Building a Model Railroad Forest with Ed Styles

Lou Sassi’s friend Ed Styles is going to demonstrate creating a model railroad forest. First is to finish the right of way on the track. The hard shell scenery is already installed along with teddy bear fur that has been colored. The teddy bear fur which usually comes in brown can be bought at most craft stores. Then Ed applies green paints to give a variety of colors and sometimes even cuts the fur in areas to give a textured look.

To start the model railroad forest, he wets the surface with water from a spray bottle. Next he installs the ground goop. An advantage of the goop is being able to blend where he has installed the teddy bear fur along the edge for a seamless look. Ed uses a shaker jar for spices to spread dirt to improve the blending of colors when the leaves are applied to the model railroad forest.

Next Ed imbeds rocks very easily in the goop material. Branches too can be stuck in to look like logs or roots and will be nicely secured when the goop dries. The leaves are sprinkled over the area creating a very nice texture. One of Lou and his Tree Group members came up with the idea for the ground leaves for creating a really realistic model railroad forest floor look.

A little bit of green ground foam is sprinkled to add some color for undergrowth that would be growing in the forest. To cement the leaves down, he sprays some water to wet it and then applies scenic cement. He goes on to discuss other materials to finish the model railroad forest scene. For more tips on creating realistic forest scenes, or planning your layout, visit the Model Railroad Academy website.