How do you handle flat terrain?

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Yes, I rough cut foam with a knife, but it leaves an unrealistic flat shape.

I'd say to keep trying.

Most of my scenery work is done with a knife, but I then follow that up with a Stanley Surform rasp to round everything off.

My point is that thinner material makes this all much easier because the knife blade doesn't have to cut through as much material, especially when you're shooting for an angle.

One of the issues I often see in model railroad scenery is overly exaggerated verticality in scenery. I'm betting that the difficulty in cutting through thicker material at a realistic angle contributes to this.

I guess these might show what I mean:
http://conrail1285.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2016-05-10-21.59.02.jpg
http://conrail1285.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/2016-06-06-22.46.24.jpg

[Jbub]

Good ole Ken Patterson uses a rasp to shape side ditches of the road bed. It makes a hell of a mess but it looks really natural.

[C855B]

... One of the issues I often see in model railroad scenery is overly exaggerated verticality in scenery. I'm betting that the difficulty in cutting through thicker material at a realistic angle contributes to this. ...

Like this?:



      

EDIT: http://edslaw.org/

[wazzou]

Or this...

https://jimrharris.smugmug.com/Other/Sixteen-Mile-Creek/i-wBpT9VG/A

[davefoxx]

@Ed Kapuscinski clued me in to the snap-blade knife, which can just about cut all of the way through a 2" piece of foam.  Since I discovered that, I don't use the sander and wet vac anymore to terraform.  No more foam dust, and lightweight spackling hides the sins.

DFF

[conrail98]

The trickiest thing is that invariably the ideal placement of some of the Tortoises is right where a part of the wood frame is in the way.  In one case I actually ran the Tortoise actuating wire vertically through a wood brace.

This is why I use the Kreg jig/pocket hole screws for cross members. If that ends up being the case, I can just unscrew the 2 from each end and move it slightly,

Phil

[nickelplate759]

This is why I use the Kreg jig/pocket hole screws for cross members. If that ends up being the case, I can just unscrew the 2 from each end and move it slightly,

Phil

That's nifty!

[LKOrailroad]

This is why I use the Kreg jig/pocket hole screws for cross members. If that ends up being the case, I can just unscrew the 2 from each end and move it slightly,

Phil

...or nailing plates work just as well for repositioning cross members. Actually easier to use than Kreg jig when dealing with odd angle joints or in tight quarters. They do consume a lot of #6 panhead screws.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[CRL]

I'd say to keep trying.

Most of my scenery work is done with a knife, but I then follow that up with a Stanley Surform rasp to round everything off.

My point is that thinner material makes this all much easier because the knife blade doesn't have to cut through as much material, especially when you're shooting for an angle.

One of the issues I often see in model railroad scenery is overly exaggerated verticality in scenery. I'm betting that the difficulty in cutting through thicker material at a realistic angle contributes to this.

I guess these might show what I mean:
http://conrail1285.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2016-05-10-21.59.02.jpg
http://conrail1285.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/2016-06-06-22.46.24.jpg

I agree with using thinner material for some terrain shapes, but it’s critical to avoid the layer cake look. Unless, of course, you’re modeling terrain that looks like a layer cake like some mining scenes.

I’m kind of partial to using 1-1/2” think material since it’s about scale 20’ in n-scale.

[C855B]

... I’m kind of partial to using 1-1/2” think material since it’s about scale 20’ in n-scale.

There's some magic to that. USGS topo maps at the highest resolution (1:24,000) typically express contour lines in 20' elevation increments. If you have the space to do a scene directly scaled down, printing it to scale either tiled or on a large-format printer gives you exact templates for each layer of the wedding cake. I did it as a test a while back, which failed only because I had to compress one axis to get it to fit, and doing so blew the proportions. It would have been great otherwise.

[DKS]

There's some magic to that. USGS topo maps at the highest resolution (1:24,000) typically express contour lines in 20' elevation increments. If you have the space to do a scene directly scaled down, printing it to scale either tiled or on a large-format printer gives you exact templates for each layer of the wedding cake. I did it as a test a while back, which failed only because I had to compress one axis to get it to fit, and doing so blew the proportions. It would have been great otherwise.

I used my survey to create an exact scale model of my home property using this very technique...

[muktown128]

I used my survey to create an exact scale model of my home property using this very technique...

How about adding some animated  's?

Sitting around a campfire eating bacon bombs with some Blazing Saddles sound effects...

[CRL]

Blazing Saddles... one of the funniest and greatest movies ever made.

[peteski]

Blazing Saddles... one of the funniest and greatest movies ever made.

Sure is!  And no way this movie would ever get made today.

[DKS]

Blazing Saddles... one of the funniest and greatest movies ever made.

Hated it. Cannot stand Mel Brooks or anything he made. Hemorrhoids are pleasurable by comparison.

Getting back on topic, my preference for carving foam insulation board is a packing knife for the rough pass, and a homemade hot wire carving tool for finer control.