John Pro: Layouts & Scenery

Hi All



The above photo shows the 'pub' scratch built at 'N Scale' using perspex cladding over a wooden block. The roof tiling is made by scribing plastic sheet with a home made tool. The paint used was cellouse (matt) and overpainted with household emulshion.



The building then was fixed onto a base which fitted into the main layout. The advantage of this method is that this allows a series of dioramas be made elsewhere and fitted into the main layout and that these diromas can be changed easily.

John Pro

Hi All



The above photo shows the town end of a back and forth '00' scale layout. The walls are scratch built making a master, (30cm x 30cm square) making a mould and then casting in resin with a MDF backing to provide a thickness. The castings were then cut to size as required. The old stone building was cast using the same method and the wall castings used for the ends. The roofs were also scratch built and cast. The base is MDF covered in Sundeala board, carved and shaped to suit. The turn-table is scratch built using Perspex and machined brass. The hand rail is made from 30 amp fuse wire and soldered.

The track was laid on top of painted to suit 'laminate flooring' foam that had been double-sided sticky taped in place. (Fix the track in place using track pins.) The foam was then trimmed after the track had been laid using a sharp knife cut at a bevel using the track as a guide. The edges were then painted to suit. (Wire up and check running)

The landscape and walls were all painted to finished colour including weathering etc and then textured: Otherwise the washes would ruin the textures. The engine was weathered using a series of washes. The ballast was added and is a mixture of colours to denote time. I.e. dirty ballast has been laid for a long time and the cleaner lighter ballasts were laid more recently. Finally the grasses added and are a mixture of static grass colours, foam and finely sieved real dirt.

Note all paints used are matt household emulsion.

John Pro

Hi All

Questions on landscaping are always being asked therefore the illustration shown is from my original book, page 67. (Professional Approach to Model Railways First published 1987)



My method is to shape the landscape (No Roads) using various "Fillers" which could be expanded polystyrene foam, crumpled newspaper, Chicken wire, Sundelia board etc.

1: When foam or expanded styrene is used the surface will need to be made more robust. The same applies to chicken wire… therefore it will need covering with……….

2: Newspaper or cloth soaked in PVA wood workers glue or plaster impregnated bandage and allowed to dry and repair any problems. When satisfied….

3: Coat with a PVA / water mixture (50/50%) and using a sieve sprinkle on dry plaster to give a texture. Smooth as required to form paths etc. allow to dry followed by dusting off unwanted plaster. This should form a nice texture onto which….

4: Paint various shades of earth, paths etc, onto the plaster using colours to suit the landscape using matt household emulsion paint. When dry.

5: Apply PVA/Water (25/75%) mixture to the painted surface and apply a mixture of textures, starting with foams first followed by static grass, more different coloured finer foams, more different coloured static grass, and finally the finest texture which should be a dirt colour; for that location. (Spray as necessary with water that contains a small amount of washing up liquid to keep wet.) Using a finger, a paintbrush etc, to create paths etc. Apply as necessary using a fine pointed squeeze bottle watered down PVA and add further textures until the desired effect is achieved.

Allow to dry and recover textures using a vacuum cleaner with the 'toe' of a nylon stocking down the tube to trap the bits…. (Sieve and regain various mixed grades of textures) On the 'bald' bits fix as required some of the textures regained from the stocking.

Fix trees and bushes in place as required, and apply dirt colour under trees, bushes etc, fixed in place with watered down PVA.

John Pro

Hi All

Club members enjoying photographing my layouts at one of my recent lectures.



John Pro

Hi All

The weathered Hornby station achieved by applying a dirty wash using household emulsion paint. Compare this with other photos of the station.



John Pro

Hi Zmil

Because there are lots of water based paints used by modellers; I used the term "Household Emulsion' to describe the type of paint that is used to colour the walls of a room in a house. From my point of view I can buy matt 500mm tins of primary colours, (Red, Green, Blue,) plus black and white.

I also purchase a tin of road, paving and a grass colour. (In the UK; tarmac, concrete and grass are almost standard colours)These are my stock colours from which everything else is mixed. Note: If I need a lot of a particular colour I will produce a sample and have it colour matched (500mm tin) at the local DIY shop.

I also collect small glass jars, (and 35mm plastic film pots) which are used to store the special colours, thin, and wash colours. Note; a thin colour contains 25/50% water and a wash about 95% water.

My shadow washes are mixed up from white, black, blue, red and green so that the final colour is a warm dark grey. (A darker version of the dirty water colour you get when you wash your paint brushes in a pot of water.) I also mix soot, rust, etc, colours and apply as required. (UK station canopies painted white soon take on a dirty rusty colour)

This paint mix is applied to the building, the rolling stock etc, in a tray to contain the paint (Messy process) because clean water is used to remove some of the wash, whilst under window sills, the eves of the roof etc more dirt colour is applied and allowed to run down the walls. Then whilst the building is drying I use a wet squeezed through the fingers brush to remove unwanted puddles of wash that appear too dark. The same applies to the windows, clean the windows whilst the paint is wet.

I also apply the same shadow painting method to people, to bring out the modelling detail.

If you can borrow the book called The Professional Approach to Model Railways ISPN 0-85059-833-8 9 from the local library see page139. (The old book is out of print at the moment and new edition is due April 2009) For the new book you will need to see pages 112, 113, 151,152 & 174, which show my method of painting the bases and applying the washes.

John Pro