Scenery

Trees are a big feature on most model railway layouts. There are some great ready to go trees from various manufacturers, depicting many different types and sizes of trees that work across all gauges. But did you know that you can also easily make...

Brown! everybody knows that a tree trunk is brown! end of story! or is it?The question "What colour is a tree trunk?" is more about modelling as a whole than a debate about tree trunks, and the point to be suggested is that what we have learnt and...

In modelling, a tree armature is the plastic skeleton of a tree (the trunk and branches) with no foliage attached. They are mainly used by modellers who wish to make trees themselves for their layouts.Making your own trees will inevitably save you...

Creating a snowy scene on your layout is unfortunately not as simple as scattering some scenic snow on your tracks. As with most aspects of modelling, a study of the prototype is crucial if you are to create a convincing scene.Firstly,...

As the topic of "What type of oil should I use in a smoke generator?" involves mixing oil, heat, electric and your favourite expensive locomotives, the advice would have to be - a purpose-made one! But for argument's sake, what else could you use...

Model figures are used by many creators of wonderful things, whether it be railway layouts, display dioramas, school projects, cake makers or florists, and it often falls into the hands of friendly model shops to supply the figures to all that...

Building smoke generators are different from locomotive ones in two main areas, size and voltage.Smoke generators that are designed specifically to operate from within a locomotive's bodyshell have a distinct disadvantage: they have to fit into an...

Static grass is an alternative to using grass mats or scatter to replicate grass on a model railway or other diorama. The advantage of using static grass is that the grass fibres stand on end when in situ giving it a more authentic appearance than...

Mortar lines are the mortar or grout filled gaps between rows of bricks, stones or other types of masonry. Mortar lines are often replicated on scale-model buildings and structures to help make them appear more realistic, but are they the correct...

A puffer bottle is a manually operated specifically-shaped container that is used to prepare static grass for application to a railway layout or other diorama. Static grass is a type of model grass that stands on end when sprinkled onto a layout,...

Static grass puffer bottles work by manually charging model grass fibres with static electricity. When the charged grass is then sprinkled onto a diorama prepared with glue, it will stand on end giving a realistic portrayal of grass.The process...

Often, railway modellers talk about the importance of bringing their scene to life, but what does this mean? and why is it important? Bringing a scene to life when everything in that scene is motionless is not an easy task. What you are trying...