Creating an OO/HO Gauge Garden Scene For Your Model Railway or Model Railroad
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Quick & Easy Model Railroad Diorama
In this lens I'm going to show you how to quickly build a realistic back yard or garden scene for a modern image model railway or model railroad layout. This simple but very effective scene can be created using a couple of FREE downloadable model kits from Model Railway Scenery, a few model railway scenic items and a few materials you'll probably have around the house already.
What You Need...
Materials
Here is a list of the materials you'll need to build this simple but very realistic looking diorama. Most you'll probably already have either in your Model Railroading stocks or you'll find them around the house.
- OO/HO Gauge Shed Kit - Free
- Brick & Limestone Paving
- Garden Fencing Kit
- 2 sheets of white copier paper (For printing out the paving & brick texture sheets)
- 3 sheets of white card (220 to 250gsm for printing out the free OO Gauge Shed Kit)
- Matchsticks
- Dried Tea Leaves or an old tea bag
- Grass or Flock Scatter
- Lichen or Foliage (Mixed Colours)
- Assorted OO/HO Gauge Figures
- Sheet of Grey Board or suitable cardboard for the diorama base
Tools & Glue...
You'll also need these few tools and a couple of glues to complete this project! Again, most of these you'll already have. Younger modellers should ask an adult to help them, particularly when using sharp knives and scissors.
- Felt Tipped Pens
- PVA glue, Super Glue & Pritt Stick or paper glue
- Craft Knife
- Steel Ruler
- Tea Strainer
- Small Paintbrush
- Small pair of scissors
Diorama Construction
Follow these simple instructions steps to create your own diorama. Note, you don't have to lay yours out the same as I did. Every garden is different, it's laid out differently, has different plants & shrubs etc. Some have lawns, some do not. So mixing up your design will give your layout a unique look. Plus the shed kit from ModelRailwayScenery.com has 6 different garden building design to chose from, so mix and match the sheds too for a more unique layout.
- Download and print out the Free OO Gauge Garden Sheds kit from ModelRailwayScenery.com onto 250gsm white card using a colour inkjet or laser printer.
- Download and print out the Limestone Paving & Brick texture sheets (or use a paving texture sheet of your choice from ModelRailwayScenery.com. Print onto white copier paper using a color inkjet or Laser printer.
- Download and print a garden fencing kit of your choice from ModelRailwayScenery.com
- Select and assemble the garden sheds & outbuildings you wish to use on your diorama according to the instructions in the kit.
- Cut a suitable sized piece of grey board or cardboard to form the base for your mini model railway diorama.
- Use a pencil to mark out where things will go in your garden diorama onto the cardboard base.
- Cut out suitable sized sections of brick and paving texture sheet to form patios and paths on your model. Then stick them in place using pva or paper glue such as Pritt Stick.
- Cover any areas that will be grassed or used as a lawn with PVA glue and use a tea strainer to evenly apply grass or flock scatter.
- Cut various lengths of spent matchsticks and use them to create raised vegetable beds or flower beds. Color them using dark brown felt tip pens to represent creosoted railway sleepers. Once colored, glue them into place to form the raised beds with PVA glue.
- Fill the area inside the raised beds with PVA glue and sprinkle on dried tea leaves mimic the appearance of bare earth, then allow to dry.
- Now glue the model sheds you assembled earlier into place on the diorama and allow to dry.
- Again, using tea leaves, create bare earth/soil areas where required to create flower beds around the potting shed for example, by painting on pva glue with a small paint brush sprinkling loose dried tea leaves onto the glue.
- Add trees, bushes & plants using assorted colored lichen or other foliage materials.
- Print out the garden fencing onto light card. Cut out and assemble your chosen garden fencing according to the instructions supplied with the kit.
- Trim the garden fencing sections to length and glue into place surrounding your garden diorama, remembering to leav the "House" end open.
- Add some finishing touches to bring your garden to life!
Diorama Photos
Here are a few pics of my completed diorama for inspiration!
The completed diorama, complete with a selection of Faller HO Scale figures for realism
Add Life To Your Model Railway Diorama
Bring your newly created mini-diorama to life by adding a selection of figures. I used Faller HO figures which are perfectly suitable for both HO gauge and OO gauge model railway layouts. It's worth also considering Preiser and Noch figures too as they both do extensive ranges.
Grass Scatters
To complete your diorama you're going to need grass or flock scatter. You can however use a grass mat if you prefer, and simply cut out sections from it to make up you're grassed areas. Using grass mats gives a very manicured finish to your grassed areas.
Adding More Detail To Your Model Railway Diorama
The level of detail you add to your diorama can really enhance your layouts level of realism. Add flowers to your plants and bushes by lightly dry brushing your lichen bushes with bright colored acrylic paints.
Taking it even further
On my OO gauge diorama I built for this tutorial I used tiny pieces of lichen or reindeer moss to create vegetables for my raised beds. These look ok, but you could go for the even more realistic option of Noch's Laser Cut Mini plant range which comprises of all manner of accurately reproduced plants and vegetables for HO and OO Gauge model railway layouts.
Reader Feedback
I hope you liked my tutorial. For more tutorials and Model Railroad product reviews, please visit my website at Model Trains Online, or please feel free to post any suggestions, comments or feedback here in my guestbook!
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Ian
Mar 23, 2012 @ 1:40 pm | delete
- absolutely superb site
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ModelTrainLover
Jan 31, 2012 @ 1:15 pm | delete
- This was an excellent guide to this project - thank you so much. I always see creative ways to enjoy this hobby just like what is covered here!
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by justinn
Hi, I'm Justin, a keen railway modeller with around 30 years experience building and creating model railway layouts for my own pleasure. My main areas... more »
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