamie’s been in touch with a load of fab pics of his HO scale people.

Adding people adds so much life to a layout.

And Jamie stories behind each scene also has me smiling:

Jameie’s been in touch again with his stunning HO layout:

“Alastair,

Welcome again…if this is too much too soon, I understand.

I have stories behind all of these scenery setups…

Two workers returning to the office at the canning company at Barcelona peer.

Salvatore, a first generation from Italy carries bags of potatoes from the Desiderio food distribution facility.

John, and Ernie, both Originally from Ireland take a closer look at a car that’s made its way from the West coast.

These two brothers, Lowell and Lee, have never been able to agree on anything… they might even disagree if the sky was blue… if it was ever sunny.

Pasquale pushes that cart along all day and even though his English “isn’t so good” he loves chatting it up with his fellow employees

The King Brothers (they are twins) and they married two sisters… their glass blowing company sells beautiful pieces all over the world.

Oscar Rayford, owns the local concrete plant… he’s responsible for all the sidewalks in town

David Gray, a huge man… is seen switching here for a shipment of sand to Rayfords concrete. David, is one of the key actors in the theater group in Buffalo Creek.

Rick Wilber, a novelist that specializes in Science Fiction books opened a bookstore and it attracts a wide variety of people. They are anxiously awaiting the store opening on a nice Sunday morning.

Romito-Donnelly makes furniture and their key designer was Vincent Tondiglia, also an Architect, Vincent can be seen in his Little Italy studio drawing a new building. He is also this authors father in law.

Down in Lackawanna Jim Collins works along with many Irishmen at the Bethlehem Steel plant. Here, a pot is being moved.

Angelo is waiting for a local delivery to pass his tower… there are 4 NYC towers in the area, Angelo has worked in all four the towers for the railway and is the longest employed tower operator.

Hooker Chemical in Niagara Falls makes some nasty chemicals, we’d all come to find out years later, but in this time period their tankers can be seen everywhere.

I hope you find these interesting enough to post… if not, I’d certainly understand

Jamie”

Well, Jamie, it’s never too soon to post new pics, and they are definitely interesting enough – I loved them. And the stories behind each picture really do bring it to life.

If you missed Jamie’s last post, it’s here.

Jamie’s post reminded me of one of Dan’s:

HO scale railroad workers.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get started on your layout, the silly sale for the Beginner’s Guide is here.

It’s a great way to support the blog. Thank you to everyone who already bought – I’m really looking forward to seeing your printable buildings on your layouts!

Best

Al

PS More HO scale train layouts here if that’s your thing.

Need buildings for your layout? Have a look at the Silly Discount bundle.