Any model railway layout can be enhanced with the effective use of scenery and accessories. Chris Ellis examines the range of ready-made scenic accessories available to modellers, and also explains how to make your own scenic structures. Tips and techniques for adapting and weathering such accessories are included, along with clear step-by-step instructions that explain how to create rolling hills, trackside buildings and even lakes and rivers from a variety of materials, whether bought from modelling shops or using discarded product packaging. The book's sections include: planning backdrops and scenic settings; building basic terrain; painting backgrounds and creating the illusion of distance and perspective; texturing vegetation, foliage and trees; modelling water; depicting rocky surfaces such as cliffs, scree and waterfalls; and, incorporating civil engineering (tunnels and bridges) and adapting Skaledale and other accessories for use in personal dioramas. There is a useful appendix that also contains details of popular modelling materials, stockists and suppliers, useful reference works and other research sources.

Author Biography

Chris Ellis has been a model railway enthusiast since his school days. He has been a magazine editor since the early 1960s, starting out as editor of Airfix. In 1980 he founded Model Trains, which he continues to edit today, now called Model Trains International. Chris Ellis has also written Practical Model Railways, Starting in Model Railways, Model Trains: The Collector's Guide and Next Steps in Railway Modelling.