I was thinking of a mountain or tunnel or a combo of both for this side of my layout but I was wondering if the track isn't elevated enough...I don't know how high I can go. Can you guys take a look and see what you think? It's about 2 inches tall across the back and that end of the table is about 10 ft long.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SolarEclipse2,

How's this, I can see it much better.


It sure doesn't look 20 inches high but it really doesn't matter how tall it is unless you have track going under it then it should be at least 6 inches high for clearance depending on what you are running under it. As for the mountain and or tunnel I say go for it! Here's a shot of mine, it's only about 6 feet long and just over 14 inches tall.


Paul

Serows1, that was a typo. I meant 2 inches tall. I was using the number pad and not paying attention. I had seen your tunnel and really liked them. with the amount of track I have I don't know if I can get it high enough. I was reading up on how the grades work and I'm not sure. I may have to switch out my wooden supports for some foam and that might make things easier. What do you think?

I don't understand you question. Why would the track have to be higher? You could build a mountain on the left side with the track coming out of a tunnel and build a mountain on the right side with the track going into a tunnel using the bridge to connect the two mountains. Or you could build a mountain and tunnel on either side and have the other side on an embankment. Or you could have the tracks running on a cut on the front side of mountains. If you are talking about the height under the bridge you could always cut out the table out below it and lower it. I don't think you want to try to get the track any higher because that would make your grade to much.

Gene Anstine

quote:

Originally posted by grfd59:
I don't understand you question. Why would the track have to be higher? You could build a mountain on the left side with the track coming out of a tunnel and build a mountain on the right side with the track going into a tunnel using the bridge to connect the two mountains. Or you could build a mountain and tunnel on either side and have the other side on an embankment. Or you could have the tracks running on a cut on the front side of mountains. If you are talking about the height under the bridge you could always cut out the table out below it and lower it. I don't think you want to try to get the track any higher because that would make your grade to much.

Gene Anstine

Right Gene, I guess I didn't make myself clear enough. I was thinking about building a mountain with the tunnel at table level with track going through it and also having elevated track on top of the mountain...well more like a plateau. You're right about the grade though, I looked at a foam riser kit and apparently it takes like 8' at 4% to get 4" high so that won't work.

Solar, the grade you choose depends allot on how big your layout is. I think you are going to want to stay around a 2 1/2% grade which will translate to roughly 1/2 inch increase or decrease in grade for every foot of run. So, it will take roughly 12 feet of track to increase the grade to 6 inches which would be an average clearance height, depending on what you are running. Good luck and have fun!

Paul

Ok, so I started making a hill...not really a mountain. How do I get it from the stack of pink foam pictured to something resembling a land mass? It's held together with toothpicks temporarily. So glue? Paint? Some sort of resin? What do you guys do?

I glue the foam together with hot glue, carve, then cover with plaster.

Then stain paint, whatever, and cover with your choice of ground cover.

I used foam glue, it in the caulk isle at Home Depot, you need a caulking gun for it. After the glue dried I used a "sure form rasp" to contour and smooth out the surfaces, if you want a rough rock face then pick at it with a screw driver or your fingers.

I watched a video series on youtube.com that was very helpful because it showed in detail what tools to use and how to use them. The instructor started at cutting basic shapes and went all the way through to applying ground foam to finish it. Here is a link to part one, he is modeling N scale I think but it doesn't matter, the technique is the same. I watched the entire run, I think there are 12 parts, before I started just to make sure I had a grasp on what I was doing. Have fun and enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v..._GC4&feature=related

Paul

If that is your final decision it looks good. Now for the actual carving I would try to remove it. Work in another location for ease of working and less mess. Mark where the track will be and start your scenery process around it. Once done then reinstall it and touch up the edges to fit into the layout.

I'm going to pull it out tomorrow and work on it. I went to hobby lobby and bough some plaster cloth, a shaker bottle of some green stuff (ground cover), and something that looks like moss, I don't remember what it's called.

I'm going to try to shape it with a serrated knife to give it a rock face. I hope the plaster cloth works although I'm not sure what to do about the gaps on slope where it goes up each 1/2 inch.

Once the plaster cloth has dried, do you guys just paint it with acrylic paint before you glue down the ground cover?

I got a chance to make one side of my mountain today...99% of the plaster work is done. I'll wrap that up tomorrow and start painting and texturing it. As it is right now I'm rather pleased. Take a look, feedback appreciated.

quote:

Originally posted by SolarEclipse2:
I got a chance to make one side of my mountain today...99% of the plaster work is done. I'll wrap that up tomorrow and start painting and texturing it. As it is right now I'm rather pleased. Take a look, feedback appreciated.

It's looking good to me. The only thing I might suggest, at this point is "rounding off" where the two sections meet. So it follows the track line. Right now you have a perfect right angle which is "un-natural" to me.

Just a thought.

That thought had occurred to me, after I had cut the foam and started shaping things, doh! I don't have enough foam there to round it out and still have room for the track, it kinda rides that edge there.

After thinking about it, I need to put it back on my layout and make sure my locos clear that inner loop as it gets kinda close.

I was actually looking at where it follows the lower track, you have room there. It wouldn't take much to get rid of the "corner" look. If you don't have the foam, maybe some cardboard and plaster?

I have some foam scraps I could use, I just meant there wasn't enough foam on that corner to carve anymore away from there. I'll cut some up and give it a different, less of a corner look tomorrow.

I used newspaper folded up and plaster cloth over it to ease the transitions under the track. I just set my heaviest loco on the track on the mountain and it seems to be holding, although it does have some degree of sag to it. I wonder how it will hold up with the train rolling over it. I'll have to see about adding another layer of plaster cloth.

Just to make sure we're talking abount the same "corner", this is what I mean.



Also, once you put it back on the layout, if the clearance is too tight, you can always cut off of the back side ( agaisnt the wall) and not have to re-do the front edge of what you have.

Yep, that's the corner I thought you were talking about.

I got a coat of paint on it. And I fixed that corner by draping a sheet of plaster cloth over it. I think it looks good. Here are some pics. I have a shaker bottle of green ground cover I'm going to use on it but suggestions and comments are definitely appreciated.

I'm probably going to keep posting pics along the way so I can get more feedback. So here goes:

So my hill is mostly done. I think it looks good but my grade isn't exactly flat so that might be a problem for laying the track down. I normally use that cork roadbed for under my track. Is there a good way to fasten that down to the plaster? Or is there something else that would be better underneath my track in this instance?

You might try smoothing it out by spreading a layer of Sculptamold over the roadbed. It's paper mache and can easily smoothed while applying.

Dennis