Updated - Looking for Suggestions for Hobo Camp

For the hobo campfire you could always cut a hole in the layout and recess it so it sits flush with the top of the layout.

Paint the wall sky blue.  After you place the buildings you can touch up the area between the building fronts.  As far as the Hobo camp goes, I agree with Joe's suggestion of recessing the campfire into the layout.  Maybe you could add a few trees to help them hide in plane site.  Usually these camps were a little off the beaten path, so the Railroad police couldnt spot them. 

I recently turn my sweetheart loose with her acrylic paints to do a backdrop. Click on the underlined phrase to link a slideshow.

Note that there are two different cloud/sky wall papers that I used for my layout.

If that is homasote under the hobo camp, you could take foam that is the same thickness of the camp.  Cut it so it goes to the left and front edge and a couple inches short of the trestle.  Feather down the edge going towards the trestle.  Put ground cover on the foam and onto the camp fire to blend it.  Plant lots of trees.

Gene Anstine

I agree with Joe about recessing it. That's what I did with mine. It makes it much easier to blend  the surrounding scenery. You really don't need to wire in a separate switch as the barrel is the switch.

Ken

Ken,

That's true! I forgot about the barrel. I was thinking that it would be easier for the young ones to activate with a push button switch on the fascia instead of reaching up and twisting the barrel.

I had given thought to recessing it. I just didn't know if there were other ideas to consider.

Dennis

Hi Dennis - here is a thread I put up about how I handled the blank wall behind my fronts. Hope it helps!

Thats what i did and it looked great!

Yes!  Bury it in trees, shrubbery, and rocks to create that secluded environment.

I'm kinda with mwb but I'd add a small stream also and have a walking path wandering threw the trees that the other Hobo's before them had used to access the area.

This is an older Lionel accessory but appears similar to yours. The layout has Homasote over plywood. The Homasote was excavated and the hobo camp was just dropped in place and sceniced to blend in with the surroundings.

Around the hobo camp, consider using foam insulation board and Fusion Fiber to build up the area and give it some variation. its great stuff and very easy to work with. 

Whatever you decide on for your bsckground, consider making your building flats different depths if you are able. It will add some dimension to the area. 

Lionel Grandpa,

Thanks for the suggestions on the building flats. I had not considered that. I think it may help.

Dave C, nice picture of the hobo camp! I like what you did to blend it all together. I hope mine comes out looking that good!

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I did cut a hole in the homasote and set the camp in it. I will post some pictures when I get a little scenery around it.

Dennis

A quick-fix for the campfire is placing a ring of bushes around it with a walkway opening and a tree in the back.

For the buildings, get a city scene layout background (about 12"x48"). The buildings will fit right in.

Here's what I did for my BO's.  I built up the bases with ridged foan then added ground cover rocks and twigs.

You need a pile of wood near the campfire.  Campfires consume a lot of wood. Usually there is a stone ring around the fire to contain the hot/burning material.  Most fires are at least level, put it in a hole you have two problems. Doesn't get air as well.  Subject to rain water filling the pit.  IMO.  We have done chicken on a camp fire spit like pictured, consumes a lot of wood and time.  Takes close to 4 hrs to do chickens (small) on a spit, properly.  You are also roasting your hands/arms and on occasion your eye brows.

Breakfast: Eggs and bacon. Two days down river, Sausage and Pancakes.   We have been know to add extensions, (2 ft), to the fork and spatula, which allows a little more comfort and less burned forearm hair. Smoke adds to the flavor.

Chicken on a spit, a couple of years later we figured (2) spits worked better than one, allowed the chicken to be better centered in the fire.  The end chickens on the spit were always just barely cooked. One chicken per three people.

Dutch oven, bottom left, with hot coals on the top, is for cooking biscuits. Large cooking pot bottom right is potatoes, eventually mashed.  There is also pudding and ice cream being done for the evening meal. Note that all this hardware is via canoe. Backpacking meals are nowhere near this intense.

 Gathering wood is a large project.  Dead fall material that is not green.  Surprisingly there is enough in the area for a couple of days of camp fire. 

Coffee/Tea/Hot water is done with a backpack friendly gas or butane/propane stove. We use two, (2 gallon,) galvanized metal buckets, to heat water/wash, cleaning water. One bucket is with detergent for cleaning, the other bucket is hot boiling water for rinse. Clean-up is a large part of the project. 

Putting the fire out is another major project.  Being sure it's out requires a lot of water. Another use for the 2 gallon galvanized metal buckets. We have put fires out that others have started.

Have fun with that camp fire.

Mike CT  

Dennis,

I have a similar area under construction, only about 4 in. deep. I used a combination of building flats & foam core photos, then a few trees, then a vertical board fence at the track line. The fence seems to add depth. When I get home tonight I'll post a photo.

Scott

As others have said, sink it into the scenery so the base is flush. My layout has 1/2" pink foam over it, everything gets installed flush. I use Woodland Scenics "mold -a - scene plater to fill/blend in the gap, then cover it with grass, snow gravel, whatever is in that area.

Hers my hobo campfire, somehow the hobos managed to catch their "shack on" fire and they now sit around the campfire in the snow

My most recent work, the K line "yard office", and "dump bin" in the background of this photo are also installed flush.

Lionels "ice skating rink" is also installed flush here. I ran out of snow, I plan to cover the "plastic" snow with some glue and sprinkle some snow over it.

for the hobo scene i would "bury  Have done the lionel playground, oil derricks, and the tree swing  It would not effect electrical , and can be made for easy on off.  the oil derrick scene was done on Frank Battagla's layout that has been featured a number of times in OGR

I had the same situation with my camping scene. I cut cardboard to fit around the camp then filled in with plaster to give it the same hieght, the pine trees are part of the camp but it blended in nicely. For the wall I bought a city-scape background, mounted it and cut out the buildings, painted the wall blue and put my building models in front. I have plans for clouds.

Dave C -beautiful "hobo" scene. Here are some of the location I used.

Updated! See original post!

dennis

Very nice Dennis

Ken M

Looks really good!

Awesome job Dennis. It came out really nice.