Making a Lake

some of The tools I used for this projct

Making a lake for your model railroad is a very fun project to do. It is not hard either.  The required tools are 

•  Paint-Black, Brown
• Arcrylic Gesso
• ModPodge
• Paint Brushes
• Painters palette
• Knifes
• Hacksaw blade
• File/needle files

On my layout I have 1½  Inch Foam boards as a base. I used the Sawblade to cut diagonaly to make it look like it is sloping.  I used the Knives and the files to change the texture. After I liked the way the the bank looked I took ⅛ Inch DOW styrofoam boards and laid the side without lettering so it is facing up. THen I painted the slope and a 1 inch on the ⅛ board brown.  I then painted the rest of the area that was not brown black.  I let this dry then painted a second coat of black on.  After this drys Put a thick area of Mod podge ontop of the black paint.



Here are the tools I used to make the Bank





Chiped paint



Applying Gesso



If the mod podge drys and there are areas of chiped paint under it there is a simple way to fix it. Spread a thick layer if arcrilyic gesso around on the areas that are chiped. Spread the gesso about 1 inch out from the area that is chiped. When you are spreading the gesso make sure you dab.  Once this drys spread a layer of black paint over that and coat with Mod Podge.

sasf

HARRY POTTER TRAINS

In Honor of the last Harry Potter film to ever be made Model Railroad 101 has decided to teach people to add things from the movies into their layout.

Make Hogwarts on a Backdrop

To Make Hogwarts you will need a Backdrop that has about ¼  of the bottom painted green for grass.
Step One: Go to Google Images  and Hogwarts Castle Wall Paper you will need an Image that has the entire castle.  I will use an Image from abstract.desktopnexus.com
Step Two: Cut the castle out on a sheet of paper. Make Sure you cut the outline of the castle out AND ONLY THE CASTLE if you want you can also cut out some of the ground
Step Three:  After you have cut the Castle out take some Elmer’s glue and spread it around the back of the picture.
Step Four: Press the picture against the backdrop and let the glue dry

Harry Potter Billboards

Print Harry Potter Pictures onto business cards (you can laminate them if you want) Then Take two 4 inch strands of thick copper wire and hot glue them to the back.  Let this dry then apply to layout.          


OTHER TIPS

If you have a Movie Theatre you could make it look like the Midnight Premiere for  the movie buy adding 100’s of Mini people and Lots of Harry Potter signs.

WE LOVE YOU HARRY!!!
-THE MODEL RAILROAD 101 TEAM

HARRY POTTER TRAINS

In Honor of the last Harry Potter film to ever be made Model Railroad 101 has decided to teach people to add things from the movies into their layout.

Make Hogwarts on a Backdrop

To Make Hogwarts you will need a Backdrop that has about ¼  of the bottom painted green for grass.
Step One: Go to Google Images  and Hogwarts Castle Wall Paper you will need an Image that has the entire castle.  I will use an Image from abstract.desktopnexus.com
Step Two: Cut the castle out on a sheet of paper. Make Sure you cut the outline of the castle out AND ONLY THE CASTLE if you want you can also cut out some of the ground
Step Three:  After you have cut the Castle out take some Elmer’s glue and spread it around the back of the picture.
Step Four: Press the picture against the backdrop and let the glue dry

Harry Potter Billboards

Print Harry Potter Pictures onto business cards (you can laminate them if you want) Then Take two 4 inch strands of thick copper wire and hot glue them to the back.  Let this dry then apply to layout.          


OTHER TIPS

If you have a Movie Theatre you could make it look like the Midnight Premiere for  the movie buy adding 100’s of Mini people and Lots of Harry Potter signs.

WE LOVE YOU HARRY!!!
-THE MODEL RAILROAD 101 TEAM

Drybrushing

If you want to weather your cars or buildings I suggest using a technique called dry brushing.  Dry brushing is easy.  Here are the necessary tools to make rust streaks, Paper towels, Orange paint, Brown paint, paint brush.

1. Start by miking one part brown paint to 10 parts orange paint.
2. Lightly dip the brush into the mixture of paint.
3. Wipe the paint of with a paper towel. 
4. Gently rub the paint brush across the surface you are weathering

Why this works.

