Model Trains Today

Affordable Ways to Make Trees and Ground Cover For the Model Railway Layout (Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:10:00 +0000)

One of the most interesting aspects of model railroading is constructing the scenery to enrich the landscape of a layout. The scenery is what adds the personality and attraction to a layout to make it genuinely special.

There are all types of scenery accessories that you can buy from over the internet model train retailers, but a variety of components may also be produced from everyday items around the home. You do not usually have to waste hard cash when you'll find items all around you without cost.

Twigs from your backyard really are a very good illustration. They could be used for making little trees and shrubs, or be cut to resemble logs. There isn't a requirement to paint them, because they're currently the right color. Small wooden meat skewers (from your supermarket) can be utilised for making logs and they are fairly inexpensive to buy.

Precisely the same goes for adding grass on your layout. You can order some particularly first rate products such as "Static Grass Flock" to provide ground cover, or you can make your own. Some model railroaders use a blend of ready-to-use grasses from their hobby shop, and combine this, with their personal home made grass recipe.

Gather some recent mulberry leaves and dry them in the microwave oven. As soon as they're dried out, drop them in a kitchen blender and you have instant ground cover. The best point is; it costs you virtually nothing to create. Keep it within a plastic bag for when you will need it.

The one downside with creating your own ground cover is you will not necessarily know how long it is going to last when compared with the purchased stuff. A number of of the ground cover products from a hobby store will have been treated to help them maintain their coloring and withstand temperature and humidity variances over time. Several of them are non-flammable and nontoxic, which means you should choose what is key to you.

A great number of model railroaders use dried kitchen herbs for leaves and ground cover. They combine numerous herbs (eg. thyme, oregano and parsley) for various effects. When carrying out this it is best to put some newspaper below, as it can be a messy process. That way you are able to catch and reuse any herbs that tend not to stick the initial time.

Sea Foam (also referred to as "Forest in a Box") can be a popular substance for making small inexpensive trees. You may bend it to appear like bushes after which spray on some glue and sieve on some flock. It is normally best to blend several little pieces with each other as opposed to use just one piece for an entire tree.

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Fine brass wire would be used to strengthen the trunks and branches. Ripped pieces of masking tape can also be wound around the tree trunk to add some width. It will then be sealed with a mix of wall filler and PVA white glue.

You can even add sprinklings of kitchen herbs as explained previously. You can then spray the bushes all over with matt varnish, or spray them (upside down) with a mix of white glue and water. You then leave them to dry overnight.

Lichen can be ideal for creating bushes and trees. It can be particularly adaptable and appears perfect as mass foliage and undergrowth on a train layout. It's also reasonably priced and simple to work with. You can order it in a selection of hues that may be used separately or mixed with each other.

So, there are many, ways to make ground cover and trees on your model railway layout. It really is lots of fun and you may possibly want to consider some alternative ideas to see what works best for you. The thing I am really making right here; is that details on your own train layout do not generally need to be expensive. You simply need to be a little imaginative with your approach. Have fun!

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Latest picture of The Flying Scotsman rebuild at York NRM (Sun, 14 Feb 2010 11:31:00 +0000)

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Can you help Ann? (Tue, 26 Jan 2010 07:47:00 +0000)

Ann says that it is her son that is into model trains and that he has an old Hornby set that was past onto him from his Grandfather.

Ann's father has just given him some track that he has had for a long time, and we wondered if it is worth restoring it and if we can collect anymore tracks and parts for it - I dont know if you can identify it for me, i will attached the pictures of it just in case.

Here are the pictures






One piece has a stamped mark on it "trade mark GERMANY" and all the other pieces have a stamp that just says "GB PATENT.

