Model railroad layouts plans

Bill’s been back in touch with part 2 of his excellent tree ‘how to’ on model railroad trees.

If you missed part 1, it’s here.

“Hello again Al and fellow Modelers

This is Part 2 of the pine tree build.

This one picks up on painting and detailing and also has a short how to do making N Scale tree using the same materials.

Let’s dig in right where Part 1 left off. Note I’m starting with Photo 1 again for this part of the build since it’s in a different post.

Photo 1 shows the spray paint I use for the trees. These are camouflage flat earth colors – browns and dark forest greens. For these I wear a pair of latex gloves and go outdoors and stay the entire tree from top to bottom. Cover as much as you want as it does help blend everything together and covers the ground cover used to seal the various glued used during construction.

Photo 2 shows a painted tree. Note the tree has been roughly shaped at this point. This is the flat dark brown color of spray paint.

Photo 3 shows this batch of trees I made in various stages of completion. It’s very evident which trees have gone thru the painting process at this point.

Photo 4 shows how I set up a few containment stations so when I apply the foliage I capture excess for future use and also keep the bench reasonable clean. For the foliage I use a few different colors of woodland scenics ground cover. Burnt grass and mixed ground cover are the two I primarily use but I also use the weeds green color as well for some trees.

Photo 5 shows a quick spray station set up for application of extra hold hair spray to the trees. Again this keeps the mess down.

Photo 6 shows how I like to spray which is top down for the most part. This covers the branches but minimizes the amount of spray getting on the trunk which will need to be brushed off later.

Photo 7 and 8 show sprinkling the ground cover on the tree. Trees are rotated as you see fit snd after the first application I tend to spray the tree with hair spray again then sprinkle a different color of ground cover on lightly near the ends of the branches. Photo 8 shows a tree that has completed this part of the process.

Photo 9 shows a different style of pine tree I make using furnace filter material. I use the same materials for the trunk just keeping the rustic wire straight the full length. I use one long and then three progressively shorter sections of wire to build up the trunk.

To this I apply wood glue and ground cover as before. The furnace filter material I cut to rough shape and peel it as thin as I can and then round it snd cut notched in the outer ring of each piece so it looks more like branches.

These then I use a screwdriver to open a hole in the center and I slide it down the trunk and super glue in place. Gaps between I generally keep to about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch. All other steps to finish are identical as noted in this post.

Photo 10 shows a completed tree waiting for clean up to remove excess material from the trunk. A small stiff brush works perfect for this task.

Photo 11 shows the same tree cleaned and layout ready

Photo 12 starts the construction of an N Scale tree roughly 4 inches tall. The same materials are used but here I’m using only a single trans of the rustic wire.

To start the build I super glue s few branches in different locations. I then hold the tree snd I dab on white glue to hold the next branches in different areas as I rotate the trunk.

Note that I go back and spot glue with super glue as well to make sure everything stays in place.

Photo 13 shows the completed tree before shaping

Photo 14 shows the tree getting ready for the first hair cut. Nothing fancy needed at this point but just get it into the basic shape you are after.

Photo 15 shows the model railroad trees after spray painting.

Photo 16 shows the tree after foliage has been applied. Same technique as used with other larger trees is fine with the smaller trees as well.

Photo 17 shows the tree after its trunk has been cleaned up and final trimming has been completed. It’s layout ready at this point

Hope folks give these a try. It’s very satisfying to make your own trees and cost effective too!

Best wishes

Bill in Virginia”

A huge thanks to Bill for sharing his model railroad trees ‘how to’.

If you want to see what his layout looks like, here’s his last video update:

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide is here if you want to make your start.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

Bill’s been in touch – he’s very kindly shared how to make trees for model train layout:

“Great Day to you Al and fellow modelers

I’ve been taking a bit of a forced break from doing too much on my layouts lately due to continuing back issues.

Nothing a little surgery won’t fix here in the near future. While I can’t bend or twist much I have been turning attention to scratch building some trees that I intend to use on a new On30 logging layout I’ll add to the HO snd N scale layouts I have in the garage. No cars allowed anymore in there lol

The construction is straightforward for trees that really look good and cost much less than purchased trees.

Each tree averages around one dollar US in materials. There is upfront costs for materials with Rustic Wire being the largest cost but I e been averaging over 30 trees per spool so not bad.

I’ve made this a two part submission with the first part covering construction related to HO, S and O gauge trees and the second part to cover painting, foliage and trimming plus a short how to on N Scale trees using the same materials.

On to the fun 😃

Photo 1 shows a collection of trees from my first construction lot. Trees shown are from 6 to 13 inches in height snd represent different styles of pine trees.

Photo 2 shows the basic materials needed for construction. I use wood glue, white glue and super glue. A few basic hand tools. Corseted fiber rope for the branches and Rustic Wire. The nearly used spool I got from a seller in England and the other I was able to find locally. The wrap on the wire makes it look like bark.

Photo 3 shows the lengths I generally use to make branches from the fiber rope. I tend to use three lengths 1-2-3 inches.

Photo 4 shows that for a 10 inch tall tree you want to use a 20 inch length of Rustic Wire. This will then be bent in the middle into a V shape for the next step.

