“Hello Al;
The black grit from asphalt roofing shingles makes excellent coal and younger lilac twigs make quite good logs for log cars”
— Graeme
“Hey Al….great stuff as always.
I have to laugh at myself…..as I learn about modeling tips, I find myself reluctant to toss out the styrofoam that comes in packing boxes….got some pieces the other day that literally look like buildings, and would only need painting. Maybe some of the experienced guys could tell us what paints are suitable for raw styrofoam.
It also reminded me of my old days as a drywall hanger….drywall finishing compound is about $6 for a gallon. It is already mixed, it is easy to apply to surfaces, and can make landscaping easily. It is pretty tough stuff once it dries.”
— Tim
“In west pa we have lots of golden rod around. so in fall, first frost browns it out. I wait for 2 weeks and cut off the tops. Then dry out in garage for 1 week. I primer them first, overspray in white and then spray in green, yellows, reds, oranges to tint them. they look great and super cheap other than spray paint!”
— Chris
” Hi,first let me say thanks for all the lay out plans I am getting ready to start a n scale 5by 9 foot lay out.As for my tip try a can of spray foam insulation instaed of news paper under plaster cloth when sprayed it exspands and when dry you can shape it as you like then cover with plaster cloth now you can plant your trees and things with out glueing them in place Thanks again”
— Robert
“Use children’s straws as down pipes and vent pipes from engineer work shops they take any paint and if you use the concertina ones it gives a natural curve to the pipe.”
— Terry
“Alaister
Here’s one for you.
To keep all those wires under your layout out of sight and neatly arranged (I have DC only) I found a really great product available at stationery stores. It’s called StikkiClips. These are small blue clips used to hang papers on your bulletin board or any where else. They have a super strong, removable glue patch and can be removed and reused. They are made in the US but are available in Canada. There are 10 to a pack. The clips come in other colours as well if you want to colour code wire runs, etc.”
— Perry”
And now on to Barry, who has featured before on the site.
He’s kindly sent these pictures in (unfortunately they are quite small).
I was envious for two reasons:
Look at all the space – and the scenery is superb.
Barry writes:
“This layout is in the familyroom in the basement of my daughter’s house.
I started this project the middle of January but I only work on it 2-3 days every 2-3 weeks and they live about 1-1/2 hours from my home.
I have about 110 hours into the total project so far and will probably require another 30 hours to finish the rest of the scenery and then I will send you a complete set of photos showing the development from beginning to end.
Thanks for the compliments.
Regards,
Barry”
There’s more on Barry’s layout here.
Hope you liked the tips. I did. Keep ’em coming.
Can’t wait for more? Take the plunge here. This one time payment of $9 won’t last forever…
I’ll leave you with a youtube of the print out scenery.
It’s hard to believe it’s all been made from downloads that are printed out and stuck together, but that’s exactly what it is.
Best
Al
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