MiniRails - Modules-Scenery

Build a raw scenery

The scenery should be light weight and yet sturdy. Apart from the classic method with wooden risers, wire mesh, and plaster cover, there are countless other methods to build your scenery. Each one has it´s specific pros and cons. I prefer to work with styrofoam sheets. These sheets are normally used for house insulation purposes and are available in home stores or builder´s markets. They come in various thicknesses from 10 mm (0.4") to more than 200 mm (7.8"). I prefer those with a thickness of 50 mm (roughly 2 ") because they are easily cut with a knife and can be glued with white glue or even caulk.

Our example-module will have a slightly hilly surface with areas for houses and a street. We´ll think about detailling in another chapter; here we will prepare the raw scenery base.

The first thing to do is to cut a styrofoam block to fit snugly into the rear left field of the module frame. Use white glue or caulk to glue it in. The block should lie flat on the corner stiffeners and the leg.
The rest of the module frame is now filled with styrofoam blocks in the same manner.
If you want one ore more hills in your scenery, just glue a second layer of styrofoam where the hills are going to be. While the glue hardens, place a weight on the styrofoam block to ensure good contact.
Now it starts to get a bit dirty and it is advisable to have a vacuum handy in case the house´s lady is a bit "picky"... After the glue between the first and second layer of foam has cured, use tools like knives, surform tools, or screw drivers (Yes, I mean that!), or even your fingers to work on the landscape's shape. Everybody has his own taste here and can go ahead as he/she likes.... Well, this looks more like lanndscapes than the "building bricks" in the above picture .
Using a bit of plaster and latex paint, we will now make the base for the "real" scenery. A small hint: In order to avoid the transition tracks being firmly glued to the module (by accident, of course), I wrap them up in gladwrap.	Now mix a bit of plaster with paint and water to speckle the transitions between the wood and styrofoam. No need to be extra careful here as Mother Nature also tends to be somewhat "sloppy" from time to time. Only the module's head ends should have a clean and neat edge. Use the rest of the plaster to lightly brush on a layer of plaster onto the rest of the bare styrofoam areas. Do it in a way as if you were painting your room walls. If you want really smooth areas, wait until the plaster starts to harden and wipe the area with a damp sponge until it is smooth. Once this is done and the plaster has cured, it is time apply the bare "earth" base. Paint the plaster an earth-tone color. You can use readily available latex paint for this job. The result looks somewhat like this:

Now you could say "OK, that's it. I'm building a desert." Well, ok, but then the hill should have another - more rugged - shape because wind and weather erode the geological layers in different ways. Our hill is located in a rural area.	In this example, I want to build a right-of-way that cuts through a little village. So we need streets, houses, and some plants. Let´s start with town-planning by drawing in a diagonal street over the module. A normal two-lane street in N-scale measures out to about 40 mm (1.5") per lane.
The outlines of the streets are pencilled in directly on the plaster surface and then these outlines are painted a light street color (mix some light gray with a bit of ochre). Where the street crosses the tracks, use some plaster to model the approach. You should also fill in the room between the rails. Once the plaster is nearly cured, use a fine screwdriver to clear the flangeways for the wagon´s or loco´s wheels. The result of this (admittedly tedious) job is a realistic looking grade crossing.

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