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Playing God - Landscaping Your Model Railroad Layout 

Landscaping and picking out the scenery can be one of the more fun things that you can do with your model railroads. You are the person who gets to decide just how you want it to look.
You can make it look as realistic or imaginary as you choose. Creating your display just takes an idea, supplies and a little time.
The first thing you need is your idea or plan.
- Do you want to copy something you've seen somewhere else?
- Do you want a faithful historical recreation of a place now lost in time?
- Are you more inclined to creating a never-before seen or unlikely scenario to wow the masses?
Making a choice on one theme for your layout and staying true to that theme is perhaps the most important keys to success. If you change your methods and style in the middle of your landscape the result will be inconsistencies that will detract from the overall impression you are trying to form.
Staying consistent will enable the people.who are observing your project to find all the small details that you have added to make it so special.
Once you have a plan for the theme you need to decide on track placement and terrain. Many modelers create the terrain and then try to force the track to follow through that, just as occurs in real life " but one of the advantages of modeling vs. real life is that you can consider all aspects and requirements up front. If you know you will have a bend or a switch at certain points why design rough terrain that you will then try to overcome with 'grading' in your models at those points?
Next you should collect your materials " some items you can find around the house, others you may wish to purchase from dealers such as www.oakridgehobbies.com and www.jttmicroscale.com or your local hobby shop but always stay true to your plan. Just because you find an amazing little miniature you long to use doesn't mean it belongs in this model! Common materials you will need include:
1. A Table or Stand 2. An outdoor grade plywood sheet for the base of a stand 3. Glue 4. Crushed stone, dirt or gravel as well as well as twigs and plants for ground cover 5. Touch up paint and paint for the background and the base 6. Poster board, papers etc for texturing 7. Blocks and sheets of Styrofoam for shaping things like mountains
Some other items you may include:
8. Plaster of Paris and / or fiberglass 9. Talcum powder, pepper and salt, cayenne pepper " for texturing and colorants 10. Corkboard and cork 'paper' 11. Roof repair tar (for road surfaces etc.) 12. Paintable caulks and adhesives for securing items in place

Article Source: http://www.uberarticles.com/articles

Do you have solid model train tables under your layout? You'll need them to hold all your equipment as your railroad grows. Learn how to build tables as well as other helpful information at www.themodelrailroader.com

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