This method makes rust streaks because  when you wipe the paint off of the brush and onto the paper towel most of the paint comes off so when you brush the surface you are weathering the brush applies a very thin layer to the surface instead of a thick layer

-The Model Railroad 101 Team

Our Model Railroad

Here are some photos of our model railroad.  We have just started.

Here is my river.

Here is the southwest corner of the layout

A second picture of the SW corrner

one of the newer areas on our layout
is this mountain

one of the newer areas on our layout
is this mountain

A construction site that made using Flock, Felt, Cardboard,
and other things that i found around the house

This is a small scene that I made using some  broken slot cars and a
toy police officer.

Ideas

I Made a construction site ( A work in progress ) i Used sand, toy
vehicles and other small things to make it. I ordered a plasticville
house Under construction set to put in the middle. The two tan roads
are a finished driveway

I bought 2 realistic cars from my local hobby shop and used them to
make this small scene the policeman came in a set i got on vacation

Here is a Mountain that I am Making - Coming soon
A Guide to Making Mountains.

Here is one of the finished ends of my mountain.  I Used Glad Press
and seal to make the stream

Realistic water

A1

A2

 

Tools needed to make realistic water
A3

 

Tools needed to make realistic water

• Sponge
• Sponge Brush
• Mod Podge
• Hot Glue Gun
• Hot Glue Sticks
• Black Tempra Paint
• Brown Tempra Paint
• Model Magic Clay
•  Cork

This methood is to make a very deep river or pond that does not have any shallow area

MAking water is easy but takes a ver long time.  Usially this methood takes about 2 days (includes drying time) to finsh but the effect is worth it.  Follow these steps to find out how to make realistic water today!

1. Start by clearing an area out where you want to put the river or body of water.
2. Take the cork and tear it into strips that are 3-10 inches long and about 1/2-1 1/2 inches wide then paint each strip dark brown LET THE PAINT DRY OVERNIGHT TO ENSURE THAT NO PART IS STILL WET!
3. Spread a layer of model magic around where the river will be. Before the model magic drys pound a sponge into it to make a wave effect. Let the model magic dry for 24 Hours.
4. Paint the model magic black.
5. After the black paint drys spread 2 thick layers of mod podge LET This Dry for at least 2 hours
6. Stack the cork strips up in stacks of 4 and hot glue together
7. Glue the cork so it is pushing up aginst the model magic ( See photo A1 [top Photo] for an image of how it should look)

YOU ARE DONE!!

COOMING SOON-How to make realistic shallow water

EZ Flags

Do you want to make flags for your trains?  Making flags is simple.  All you need is a picture of the flag you want to make, some glue, and some toothpicks. Follow these easy instructions to find out how to make a flagpole with a flag on it.

1. Take the small flag and laminate it*
2. Cut the flag out if you laminate it
3. Apply hot glue to the top of the toothpick
4. Put the flag on the hot glue LET DRY
5. Place on layout

Where to Buy Trains, buildings, and accesories

If you have a collection of model trains or are considering starting one something you will have to do is buy trains. Instead of buying the $50-$500 sets from hobby shops or local stores you can search online. Sites like eBay and Amazon have lots of model trains and they are usially cheaper than what you find loacally. When you are on eBay you can also shop for large packs of accesories that have items from Multiple diffrent companies. When you are on eBay you can also sometimes can find peoples collections which sometimes include 100s of trains, accessories, track, transformers and cars these can price from $0.99-$1200 or more. You can also find small train sets that have 5 or 6 cars and an engine for $0.99-$50 or more.
I Do not often buy trains off of eBay (because close friends and family find these as good presents) but I do often buy buildings, Woodland Sceneics products, and operating accesories from eBay. Accessories also come in packs on eBay and sometimes the are much cheaper than buying them from Lionel or another company.

