Layout Tips - Layout Skirt
Gerry LeoneDescription
A finished skirt makes a model railroad look complete. Unfortunately, cloth can be expensive and may require a seamstress or knowledge of a sewing machine. National Model Railroad Association Master Model Railroader Gerry Leone shows the cheap and easy way he hides everything underneath his layout.
A layout skirt makes the underside of a model railroad look nice and hides anything that’s being stored while an audience watches operation. Gerry uses landscape fabric which comes in different quality levels. This means the fabric can be cheap, his specific roll of fabric was three dollars. These rolls come in 3 foot by 50 foot lengths, and also come in 4 foot lengths.
Creating the skirt is as easy as cutting the fabric to fit under the fatia. Installation can be accomplished with clothespins bought from target, dollar stores or hardware stores. Gerry places hot glue on the clothespins and mounts them to the fatia about an inch from the bottom. He attaches them on either side of the cross members so the fabric does not sag in between.
Some notches are cut out of the landscape fabric where the cross members fit and all is clipped underneath with the clothespins. This is how to achieve a nice finished looking layout with skirting underneath. To create a more fancy look, use a stappler to add some pleats in the fabric every couple of inches. With Gerry’s method, if the skirt should tear or get ruined it will be easy and inexpensive to replace.
Nothing makes the layout look as good as a finished skirting under your fascia. But unfortunately, cloth is not that cheap and you may need a seamstress or at least somebody familiar with a sewing machine to help you get it to the right length. But here's an inexpensive way to cover up the underside of your layout, maybe cover up some of the stuff that you're storing under there or make it look nice and pretty in case you're having a layout tour, and that is landscape fabric. Landscape fabric comes at all kinds of different quality levels, you can get the cheapest stuff you can. This particular role cost about $3. It's 3' tall by 50' long. And it also comes in 4' lengths. And it's as easy as cutting the landscape fabric to fit under your fascia. But you've got to hold it there and the way to hold it there is with inexpensive clothespins. You can get these clothespins at target, at dollar stores at hardware stores. And pretend that this is your layout and I'll show you how to mount it. This is the fascia, obviously your trains are up here, your bench work is underneath here. You'll crawl underneath your layout, get your hot glue gun, put some hot glue on a couple of these clothespins and mount them to the fascia. I've got mine mounted about an inch above the bottom of the fascia, there's nothing magic about that detail. Make sure you put them on either side of cross-members because you're going to be holding that landscape fabric up and you don't want it to sag in between. And it's as simple as cutting some notches out of your landscape fabric for where the cross-members fit and then, coming underneath and just clipping that landscape fabric to your clothespins. What's nice about this is that if you do decide to put cloth on your layout later on you can still use the clothespins to hold that up. And you've got a nice, finished looking layout that has some skirting underneath it, that's covering things. If you want to get really fancy, you can use a stapler and put some pleats in it. You know, every couple of inches just to make it flow a little bit more, but the landscape fabric works like a champ. And again, if it should tear or something should happen to it, it's easy and inexpensive to replace.
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