I had a free afternoon last week and decided to start an N scale scenery project that was small, movable, and would make a nice display for N scale engines and rolling stock.

I found an old shelf I was keeping for no particular reason and decided it would make a nice base. It was fashionably pre-cut so that was less work for me! (The shelf was approx 18″ x 4″.)

Stage I: I roughed out where I wanted the track to run, and laid it out. I then cut a base of cork for below the track. I then sketched in a rough plan for the rest of the scenery, including a pond and a river.

I glued the cork down and nailed the track down using tiny brads.

Stage II: Next, I finished sketching out the scenery and painted the wood base with some initial colors. I used acrylic craft pints, available from any craft store. I used green/brown tones for the grassy areas, and a light brown for the pond and river. I painted progressively darker blues on top of the brown, creating the illusion of deeper water.

Once the acrylic paint had dried, I began to ballast the track. I poured some gray gravel into a small cup and slowly applied it to the track and surrounding area, spreading it evenly with a small brush. When satisfied, I saturated the ballast with scenic cement with an old contact solution bottle. The ballast took 24 hours to dry.

I attached all heavy scenery objects to the shelf with hot glue or a custom mix of craft glue and Loctite adhesive

Stage III: The next day, I fixed up all loose spots in the ballast and started on the turf. I used Woodland Scenics products (all fine/medium turf mixes) and applied the mixed brown first, followed by a mix of light and dark greens. I left the brown exposed near the banks of the stream and around the pond for effect. Once sprayed down with scenic cement, all that was left was the water.

TIP: run a strip of masking tape over your rails when spraying cement around. It keeps them clean and leaves you with less to worry about later on.

Stage IV: I put a bead of Elmer’s glue (dries clear!) around the areas to be filled, and when dry, applied a thin layer of Woodland Scenics Realistic Water, spread evenly with a paint brush. I applied several layers, once every few hours, to reach a desired deepness.

I attached small rocks and trees with craft glue, and added more turf as necessary. I used paintbrush bristles to create realistic-looking weeds and tall grasses around the pond and in the ballast.

Stage V: Lastly, I painted a thin coat of white paint wherever I wanted to create disturbances in the water or rapids. Once dry, I applied Woodland Scenics Water Effects with a brush on top of the painted areas, creating rough water and ripples.

I looked everything over, gave it some final touches, and locked it all down with one last coat of scenic cement and left it to dry.

Though I created this diorama as a stand-alone display piece, both sides of the track are capable of being connected to, effectively making this piece operational if added to a modular layout or at least capable of being expanded in the future.

That’s all for now!

TT