Master Builder - Scenery

To qualify for a "Master Builder - Scenery" certificate, the rules state (again, I've edited these to relate to my own case; visit www.nmra.org for the complete requirements):

Following is the complete written description that was my Certificate documentation, along with most of the photographs and captions I included. I received this Certificate on December 12, 2002.

Some of these shots appear elsewhere on my site, but I've repeated them here for continuity within the "Road to MMR" portion. You'll find information about specific structures on the "Scenery" portion of my website, under the appropriate city listing (that is, either "Froton" or "LaPointe").

Photographs, Descriptions, Materials & Methods
prepared for Master Builder - Scenery Certificate

The Bona Vista Railroad is a fictitious, freelanced railroad set in the Upper Midwest of the 1950s. While no specific areas or towns have been modeled, I envision the landscape to be that of Southern Minnesota and Western Wisconsin, where hills and bluffs are present but not dominant.

The layout, when complete, will contain significant amount of open spaces in the form of farmland and forest. Both areas to be judged -- Froton and LaPointe -- contain a good amount of “non-industry” area. Narrow shelf width (averaging less than 24”) keeps these areas from being “non-railroad” areas as well.

The layout is set in the Summer of 1954. It’s a sunny, cloudless day... one of those warm, breezy days that make the season so pleasant. The railroad is a branchline and, while it’s not struggling, it doesn’t have the resources yet to purchase any of the diesels that are showing up on other roads in this time period, so all motive power is steam.

This 15-foot stretch of layout was the second area on the layout to be scenicked. It represents part of rural America, about a mile outside of the town proper. There’s a lot of rugged scenery (as “rugged” as Minnesota or Wisconsin gets) which helps give the impression that the trains really are traveling from here to there through nondescript open space.

The Black River enters and exits the scene via the fascia board. The river itself is modeled in two distinct areas. North of the rapids it’s shallow and calm; below the rapids the river gets wider and deeper.

The railroad track enters the scene from the South via a near-hidden tree tunnel, representing an unseen forest between Froton and the next town to the South, Glen Oaks. The tracks follow the bend in the river and make their Northern exit through a tunnel in a hillside which both hides a 180-degree turn and separates Froton from LaPointe.

LaPointe lies almost on the edge of this peninsula of the layout (hence its name). The town slogan, as written on their welcome sign, is “The End of the Earth.” LaPointe and its surrounding area is another 15-foot section of the layout. This section is more highly populated and developed than Froton, and, unlike Froton, the train passes very near to the downtown area. LaPointe features a main street with a section of downtown shops and businesses.

Several of LaPointe’s main industries are located directly adjacent to the downtown area. These industries provides a plausible, yet quick transition from population center to industrial area to and countryside.

LaPointe is a town that boomed in the early part of the 20th Century. Almost all of its buildings are from that era and are just at the point of being called “classic.” Yet despite its growth, it never lost its “country” feel. An interchange with the Soo Line keeps its industries vital.

LaPointe is surrounded by farmland, as evidenced by the photographic backdrop, yet the town extends North on the layout to a valley which is home to a Soo Line track. The interchange between the Soo Line and BVrr is, in reality, a single 5-car spur. However I’ve tried to build the scenery in such a way as to make a “miles long” interchange track plausible, given the geography.

LAND

The Froton/LaPointe areas have a mix of three different types of subterranean construction. Scenery is constructed either directly over plywood (in the case of the Black River, which needed a sturdy foundation) or between joists in the L-girders.

The majority of the scenic base was constructed using my preferred method of Hydrocal-soaked paper towels over mounds of crumpled newspapers. Once the hardshell sets up, the newspaper is removed.

The second method was tested along the Black River banks in Froton: a latticework of cardboard strips was woven, stapled (or glued) to the subroadbed, and Hydrocal-soaked paper towels laid over the lattice.

The third method was used in both the LaPointe downtown area and in the Northern valley. A base of 2” pink Styrofoam insulation was glued to the benchwork, and landforms made of carved Styrofoam, were glued on top of that.

Regardless of the subterranean construction, a layer of Sculptamold was troweled over the top of the Hydrocal to smooth it out. In some cases it’s an inch thick; in others it barely covers the plaster. Once the Sculptamold sets up, it -- and all visible surfaces -- is painted with a dark brown paint called “Midwest Brown.”

Dirt is modeled using the real thing on all parts of the layout. Once the paint has dried, a layer of extremely fine, sifted dirt is put down using a retired salt shaker. The dirt is anchored to the layout with either diluted matte medium or diluted Elmer’s white glue.

Woodland Scenics ground foam has been used almost exclusively on the layout so that all colors match exactly. Scrub is an eyeball-mixed combination of 50% medium green, 25% light green, and 25% conifer coarse foam. Many would think this combination can become a bit monotonous, however that is exactly my intent, since Nature does resemble itself in one geographical area.

