How to Construct Model Train Hills

Papier-mâché

• 1

  Cut a piece of cardboard into the shape of the base of your hill. Note the space available to hold the finished model train hill and measure the base accordingly.

• 2

  Scrunch pieces of newspaper into balls and glue each ball onto the hill base. Add more newspaper until your hill is the height you want. Use different sized balls to make realistic terrain on your model train hill.

• 3

  Tear more newspaper into strips and dip them into a solution of 50 percent water and 50 percent contact cement. Lay one strip at a time over the balls of newspaper on your hill base to make a smoother finished surface.

• 4

  Allow the model train hill to dry completely. Add color to your hill with paint, or glue dirt and small pebbles to the surface.

Plaster Cloth

• 5

  Shape a length of chicken wire into a hill. Attach it to a board with staples to make it a permanent fixture .

• 6

  Cover the chicken wire structure with strips of plaster cloth. Wet the cloth to make it pliable and place it over the chicken wire, overlapping the edges slightly until you conceal the entire hill.

• 7

  Let the plaster cloth hill stand until it's fully dry. Decorate your model train hill to add scenery to your track display.

Styrofoam

• 8

  Stack pieces of Styrofoam to form your model train hill. Gradually decrease the size of the Styrofoam sheets as you go. Keep stacking the foam until the hill is as tall as you like, and then glue the pieces in place.

• 9

  Slice off the corners of the pyramid-stacked Styrofoam sheets. Turn the corners over so the pointed ends fit into the angled space between the stacked sheets of foam, connecting the layers.

• 10

  Glue the corner pieces into place. Shape the Styrofoam into your model train hill by adding a filler to the spaces left between the foam layers.