Scenery
Here’s a place where you can be as basic or elaborate as you
want. I will assume some frugality, and add scenery only at
a rudimentary level. But if you’re clever, do some planning
ahead, and seize opportunities as they arise, you can do sur-
prisingly much with surprisingly little outlay. A few economies
that you might find useful:
Packing foam, and in particular, flat sheets. Ikea’s (and other
manufacturers’) assembly-required furniture frequently
comes with sheets in ½” and 1” thickness. You’ll likely get a
small supply along with whatever furniture you buy. If buy-
$500 layout 3rd place - 9
ing furniture isn’t on the horizon, you might ask if they have
some that’s bound for the dumpster. They’re usually happy
to be rid of it. The complex molded bits of Styrofoam are not
as useful, however, so just stick with the sheets.
Buckets of “Oops” paint – marked-down cans of almost-but-
not-quite-the-right-shade paint – from the hardware store.
Frequently these are “earth toned” and if you keep your eyes
open, you can find a workable shade. Look for latex, and
flat. Depending on the store, these can go for $2 to $10. It
shouldn’t take a whole lot; a quart should more than suffice.
11. Once the track is laid out, you’re ready to play
around with scenery. Here, I consider one possible
layout of four townhouses using some scrap Styrofoam
which I will carve to the shape I want. Or not. It’s all
about experimentation at this point.
11
MRH-Oct 2014