Photo 5 shows the Rustic Wire layer on a cardboard work mat with the cut and pulled apart rope layer nearby. Note that I have an eye screw located the the notch of the V. You need this as a little later this will be your anchor point as you hand twist the tree. You can make a stationary block with the eye screw permanently in place or as I do I chuck the eye screw into a drill presses I hand soil the tree. More on that later.

Photo 6 shows I lay a bead of white glue on the wire for where I want to add in branches. I do not glue where the truck of the tree will be.

Photo 7 shows the rope fibers laid on the bead of white glue. These are gentility pressed in place. A little more white glue is added on top of the rope fibers at this point.

Photo 8 shows the other half of the Rustic Wire is not pressed onto the rope fibers. It will take a little pressure at the eye screw to get the wire in place and set so the wire lays flat.

Photo 9 shows the assembly chucked into my drill press. The glue holds the fibers in place for this step and secured them as it drys later on.

Photo 10 using any pliers grab both ends of the wire immediately below the lowest glued branches. This is where you will start the spin the wires and leave the lower wires untwisted. The number of turns will very but you will want to get turns so it’s fairly tight at the screw eye and the rope fibers have been spun out. It takes a little practice so you may need to do a few trees to get the hang of it.

Photo 11 and 12 show a spun tree and then using a nipper to cut the wire free of the eye screw

Photo 13 shows your tree at this point snd it’s ready for the next steps.

Photo 14 shows that you now take the Rustic Wire snd cut a small piece off that you will then super glue to the two wires forming the trunk. This will add thickness and give the trunk a rounder appearance.

Photo 15 and 16 show the cut wire and then after it’s been glued in place. At this stage you can start to trim the branches to what you’d like and give them a better taper and overall shape to look more natural.

Photo 17 shows the next step which is to sprinkle ground cover on the tree trunk where you have exposed white glue. This helps add texture and also reduces some of the visible spin on the trunk. Any color of ground cover works as all will be painted later on.

Photo 18 shows that the next step is to add wood glue to the gaps between wires on the main trunk of the base. I use wood glue as it is thicker and does run as much for this part of the process. Only do one of the gaps at a time as it’s easier to manipulate. Do not use too much glue. Just enough to fill the gap is all it takes.

Photo 19 shows the wood glue now covered by ground cover. Some of the original texture of the wire cover will still be visible in places as well. You may need to go back and add a little more glue in places after this dries and repeat a ground cover application as some glue will soak into the wire cover.

Photo 20 shows a basic finished tree prior to painting and adding foliage.

Part 2 will cover those next steps 😃

Bill in Virginia”

A big thanks to Bill for sharing how to make model trees look so realistic – his ‘how to’ concludes tomorrow!

That’s all for this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide is here if you want to stop dreaming and start doing.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

Paul’s been back in touch with his model train lift bridge:

Not long he sent in pics of his Chickadee Hollow railroad. You can see it here if you want to get up to speed.

This time, Paul walks us through his clever removable bridge:

“Al,

This concept shown can be adapted to any type of bridge that you want to be removable, yet adjustable, while providing access to your layout.

The first photo is the bridge shown on my layout that is the subject.

The second photo shows the mechanical items that make it work.

I used 1/4 -20 flat head bolts that I cut a slot in the end for a screwdriver.

Also shown is a 1/4-20 T-nut and one of the bolts shows a 10 mm super magnet which was superglued onto the head. This is typical to all the bolts in the system.

The 2nd photo is #2779. Various photos show the slot cut in the end of the bolts. Before gluing the magnets onto the bolts file the top of the heads so that they are very flat.

Various photos showing the underside of the bridge and the relationship of the mechanical & electrical components.

The photos below show the electrical contacts with a 10mm super magnet glued to the flexible copper strip which automatically adjusts to provide a good electrical connection.

This also shows the wires which go to the tracks and to the power source. Obviously you need one for positive and one for negative.

The stationary contact is a steel angle with the copper wrapped around it. This provides the stable contact and also the steel to which the magnet is attracted.

These photos show the underside of the bridge with a thin washer glued to the wood to provide something for the magnet to grab. You can use any steel or iron that you have but it must be flat. This has to be located wherever a magnet must attach.

Also note the structure of the vertical lift mechanism. I chose to use 2 screws so that I could a adjust tilt if necessary. The lateral adjusting screws are attached to the movable structure, in this case the bridge itself. Use T nuts for the internal threads where needed. I also glued the T nuts in place.

These photos show the stationary contact which is a steel angle with the copper contact bent around and glued to it.

Also shown is the Atlas rerailer track used to assure that the train wheels align properly. These rerailers are used at both the entry and exit from the bridge and also on the stable layout entry and exit points.

If you decide to use this method on your layout you should design it so that the adjustment points, both laterally and vertically allow both positive and negative adjustments. What I mean by this is that the adjustment screw placement should allow the track to go beyond the ideal position both vertically and horizontally.

Also I used the magnets instead of just bare screws to provide control of the positions by keeping everything pulled together.

A big thanks to Paul for taking the time to send in his model train lift bridge. Clever stuff.

Now on to Gary who has come up with an interesting effect:

“Tunnels made from roofing foam and pillow stuffing.

Gary”

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get going on your layout, 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.