# Budget or DIY Scenery Thread



## bkreaume (Feb 6, 2010)

I have my track running and a enough cars ( for now ) to keep me busy. I would like to turn my focus on dressing up my track. I have been trolling the photos of some beautifully landscaped tracks here on HT and other sites. I thought it would be helpful to everyone if we could have a thread that contains links and how-to's for the budget minded person. 

So if you have your favorite budget minded Link, video or how-to post it here.

I will start with these nifty ready to print billboards. 

http://slotcar.zanzaman.com/billboards.html

and these cool tents.

http://www.supervipersystems.com/VargoSpeedway/HO_Tech/Tents/tents.html


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## bkreaume (Feb 6, 2010)

Very cool video series for using extruded foam


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## tasman (Feb 17, 2007)

*Scoring tower*

Here is a .jpg that I used to create a Scoring Tower. It prints on a single 8.5 x 11 sheet in landscape mode. It can be printed on paper or card stock. Cut out - leave a flap on one side for glueing - fold along the lines - glue - attach the roof.


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Nice stuff here folks. Great idea for a thread. Here's my trick...

Take a roll of drywall mesh tape. Cut to length. Trim the edges.
Paint the desired color. (gray, black, white, silver, red...... dirt)
Use your flag poles with stock guard rails, or fabricated posts,
and install on track. 










Looks kinda convincing, and will really keep cars in a corner.


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

NTxSlotCars said:


> Nice stuff here folks. Great idea for a thread. Here's my trick...
> 
> Take a roll of drywall mesh tape. Cut to length. Trim the edges.
> Paint the desired color. (gray, black, white, silver, red...... dirt)
> ...


Awsome idea there!:thumbsup:

Really looks real.


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## bkreaume (Feb 6, 2010)

Here is another great site for graphics. All kinds of real images that are tiled. I am in the process of using one of the painted cinder blocks for the walls of the garage I am building. I have read that printing on Matte Photo paper works best.

http://www.cgtextures.com/


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## bkreaume (Feb 6, 2010)

another neat tutorial on asphalt roads

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/crowley/ashphalt_roads.htm


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## tasman (Feb 17, 2007)

*Cheap Evergreen trees*

Buy a cheap artificial xmas wreath (I got mine for $6 after xmas one year).
Cut small pieces off the wreath and trim to the shape of an evergreen tree. Make differnet sizes and shapes. I was able to make over 50 evergreen trees of several different sizes and looks from this 1 wreath.

I used green clay as a temporary base to hold the trees to the track. After I was happy with the placement I drilled a small hole in my table top for a more permament placement of the trees.

Click on My Photos and you can see what they look like on my track.


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## tasman (Feb 17, 2007)

*Observation Tower*

Here is a .jpg for an observation tower. Prints on a single 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper or card stock. Trim - leave a flap for glueing on one side - fold on the lines. You can use a 2.5 inch square piece of cardboard or card stock for the roof.


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Hey tas,

Love the print outs you keep posting!!! :thumbsup:


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Here's something else to fill in those odd track gaps for 3-4 bucks a brick, its a deal.
I guess I suck at cutting cork road bed for my track. In the hard areas it looked terrible.
Enter modeling clay. It's available in a variety of colors. I chose black here.


















It's not permanent, but durable. Has about the same grip as track.
You can also use it for scenery, as I did here...


















These are the latest of the track. 
You can see in the foreground I filled in the track with black clay.
Back in the distance is the island pictured above.


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## tasman (Feb 17, 2007)

*Carboard Buildings*



NTxSlotCars said:


> Hey tas,
> 
> Love the print outs you keep posting!!! :thumbsup:


Thanks NTx, I think I see a couple of good spots for the towers on your layout!

I am actually just starting a project where I'm trying to scan the sides of plastic model buildings so that I can reproduce them on paper or card stock similar to the .jpgs I posted in this thread. I'm not sure how it will turn out, but I'm going to give it a try.

At some point I will be using your dry wall tape trick for fencing!

I'm not sure if posting links is ok here, so I won't. But, there are several sites (mostly German) that have cardboard building plans. You can find them by doing a - paper buildings slot cars - search on Google. Most are 1/32 scale but could be sized down for H.O.

What I would really like to find is a good rendition of a Pit Building(s) that would lend itself to being built with card stock. Does anybody out there have one?


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## Crimnick (May 28, 2006)

Go ahead and post those links....we dont play that game over here...leave being uptight for the other sites..


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## bkreaume (Feb 6, 2010)

this is a 1:64 scale cider block walls they also will print on 8.5 x 11

Tasman.

if you want to send me some images of the doors you want I can add it to the walls image.


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## bkreaume (Feb 6, 2010)

You can use this as a pit garage


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## tasman (Feb 17, 2007)

*Links*



bkreaume said:


> this is a 1:64 scale cider block walls they also will print on 8.5 x 11
> 
> Tasman.
> 
> if you want to send me some images of the doors you want I can add it to the walls image.


Thanks!

Here is a link that points to several sites. Mostly German...if you poke around you'll be able to find the good stuff. Also, most are 1/32 scale so I think if you size down by 50% you end up with 1/64.

http://scaleracing.blogspot.com/2009/07/paper-building-scenery.html


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

I have always used Dave Frary's books as references for landscaping. His approach is to use environmentally friendly materials that are easy to use and easy to cleanup after. You might try to find one of his books at the local library or buy it used on Amazon or E-Bay. He also has an online forum where you can pick up tips and tricks from other modelers. He also has some free downloads in addition to his paid how-to videos. Dave is a professional with some of his creations appearing in the Smithsonian museum but his methods are fully consumable by anyone including novices like me.

http://www.kitforums.com/viewforum.php?f=7

This site looks promising too:

http://public.fotki.com/DaveInTheHat/


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## BewstdGT (Jan 4, 2005)

Each person may have a different definition of "Budget" or DIY. If you go to a local hobby shop or train shop they will hurt the wallet on scenery materials. I like to support them when I can but it's not often. Your best source of scenery help will be model train builders, because there's more of them.  But I've used foam I found thrown away from construction/insullation jobs. Find a construction guy and take his scraps off his hands. Or just buy the foam sheets for $15/sheet at your hardware store of choice.

I used shrub and vegetation bags from Woodland Scenics. Their models are overpriced but for plants and such they are affordable. Just about everyone uses their stuff for shubery, trees and grass.

StormTheCastle.com: This guy does dioramas and his techniques work well. 

These channels also have other videos besides the ones I linked below(see thebige61):










Ebay was my best friend for trees. Someone from China was selling bags of 25 trees in different sizes and colors that looked very real for HO scale for $8/bag. I detest giving any Chinaman my money but they are still out there on ebay.


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## tasman (Feb 17, 2007)

*Better Observation tower*

Here is a better version of the observation tower I posted earlier. This one is taller and the windows look a little better.


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Another tip is cheap paint. 
These days, there always seems to be someone mixing odd shades of green or brown.
So, watch the "Oops" paint rack at your hardware store.


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