Any ideas?

thanks ANN

Please leave any comments on this post below.

thanks

Adventures in Making Trees: Part 1 (Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:49:00 +0000)

Painting the backdrop behind the river scene: Part 12 (Wed, 02 Dec 2009 08:04:00 +0000)

Happisburgh at spalding train show (Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:32:00 +0000)

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03 Select Acceleration Programming (Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:56:00 +0000)

02 Select Second Loco Programming (Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:49:00 +0000)

01 Select Quick Start (Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:48:00 +0000)

Crest form royal train replica at windsor station (Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:47:00 +0000)

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T gauge railway layout (Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:07:00 +0000)

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Hornby Collectors Club Special LSWR 4-4-0 Clas T9 'Drummond' Decoration Sample (Sun, 04 Oct 2009 20:41:00 +0000)

Building the River Scene: Part 2 (Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:36:00 +0000)

Building the River Scene: Part 1 (Sun, 13 Sep 2009 08:30:00 +0000)

R2821/X Hitachi Class 395 Decorated Running Sample (Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:33:00 +0000)

R2846/X BR 4-6-2 'Clan Buchanan' Clan Class Locomotive (Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:10:00 +0000)

click here to save £30 on the new New Br Early Clan Class Clan Buchanan

BR Clan Class 4-6-2 No.72000 Clan Buchanan in lined BR green with early emblem.

Designed by Mr. R. A. Riddles, the Clans were a slightly scaled down version of the BR Britannia Class and featured a smaller boiler and cylinders. Ten of the class were built at Crewe between 1951 and 1952 with a further 15 planned which were intended for the Scottish and Southern regions, however, the final 15 were cancelled due to British Railways modernisation plans. The 10 completed Clans were "shedded" at Polmadie, Glasgow and Carlisle and were consequently seen working mixed traffic trains on routes between Manchester, Liverpool, Carlisle, Perth and Glasgow. The last Clan was removed from service in 1966.

click here to save £30 on the new New Br Early Clan Class Clan Buchanan

Deltic D9009 - Alycidon at Nene Valley Railway 4 July 2009 (Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:05:00 +0000)

Travelling post office demo (Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:00:00 +0000)

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Nene valley railway rail mail event (Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:17:00 +0000)

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Copenhagen Fields - Model Railway (Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:45:00 +0000)

Greasing and Oiling Your Locomotives (Sun, 21 Jun 2009 08:35:00 +0000)

Javelin train on 140mph test-run and Pre Production Video of Soon To Be Released Model (Sat, 20 Jun 2009 09:28:00 +0000)

Guests on a test-run of the "Javelin" - Britain's fastest commuter train with a 140mph (225km/h) top speed - have been whisked from London to Kent and back.

The Hitachi train took 30 minutes to travel from St Pancras station to Ashford at an average speed of 114mph. The return journey took 29 minutes.

Southeastern will begin a limited high-speed service on the line on 29 June with a full service from 13 December.

The Japanese-built trains will reduce journey times by up to 43 minutes.



Hornby will be producing a version of the Javelin and here is a video of what their pre production sample looks like.

Class 04 Diesel Shunter (Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:42:00 +0000)

I am modelling the BR era of steam around 1956-58 and I have decided that for my birthday I am going to invest in a diesel shunter that would have been in use at the time. Fortunately I have found one that is almost spot on and it is pictured below:



Like other shunters of this size, the Class 03 was built for light duties where a larger locomotive was not needed, especially for shunting at locomotive and carriage depots and as station pilots. The reduction over time in the demand for shunting locomotives meant that they were progressively withdrawn from 1968 onwards, many being sold to private industry. However, some remained in service much longer, with two examples on the Isle of Wight lasting until 1993.

What's more this 'OO' model from Bachmann comes in at under £40.00 so I think that it is a real bargain. Click here to find out more about this Diesel Shunter.

NVMRA Peterborough Model Railway Exhibition 07/06/2009 (Tue, 09 Jun 2009 06:28:00 +0000)

Fred Dibnah Railway/Steam Collection (Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:41:00 +0000)

Just released last week was the Fred Dibnah Railway/Steam Collection [DVD].

English steeplejack and cult British television figure, Fred Dibnah was renowned for his love of Railways history and steam engines. Join him in this celebration of British Railways and steam heritage, with almost 15 hours of archive footage. Features previously unseen footage.

click here for more info