Here are 10 simple modeling tips for improving the realism of your
layout.
(click on image for larger picture)
| 1.) Wax paper behind windows - A lot of model
railroad structure kits come with clear plastic for the windows. If you
don't want to model an interior on these buildings, and/or want to put
an interior light in them for night time scenes, but don't want people
to see the unfinished interior, glue a piece of wax paper behind each
window. The wax paper will still allow an interior light to
show through, but will diffuse the light and not allow the unfinished
inside to be seen. Here is a kitbashed factory I recently installed on
my layout with waxpaper behind the windows. |
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2.) Sandpaper to simulate asphalt parking lots - Use some fine grit
(e.g., 220 or 320 grit) sandpaper to simulate an asphalt parking lot. The sandpaper grit simulates the
texture of asphalt and is uniform. If you buy the dark
gray-colored sheets, it is pretty much the color of asphalt already. I
attached mine by spraying artist's adhesive on the back of the
sandpaper, then pressing it in place and putting weights on top until
the adhesive dried. The figure shows the sandpaper "asphalt" in place.
Also seen are the commercial outdoor lights described in item 10 of
this article.
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3.) Graffiti Decals from your Computer - With the advent of home
computers, you can now make your own decals. Obtain some clear decal
paper compatible with your printer (i.e., ink jet or laser jet). Your
computer will have a variety of fonts. Scroll through the fonts
an you will likely see a number of them that resemble graffiti. I
also found a web site that has dowwnloadable graffit fonts. Go to
www.graffitifonts.com. Start typing typical graffiti phrases. When you
have all the graffiti you need, hit the print button, spray the decal
sheet with decal sealer, let it dry, and then apply graffiti to you
rolling stock, retaining walls, etc.! |
4.) Simple Signs from
your Computer - As you drive around, you probably may not notice, but
everywhere-yes everywhere - there are signs. An easy way to make
all sorts of signs for your layout is to create them on the
computer. Once you get them to your liking (font style, size,
color) print them out on plain white paper. (I have also found
tthat surfing the web can turn up pictures of posters, signs, etc.,
that you can drag into a drawing program, and then print them on out.)
Spray
a thin sheet of styrene plastic with artist's adhesive and glue the
paper with the signs, posters, etc., printed on it to the
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| plastic. When the adhesive is dry, use an Xacto knife and cut the signs
out. Because they are mounted on styrene plastic, you can attach them
to any other plastic surface with styrene cement. An example is shown
in the figure. |
5.)
Smaller Scale Buildings as Background - If you have an HO scale layout,
and have an urban scene with HO scale building fronts against the
layout wall, you can create the illusion of depth by gluing
N-scale building fronts along the roof edge of the HO building so it
appears that these buildings are in the distance (see figure). If you
have an S or O scale layout, try using HO scale building fronts.
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6.) Using Modern Vehicles on Older Period
Layouts - You are at a model train flea market, or your local hobby or
toy store, and discover some commercial vehicles (e.g., a cement truck)
that are being sold for a bargain. (I was in my local hardware store
and found Boley HO International trucks for $2.99 each!). For all
intents and purposes, it looks like a vehicle from the era you are
modeling, except that the front of the cab has a |
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| modern grill and
headlights, You don't want to pass up this bargain, but the
vehicle era is just wrong! Don't despair. Think about where you can
locate this truck on your layout so that the front of the vehicle is
facing away from the viewer! If the viewer can't see the front of
the vehicle, then who cares whether the front represents a vehicle from
the 1990's or the 1950's? The dump truck in the figure is a
modern truck on my layout (which models the Long Island Rail Road
circa 1964). The figure also shows how to make roads "disappear"
against a flat wall (see item #8 below). |
7.) Simple Third Rails and Cover Boards - Are
you modeling or want to model trains that ran on power from third
rails? Third rails and cover boards are relatively simple to
model. You can make the third rail by hammering small flathead nails at
the end of rail ties about every 6 inches. Drive the nails in so that
they are at the same height as the top of the tie. Solder a smaller
scale rail to the tops of the nail heads. For HO scale, I used code 70
rail. To make the cover boards that went over the top of the
third rails, cut 0.040 x 0.156 styrene into pieces about three
inches long. To make the supports that hold the cover boards in place
above the third rail, Arrow 1/4 inch staples, which can be bought at
most hardware stores, work great. Using a pair of small pliers
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metal nippers, I straightened out one side of the staple, and nipped
off the chiseled edge. I put a drop of styrene glue on the
styrene cover board about 3/4 inch in from each end, and glued
the modified staple to it (left figure above). When it dried, I sprayed
the whole thing grimy black. Drill two holes next to the third rail and
glue the cover board assembly in place (bottom figure). |
8.)
