Woodland Scenics Question

Charles Mark

New Member
I have WS Inclines/Risers etc. glued down. I cut WS Plaster Cloth into 4" wide short strips and applied to the top with some over both sides of them. I will use the Plaster Cloth for terrain that will "connect to the edge" of the Inclines/Risers etc next is my plan. Question: Will one layer be sufficient covering the road bed only that I have down now? I will use WS Track-Bed with Flex Track later. I'm planning on running double track [N] over the Risers etc. then ballast it. Thanks for any advice given.
 

Charles Mark

New Member
No help out there? Well I'm further along and will use a "Spackle" to smooth the Plaster Cloth irregularities. Trial and error I guess but that seems reasonable to me.
 

Will_annand

Active Member
Sorry Charles, but I find the Woodland Scenics products too expensive.

I am still at the cut foam for inclines stage.

I also use old used dryer sheets with Plaster of Paris (coloured with Acrylic paints) for my scenic base. $25.00 CDN worth of PoP will do my entire layout and the dryer sheets are free as my wife would have just thrown them away anyway.
 

George D

Member
Charles,

I'm not sure I understand what you are doing. Are you laying the bandages on top of the risers? I don't see a need for that. I've seen WS inclines on a layout, but I've never worked with them. I assume the roadbed will go on top of the bandage layer. Any irregularities in the plaster cloth will cause problems for the roadbed and of course for the track on top of that.

I don't see any need for it. Just attach the bandages for scenery to the edge of the inclines. If you need a larger surface for the plaster, hot glue some small strips of cardboard to the risers.

I hope this isn't a total misunderstanding of the problem. :)

George
 

guppyman

Member
I think I know what you are asking here.... I built the Woodland Scenics Scenic Ridge as my first layout- followed their instructions like you seemed to have done here. One layer was plenty.... On major bumps and things... you can easily sand them down so that things lay flat. On my next layout, I doubt I'll use and plaster cloth at all on the risers... it will all get covered by scenery materials anyway. If I plaster, I'll start from the edge of the roadbed and move out from there.
 
Charles,
I think what you're doing will work fine. I'm using WS risers, but glued the cork roadbed directly to the risers, before adding any plaster cloth. I'll add it later, butting the edge of the plaster cloth right up against the edge of the cork. I've seen it done both ways without a problem.

Will,
Are you having any luck cutting your own foam inclines? I tried and actually made a couple of pretty good ones, even getting them to bend around a radius. My biggest problem was keeping the cut at a right angle so the track was level. I finally came to my senses and bought WS inclines, although I used regular styrofoam for the risers. I know that the WS are expensive, but I figure my time is worth something (but not much).
Doc
 

spitfire

Active Member
I would definitely keep the paster cloth off the roadbed area, as you don't want any bumps. Laying the track bed first is the safest way to go. One layer of plaster cloth is ok, as you can always build it up with more plaster, or spackle. I prefer spackle because it's lighter, but it doesn't carve very well, so if you plan to carve rocks, use plaster.

I'm using the WS scenics risers as well. I considered cutting my own out of foam, but for me the money saved was not worth the risk (and subsequent headaches) of messing it up. My risers will be hidden, so they need to be flawless. Besides, those foam sheets are not all that cheap either. :(

Val
 

Will_annand

Active Member
Val, it is not that risky.

What I do is where I want an incline, I cut the foam right out following the path I wish the tracks to take, then turn the foam over and cut along the foam where the incline is to be. After it is cut, I turn it back upright and glue it back in place. this way the top surface is still factory smooth and the rough cut is on the bottom. This makes for smoother inclines.

Check the photos on my website, specifically where the return wye is.
 

Charles Mark

New Member
Sorry I wasn't clear in my description of what I have done. The risers/inclines do not have a solid surface so I put one layer of WS plaster cloth on top of them. Wet, it looked smooth but dried it isn't. Sanding didn't work for me. My fix will be to use spackle over it to make it smooth and level. I will wait to do this as I'm building low hills next to most of the risers now. The last thing will be to put the WS foam bed down with flex track on top of it.
 
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