Popular Places to Buy Model Trains

• 
  
  Hobby Shop


• 
  
  Train Show


• 
  
  eBay.com


• 
  
  amazon.com


• 
  
  Lionel.com

Buying Trains

If you are thinking about buying trains there are many places to look and many things to consider. One thing you need to think about is what scale you want to buy.  You will also need to consider how much space you will have.  If you have little space you might consider Z scale or N scale.  If you have lots of space (i.e. a basement or room) you might consider O or Ho scale.  If you want to an outdoor layout I suggest using G scale (Garden Scale).
  Popular brands are

• O-Scale = Lionel, K-line
• S-Scale = Lionel (American Flyer)
• G Scale = Lione
• N Scale = Bachmann
• Z Scale = Marklin

Guide to Making Billboards And Signs

A Finished Operation Lifesaver Billboard is placed at an
Intersection near a train track on my layout.

Making billboards can be fun and easy. All you need are some pecies of copper wire, hot glue and some advertisments for companies that can be printed off of Google Images.  Print the mini advertisments onto buisness cards (you can laminate them if you want) And Print them. Then Take two 4 inch strands of thick copper wire and hot glue them to the back.  Let this dry then apply to layout.

                                           

Making Trees

You have a hill or mountain that you would like to cover with realistic trees but do not have enough money to by woodland scenics tree making kits you can make them at home for much less.  All you need is some small straight branches from real trees, craft wire, Woodland Scenics Fine Leaf Foliage, Woodland scenics Clump Foliage, and some hot glue. There are two different kinds of trees. One is made with a wire core and the second kind is made with a wood core.

WIRE CORE

Step 1: Take a small strip of craft wire and bent it in half and twist it

Step 2: Apply hot glue to the wire

Step 3: Apply the clump foliage and a small bit of fine leaf foliage 

Step 4: Let dry and place on your layout

WOOD CORE

Step 1: Take a small piece of wood and put hot glue on it

Step 3: Apply the clump foliage and a small bit of fine leaf foliage

Step 4: Let dry and place on your layout

O Gauge Track Planning

TRACK OVERVIEW
If you are new to model railroading you will need a good track plan. With O Gauge Lionel offfers FasTrack which has ties and ballast built in and is easy to wire.  There is also O-27 track that is offered by Lionel, it is older and you must buy ballast and make your own ties.  I perfer Lionels FasTrack because I it has many diffrent track sizes and shapes which makes it easy to make almost any kind of loop.  FasTrack also makes insulated track to which saves you time from having to make 0-27 insulated track peices yourself, they also offer automaitc swiches.
              When Making your track plan there are many ways to start. One Way is to freeform with your track until you find somthing that you like. The Second way is to use Track Planning books or find track plans in The Model Railroader Magizine. A Third way is to use a computer program to make a track plan.  I perfer the first methood because using books usially requires lots of switches which I do not have and a track planing software is you paying to freeform on your computer, and when you freeform you can always change the way your layout looks. 
             When making your track plan ypu must think about many things befor you start.  For example how much track do I have? or How much space do I have? Will there be a tunnel here Will my layout be on the floor or on a table (I  Perfer Table) etc.  My sugestion to awnser some of these questions is to  get a Rough idea of where the moutians, trees, forests, streets, neiborhoods, buisneses, and rivers will be before you lay out the track. 
           When you start laying out your track make sure you have it layed out so if you want to use operating accessories you can and so you have enough wire to reach the control pannel.

Making Cargo For Your Trains

Do you need cargo for your trains? You can buy cargo packs and logs from the internet or from a hobby store or you can make your own. Making cargo is very simple. Almost anything can be used. you can use craft sticks to make boards and cardboard that is painted tan to look like plywood. Thick copper wire can be used as scrap metal. Aluminum cans can be cut up and used as scrap metal (This can cause cuts though and I am not respnsible for it) Small square peices of cardboard stacked on top of each other can be used to make cardboard boxes. Wood dowels or straws can be used to make pipes and needles can be painted rust red and be used as metal bars. Ballast can be put in a coal car to look like loads of rock. You can use LEGO tires and chains as cargo too although sometimes this does not look very real. Twigs can be used as logs. If you want to make street signs or billboards go to the "Guide To Making Billboards and Street Signs" in our scenery section. If you have a good idea for a way to make cargo for trains please share it with the rest of the world by commenting!

- The Model Railroad 101 Team