Watch David Popp demonstrate his technique for sliding into a scene — it’s a slippery slope, as he creates realistic rolling hillsides and drainage ditches using foam material and Sculptamold! Elsewhere on the HO scale (1:87.1) East Troy Industrial Park project layout, Bryson and Cody showcase a new 3D-printed resin depot. All of that, plus more scenery tips and techniques in this episode!
Be sure to keep up with the construction progress by linking into the Trains.com Workshop Webcam (available 24/7), and the full series of helpful, instructional videos rolling out every month until the effort concludes. Even then, the fun will continue in frequent Trains.com articles/updates and Model Railroader print features, beginning with the January 2026 issue. You won’t want to miss the Expert Tips and Techniques the crew will share with you along the way, as they have a bit of fun bringing the ETIP into fruition!
Little tip for you model railroaders/kitchen helpers. Start your wax paper / aluminum foil tears from one end, then stop. Finish by ripping away at the other end towards the middle and no messy cuts!!!
Sculptamold: oh, oh! Nice and easy to work with as shown by David Popp, BUT in the long run, if cockroaches or the slippery insect known as silverfish (genus Lepisma sp.) find their way to your layout room, you’re in for it: these bugs simply love the cellulose in the sculptamold, and will start eating away at your scenery. It’s surely messy to work with dentists’ plaster, but these bugs wont eat it.
Omar
Now for my favorite part of layout building scenery. Break out the Sculptamold and the ground foam it is time to go crazy putting down the scenery.
How about some projects in the center and far end of the layout. That’s where all the switching activity will be. And we really haven’t seen that portion with all its track mods on display.
This layout is looking really good, it also gives me a lot of great ideas for my O scale layout. I’m looking forward to the MR series of this layout, and the next installment.
Robert