Layout Construction and Scenery

Benchwork

         First, you have to draft a design for a layout. You need a plan. When you have finished that, you can start the benchwork. The benchwork is like the foundation for a house. It needs to be solid enough to hold the weight. There are many different style benchwork construction techniques and each depend on the style of the layout. The L-girder technique is one of the more popular techniques to construct the benchwork. Then put plywood on the boards. Mark out where the tracks will go. Then cut out the plywood where the tracks will go and raise it above the boards using risers that attach to the boards. This will help for the scenery at a later state.

Basic Scenery

         The scenery on railroads is related to the location of the railroad you want to model. The scenery from layout to layout is very diverse from rolling hills to vertical cliffs to urban streets.

         Plaster can be a modeler's best friend. Plaster cloth is great for making mountains or valleys. A traditional style is to cover cardboard lattice with plaster. First, you cut cardboard strips and then staple them to the fascia board which can be cut masonite hardboard. Then take plaster cloth roll and drape it over the cardboard strips. This process produces a realistic mountain or valley. This can make a layout very heavy though.

         A lighter alternative, and one that is gaining more popularity, is to use insulating foam. The good insulation foam is pink or blue. It can be carved from ordinary kitchen knives or files. There are hot-wire cutters that are designed to cut foam with a clean crisp edge. The foam can be covered with plaster and then painted and covered with turf and trees. That way, the trees can have spikes in the end of the trunks and could be placed in the foam. The trees could be moved around during photo shots and for shadow effects. Also, the trees could quickly be removed with little trace if there is a change of mind and something else, like a building, is placed there.