Landscape and 3D: Land, Water, Roads, Snow

Landscape (Premium)

In the Landscape tool, you can draw areas with a surface: farmland, gravel, pavement, asphalt, and water. The line of the area serves as its edge, which is either hard or soft depending on the surface.

• Water area: Draw the outline; the body of water carves its own path through the terrain, complete with banks and islands. Poured water also becomes a water area and can be edited in the same way afterward.
• Roads: State highways, freeways, cobblestone streets, and canals as marked strips; the road’s embankment blends into the terrain.
• Snow is added as a brush-applied surface.
• Areas and roads can be copied, cut out, and pasted.

3D View (for all)

The 3D view now shows your layout much closer to the built model:

• Surfaces: The meadow features blades of grass and tufts stretching into the distance. Rock, gravel, soil, and pavement have depth rather than a flat colored surface. Plaster shows trowel marks without a visible tile pattern, even on high terrain features.
• Buildings: Facades feature windows, doors, basements, and brick or stucco surfaces. Eight Faller railroad buildings, including the roundhouse and water tower, look just like the kit. No building appears larger in 3D than it does in the plan.
• Water: It is translucent, darkens with depth, and has a glossy surface with slight ripples. Boats and ships float on top.
• Roads and paths: They follow the drawn route as a ribbon and display their surface material even in 3D.
• Trees and tracks: Trees have leaves, pine needles, and bark. Rails shine like metal, and wooden and concrete ties can be distinguished.

Existing maps will look like this the next time you open the 3D view—you don’t need to do anything. The 3D view remains free for everyone. Bodies of water, surface materials, snow, and most road types are part of the Premium package.