Bending Styrene Plastic - Scratchbuilding
models may occasionally call for bending styrene plastic strips into
unique shapes, such as arcs or compound bends. An easy way to do
this is as follows: trace on a piece of paper the shape or curve |
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which you want to bend a styrene strip. Place the piece of paper
on a a piece of wood, preferably something soft into which you
can easily drive a nail. You can either trace the curve onto the wood
with carbon paper, or just make small indentations along the traced
shape on the paper, so the indentation carries through to the wood.
Tapping a small finishing nail does this fine. Remove the paper
and then drive small finishing nails along the shape marked on the
wood, about one inch apart. Lay the piece of plastic against the nails,
drive another nail on the other side of the styrene strip to hold one
end in place. If the curve is not too severe, you may be able to bend
the styrene into the shape you want using the nails as a guide (see
figure). Now, get a hair dryer and hold it near, but not too near, the
plastic. Try to heat the strip uniformly. As the styrene strip heats
up, it will relax in to the shape into which you have bent it. Be
careful not to heat it too much or it could melt and distort. You can
test when it has taken the correct shape, because it will no longer be
sprung against the nails, and should lift out easily from the mold. |
9.) Making Roads Disappear - Having roads that run into the walls
of your layout room can pose a visual challenge.
Having them end abruptly doesn't look good, and trying to paint an
extension onto the wall may not look realistic. One way to have the
road blend into the distance is to bend the end of the roadway material
up and curve it to a point to one side. You can now put foliage
on either side of the road, and
it will give the effect of the road curving off in to the
distance. |
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10.) Simple commercial outdoor lights - Here is a way to make
quick, easy, and inexpensive outdoor industrial lights for your layout
suitable to use in yards, parking lots, station areas, or anywhere such
lights are used. You can make dozens of these in an evening at a
cost of less than about $2.50 per light.
The
key components are Plastruct #90172 1/4 inch half round styrene plastic
strips, Evergreen Scale Models item #225 5/32 inch styrene tubes, and
Miniatronics Corp. 2.4mm diameter 12 volt incandescent lamps. I also
used a larger styrene tube that just slipped over the 5/32 inch tube
cut to about 3/8 inch to simulate the concrete base for the pole.
However, this piece is optional.
The strip of Plastruct 1/4 half round plastic was cut into pieces 1 and
1/8 inch long. The Evergreen styrene tubes were cut into 6 inch
lengths, although these can be cut to any length to suit the particular
application.
A double bevel was made one one end of each of the 5/32 inch tubes by
holding the tube at an approximate 45 degree angle and rubbing
one side, then the other on a piece of sandpaper. This is necessary so
the tube will fit snugly inside of the half-round yet leave room to run
the lamp wires down through the center of the tube.
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Next, insert the wires from two lamps into the end of the tube with the
bevel, and pull the wires through so only the lamps are sticking out of
the top of the tube. Carefully bend the bulbs so that they stick
out perpendicular to the tube, and are parallel to the bevel edge.
Apply plastic cement to the center inside part of the 1 and 1/8 inch
half round, and glue it onto the top of the tube so that the two lamps
fit snugly up in the half round recess. Set this aside until the glue
has dried.
After the glue has dried, you can glue a collar piece over the bottom
that simulates a concrete base. It will also make installation easier
since it will help hold the pole in place.
I painted my lights a light gray. When installed on the layout (see
item #2 above, they help light up night time scenes, and add
realism. |
If you liked this tutorial you should check out the variety of tutorials located on the
Potomac_NMRA Clinics page
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