Videos & Photos Videos Series Step By Step Video Step by Step: Building foam hills

Video Step by Step: Building foam hills

By Angela Cotey | March 20, 2013

| Last updated on November 30, 2020


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Video Step by Step takes you start to finish through a modeling project. In this installment, associate editor Cody Grivno shows you how to build easy tree-covered hills to fit between the tracks and your backdrop.

10 thoughts on “Video Step by Step: Building foam hills

  1. Great videos. Really helpful. I needed to make a small row of hills very similar but as a view block, not against a backdrop. So far, I'm half way done and looking good. One comment and one question. Comment: make sure the Sculptamold is dry. In my garage layout with the weather a but moist, it took a full 5 days. Question: some seem to prefer sprinkling ground cover directly on the latex paint, whereas here Cody paints first, then uses diluted white glue. Any reasons why to use one technique over the other? Keep up the great videos!

  2. Cody is right for modeling use water base or acrylic glues DON'T USE SOLVENTS! solvents eat plastic and can destroy rails and scenery.

  3. Good job Cody. and you can also use a Home Depot spray bottle and a 50 50 mix of tap water and dish soap to break the tension .

  4. code's video on backround scenery is very helpful. With stage by stage instructions anyone
    should be able to do a fair job of making a nice scenery project come to life.

  5. good work Cody the treeline here also was used for Winter Hill because you had to mask the back drop painting where the query is with trees so people don't see the paint lines when they look at the backdrop.

  6. Hey Cody! Great first video on the "how to" section! I've noticed on the MR&T that the layout's track are flawlessly straight. I've been apart of a few clubs and it seems that a common problem with laying track (flex track in particular) is that everyone seems to have a problem making their rails as straight as an arrow. Everyone seems to have their own method of fixing this problem but nobody seems to have a full proof method that everyone can adhere to. Would you mind including a video on how you lay your flex track so straight??

    – John

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