Building Scenes That Have Tunnels
Building a realistic looking tunnel takes a little work. Personally, I want the inside of the tunnel to look like the rocky real thing.
I start with the insulation foam and build it layer by layer until I reach the right height. Most often I find that to be six layers of the insulation foam, and the seventh is the layer that goes across the top of the tunnel. Use a tunnel portal opening as a guide as to the height it should be. Different manufacturers use different size portals – some are taller than others.
The one shown is actually a Woodland Scenics portal that I thought looked too tall at the opening so I cut off some of the bottom on each side to make it to size. But be careful when doing such a thing that you don’t make it too short. The engine has to pass through, and this is IMPORTANT, on the track and on the roadbed under the track if you’re using that as well.
IMPORTANT: Long tunnels look really cool but what happens if you have a derailment inside the tunnel? It’s important not to make the tunnel so long you can’t reach inside and pull out the derailed cars. Likewise, build tunnels in places where you can reach them. A derailment inside a tunnel at the far end of your layout may turn out to be a disastrous fix.
Okay, moving on. Once I’ve determined the right height and glued the layers of insulation foam I turn the whole thing upside down to fill in the inside of the tunnel. I usually just use Sculptamold for this, building it layer upon layer until I reach the right depth. It takes some trial and error. Let each layer dry, turn it upright to see if it still looks right with the roadbed, track and engine, and if it’s still too skimp add more Sculptamold.
There are a couple options at this point:
1. Mix the final layer of Sculptamold with Woodland Scenics Earth Colors (stone gray color) and apply that inside the tunnel. It will dry to look like real rock and you won’t have to paint anything. (And if you don’t like the look, you can still paint it.)
2. When you’ve finally reached the right amount of Sculptamold and look you like, paint it flat black with gray highlights to look like real rock.
I’ve found both work equally well.
When you’re done with the inside of the tunnel, turn it upright again and start making the mountain around the tunnel. It should look fairly steep and rugged. Otherwise, there’d be no need for a tunnel. Keep it rocky looking near the tunnel opening. You may want to add a retaining wall, or two, to keep the rocks back.
Then add layers of paint, fine turf, coarse turf, lichen, trees, etc as previously outlined.
The finished scene can look something like this.
