How to Make Miniature Terrain

Make the foundation. Make a cardboard foundation that is three layers thick with each layer glued to the one above it in a pattern so that the corrugation in the cardboard crisscrosses. (More layers may be added if you wish to make a cut-away underground scene, but for the purpose of this tutorial, three layers is enough.) Always handle this foundation with care and support it properly with both hands.

Make the base contours of the ground. Use a Styrofoam cutter to cut the general shape. Cut layers so they are like the relief on a topographic map where each elevation is represented by concentrically contoured shapes that get smaller as the shapes are successively stacked, with the smallest pieces at the top. This Styrofoam will form the base of your terrain. Use craft glue to make the Styrofoam stick to the cardboard and the other Styrofoam layers.

Smooth out the ground. Dip strips of newspaper in a paste that is a mixture of half water and half craft glue. Lay the strips over the Styrofoam so they cross each other in a lattice and hide the stacked "steps." Let the strips of newspaper dry once they are satisfactorily covering every inch of the terrain. Spread a thin layer of paste over the newspaper after it has dried.

Sprinkle inexpensive, crushed spices over the terrain to resemble grass or dirt. Peat moss and bits of grass or twigs will simulate plants, but get rid of over-sized bits.

Use fine sand, gravel and small pebbles to serve as dirt or rocks. Embed the gravel or pebbles into the ground to look natural by cutting small indentations with a craft knife. Use craft glue to set the stone. Lint from the clothes dryer adds a "dusty" quality to your work.

Whittle small sticks or dowel rods to represent wooden items. Small pieces of wood veneer can be left outside to crack and weather or be used as is.

Make metals look authentic by gluing layers of rust powders on them with thin sprays of glue. One method is to cut the bottom off a soda can and invert it over a light bulb to heat it up. Place a drop of cyanoacrylate glue in the center of the aluminum and then cover the can/glue combination together with your work under an inverted fish tank (outdoors). Come back upwind (with a respirator on and your contacts removed) to remove the fish tank when the glue has partially evaporated (15 minutes). Add powdered rust for authenticity, which will stick to the evaporated glue on the metal. If using copper in your model, urine can age copper (remember to clean it off).

Make trees from wrapping bundles of wires in the same strips of newspaper and paste that you used to make the ground. Twist the newspaper to add wrinkles and irregularities, then add dust from sanded cardboard to the glue on the twisted newspaper to create the bark on the tree. Some miniature plants, such as mosses and other bryophytes (which can look like trees) will fit in nicely if cultivated in a little dirt and sunlight. Bonsai trees may also be appropriate, depending on the scale of the model.