Now that we’re working on an expansion of our waterfront, we’ve got our work cut out for us with creating some cool new seaside scenery. We did do some work last fall, using mod podge to create water in our wharf, and we’ll be re-touching on this as we revisit the mod-podge process very soon!
The past couple of evenings I’ve been working on the waterfront scenery quite a bit. From adding block walls, rock seawall, and talus to simulate the rock belt that prevents the wave action from eroding the seafloor that block seawall sits on.
Now, obviously our talus is a different color, we know. But it is getting aged and weathered to a darker, dirty and algae spotted rock color. So don’t worry, it currently isn’t as contrasting as it is in the photos for this how-to article.
This entire process is very simple to follow and while we hope everyone can learn from our how-to’s, this one is easy for all levels of model railroader to follow.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Talus or small rocks
- Hot Glue Glue & Hot Glue Gun
- Pipette
- White Glue / Water Mix
How to glue down the talus rock belt
I suggest doing this process in 12” sections as you start out. Once you become more confident and comfortable with this process, you can get a little crazyyyyy and do some longer sections!
This is fairly straightforward, we used a line of hot glue (not pictured) to stick the first, frontmost line of talus down. I kept the initial line about 3 talus stone lengths away from the wall.
This first row was my “holding row” and once the glue was set and firm, I was able to grab a handful more of talus stones to pile them in behind the “holder” row.
This part is up to your discretion, as this is where you have the freedom to make your wall the size you want/need.
Our waterfront wall varied a little bit as it spans the length of the 16’ layout and I thought it would look a little funky if it were all 100% uniform.
Adding the glue/water mix
Now that you have made your “holder row” and built up the wall to your desired thickness/height between the holder wall and the stone retaining wall or seawall, it’s time to get your white glue and water mix along with your pipette/eyedropper.
Get a good old pipette of white glue/water mix into the pipette and gradually start to drip the glue mix over the talus, allowing it to seep into the crevices and cracks of the talus.
Start out conservative with this, or you’re going to end up with white glue mix all over your layout… And that ain’t going to be any fun to clean up.
Allow this first application to dry for 30 or so minutes. This is a good moment to work on something else while you wait. Unless watching water/glue mix is something you really enjoy doing.
This first application of the mix probably won’t be enough to hold all of the talus in place and chances are some of the stones will still be loose. So repeat the application of the glue mix to the talus until all of the stones have been secured in place.
This process took me about 3 rounds until most all of my talus was in place. There were a few stubborn stones that needed to be glued individually, but oh well, it’s never perfect as we all know how this hobby takes patience.
Next up, we’ll talk about weathering the talus and applying algae, plants, and some dirt/sand. (stay tuned!)
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