There are several areas in both Froton and LaPointe where I’ve used fake fur to simulate tall grass. Instead of cutting out the fur and gluing the backing down, I spread yellow Elmer’s Glue on the area and lay the fake fur top down into the glue (backing side up). After the glue has dried I cut the fur off the backing with a single-edged razor blade. The fur is then painted with spots of Floquil Coach Green, Roof Brown, Rust, and Signal Yellow. I then flood the area with a Dio-Sol wash and use a brush to loosely blend the colors together. It’s a smelly process, but it’s the only way I know of to tint the synthetic fibers of the fake fur.

There are also several scenery “tests” in both the LaPointe and Froton areas which I’ve done with Busch Wildgras mat. The color on the mat needs to be toned down to match the Woodland Scenics products, but so far the test seems positive. Two 6-square-inch areas in Froton are home to an experiment with dyed sisal twine tall weeds; I’m not happy with the way it looks, so that experiment has never continued further. I have yet to find a way to plant Woodland Scenics “tall grass” so that it doesn’t “clump” and resemble a bald head with hair implants. Thus I’ve avoided using that medium.

Small bushes are made from either Woodland Scenics clump foliage or foliage packaged with the company’s tree armatures. There are several experimental bushes made of extremely small pine cone-like objects coated with fine ground foam. Non-descript “fluffy” ground cover is green fiberfill sprayed with hairspray and dunked in either coarse ground foam or the foliage foam.

Trees on the Bona Vista are made from either Woodland Scenics metal kits, Woodland Scenics plastic tree kits and covered with Woodland Scenics foliage netting, Woodland Scenics Fine Leaf Foliage, or are scratchbuilt one-branch-at-a-time from peppergrass. Dead trees are judiciously scattered here and there, and are made from either small twigs or, in the majority of cases, dried plant roots.

The telegraph/power poles are by Rix and are fully “wired” with E-Z Line. Each has been weathered with a razor saw and drybrushed with gray paint. The insulators are painted with Testor’s Jade, which imparts a near-transparent quality.

WATER

There are two areas of water in the Froton/LaPointe areas: the Black River in Froton, and a small, wet drainage ditch outside of LaPointe. In both cases the water was modeled with two-part Envirotex Lite epoxy.

The Black River features full river bottom details and even several scratchbuilt fish in several locations. The bottom was airbrushed with a dark brown color to make it appear both deeper and mucky. The river itself contains about 1/2 gallon of untinted EnviroTex Lite, poured in three successive layers. The surface of the river was further enhanced with ripples and waves made from brushing on two coats of gloss medium. In several instances I used clear silicon bathroom caulk to simulate waves or splashes. Real twigs and rocks were added for realism.

BACKDROP

The backdrop features actual scenic photographs which were found on the internet and enlarged to fit the scale of the scene. The photographs were printed on a color printer and spray-mounted to the backdrop.

In most cases I did extensive editing to the photos with Photoshop to create realistic blends between scenes, to blend with the foreground scenery, and to keep the photos color corrected.

The sky has been left intentionally cloudless. I believe that clouds not only draw the eye to the backdrop, but, if not drawn 100% convincingly, they can actually destroy the illusion of distance. In other words, if the backdrop is cloudless, the eye has nothing to focus on and doesn’t notice the vertical plane of the backdrop; clouds give the eye something to focus on and the brain suddenly notices that the sky isn’t really “open space” at all, but instead a blue wall.

The backdrop is constructed of 1/8” Masonite mounted to 2”x2” risers. I purposely didn’t run the backdrop to the ceiling to aid in air circulation in the room. To create the 180-degree curves, the Masonite was bent around a 15” concrete former. All joints are taped and mudded the same way as drywall; so far no cracks have appeared.

The backdrop was spray painted sky blue latex with a Wagner paint sprayer. Once that was dry the lower portion was over-sprayed, airbrush style, with a 4:1 mixture of sky blue and white, creating an atmospheric haze near the horizon.

The entire backdrop was constructed before any scenery was begun on the layout.

LIGHTING

The mid-day layout lighting is accomplished with incandescent track lights mounted over the aisleways. Each track light holds a 75-watt floodlight.

