Utah Society of Railroad Modelers

I'm a member of the Utah Society of Railroad Modelers.  We had a fantastic meeting yesterday which included essentially three clinics on scenery.  If you happen to be in the Utah - Salt Lake City area, we'd love to have you join us!

Sign up on our Yahoo Egroup...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/USRM/

 Rob Spangler is one of the best scenery guys in the valley.  He starts off by showing us cardboard strip supports for plaster scenery.

 "Bench Mark" Evans takes a photograph of the cheesecloth that Rob is using to cover the cardboard strips.  This is a great idea!

 The cheesecloth takes the place of the Woodland Scenics plaster cloth squares, and is much much cheaper.

 Allen McCallum changes gears and shows us a different style using using masking tape covered with newspaper to get the same effect.  Actually I like both methods!

 In depth discussions on the pros and cons of Hydrocal plaster leave my daughter Taylor snoozing on the table.  Next time I'll sit her in the back with a pillow.  At least she wasn't snoring.

 With the drop cloth out, Allen and Rob start painting on the wet plaster.

 Rob uses a very thin mix, while Allen's is much thicker.  Both achieve the same effect.  Great clinics!

 Bill Hughes jumps in and starts teaching us how to cover up the new hills with trees.

 Supertrees!  What great stuff.  For about $24 you get a whole box of this odd type of dried week.  Bill soaks it in matte medium and then spray paints it.  Later he adds ground foam for color and texture.  They are amazing.

His layout must be spectacular as I watch his Powerpoint presentation.  The trees (like the Aspen he's making here) look very realistic.