Outside the Village of Froton Froton is a place that even the locals call “out in the sticks.” While the town itself hasn’t been modeled, its outskirts have, and the viewer can tell that this is no-frills rural America. This photographic tour will move from North (lower part of the photo) to South.
	Here’s the outskirts of Froton, as seen from atop the rise on the North edge. The siding here serves Froton’s three main industries: Andersen Windows (on the left), the Froton Creamery (upper center) and B. Chubb Operational Hardware (upper right). The Black River, not visible in this shot, parallels the tracks and fascia.
	The railroad supplies Andersen Windows with an ample source of raw materials. The structure was scratchbuilt board-by-board from plans published in the September 1976 issue of Model Railroader. While it bears no resemblance to the actual Andersen plant in Bayport, MN, it was so-named because I was writing ads for the company at the time I built it and thought that perhaps this was what it would have looked like had it not made such a top-quality product.
	Just South of the Andersen plant, Highway AA snakes its way through the countryside, heading for the village, about a mile east. The Aspens in the foreground were scratchbuilt. The road is made from coarse sandpaper. All signs on the railroad are scratchbuilt.
	Looks like Igot’s Gas is hopping this afternoon. Burt "Birdie" Foster just brought over his brand new '53 Ford Victoria and the boys can't wait to poke and prod everything under the hood. Sparky, the dog, isn’t very happy with the whole situation. The station was scratchbuilt from plans published in the December 1996 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. Signs were scratchbuilt from images found on the internet.
	There are big ones in the Black River, too. This extreme closeup shows the North “edge” of the river at the fascia, and three of the lunkers swimming in its waters. Turns out there are some swimming at the South edge, too. The fish were scratchbuilt from rosin-core solder and measure about a scale foot.
	The Froton Creamery has been around these parts for quite a while, and looks it (although it is getting a new coat of paint today). The structure is a Campbell kit, with its rear wall only a few inches from the backdrop at this point.
	B. Chubb, Inc. manufactures Operational Hardware and sits across the Black River from the Creamery, on the far outskirts of town. The structure is named for the famous man responsible for getting me interested in model railroad operations. It was scratchbuilt from plans published in the October 1970 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman.
	Just on the other side of the Chubb bridge some kids enjoy the warm Summer day by taking a dip in the river. This is the far South end of the Froton siding. The clothes strewn about on the bushes are painted foil, and the Aspens in the background were scratchbuilt.
The City of LaPointe (and surrounding area) Over 8,000 people make the city of LaPointe and its surrounding areas home. While a significant number of them farm the land, several large industries employ the majority of townsfolk: The Bicktul Company, Hunt Paints, Jubala Milling, and Drywell Inks. This photographic tour will proceed from the South (right) to the North.
	This is the modeled portion of LaPointe’s downtown. A keen-eyed visitor will be able to see the unmodeled portion -- an illusion -- at the other end of Neener Street. The town is flanked on one side by Jubala Milling (left) and Drywell Inks. The first view a rail visitor gets of LaPointe is Drywell Inks (far right). The industry is built into the hillside. Drywell Inks is a significantly kitbashed version of the Walthers Gold Series kit by the same name. The timber retaining wall is scratchbuilt.
	The alley behind the Neener Street shops is deserted, except for a few cats prowling through the garbage. That’s Drywell’s main entrance on the right. The three-story building in the center of the picture looks innocent enough here, but it really has no front and hides the secret to LaPointe’s “expanded” downtown.
	Neener Street is the main drag through LaPointe’s downtown. On the corner is Louise’s Korner Kafe, a popular lunch spot for the railroad crews. Louise’s Kafe features scratchbuilt interior details and a photograph back wall that makes the cafe appear much deeper than it is. Town buildings are a mix of DPM and Walthers. The angled building at the far end of the street is sawed in half and leans against the backdrop. Streetlights were scratchbuilt.
	While Neener Street appears to continue on under the banner, from this high vantage point you can begin to see the secret: the second of the Bona Vista’s current three mirrors. The buildings in the distance are printed on a flat card hidden inside a false-front building and reflected in this mirror. The blue car is also hidden in the building. The street banner hides the top of the mirror, and the billboard hides the fact that the banner isn’t physically attached to the bookstore building.
	Highway 27 is the main route into this side of downtown LaPointe. Visitors pass the massive Jubala Milling building. The Jubala Milling building is a Walthers Cornerstone kit. The wigwag in the foreground is animated and has a bell sound, and is activated by a train passing one of two infrared detectors located about a foot on either side of this grade crossing. The Jubala fence is scratchbuilt. The road is painted Foamcore.
	The North end of the LaPointe area is home to Hunt Paints (left), the Bicktul Company (center), and the Soo Line Interchange (far right). The interchange track vanishes behind the Bicktul building and holds 5 cars in a concealed “tunnel” of trees. Because Hunt Paints theoretically continues beyond the layout, the building has been “chopped” at the fascia, to reveal full interior details.
	The Bicktul Company and Hunt Paints, as seen from the North. Both structures feature interior details and lights. The Bicktul Company is an original design, made from DPM Modular Walls. Hunt Paints is a DPM kitbash. The billboard reads, “If you want a good paint, go Hunt.” The majority of details inside Hunt Paint were scratchbuilt, including a fire extinguisher in the case on the second floor wall. All upstairs office windows have pulls on the shades; there is paper in the typewriter on the desk, writing on the blackboard in the shipping room, and paint spilled all over the floor everywhere.
	On the North end of LaPointe is the valley. To the left (North) is the outskirts of the city of Westcott. The valley is spanned by the Whitney K. Towers Memorial Bridge. That’s the Soo Line passing beneath it (a non-functional track which ends at the fascia and backdrop). The Howe Truss bridge is a Campbell kit and named for Whit Towers, whom I met in the late ‘70s when he was still editor of the NMRA Bulletin. His ALP layout -- which I operated -- was a major influence on me. You’re also looking at the third of the BVrr’s current 3 mirrors -- the Soo Line track ends at a mirror mounted to the backdrop, making it appear tocurve around the bluff and out of sight.


*Construction shots:*	Benchwork \| Scenery \| Finished Scenes
*Layout:*	Trackplan & Specs \| History & Notable Dates
*Misc:*	The Road to MMR \| Articles I've written \| Favorite links \| Durango & Silverton RR Shots \|About Me