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A good staple gun is really handy to fasten cardboard strips or screen to benchwork to provide a scenery base.

The customary hammer is falling out of use in model railroad construction. Nails don't hold nearly as well as drywall screws for assembling benchwork and the pounding resulting from driving nails will cause damage in other parts of the layout. Drywall screws are far less violent. Hammers do have utility when blunt force is required to "persuade" some structural items into position.

The drywall screw is much more suited to layout construction. They are cheap, and when driven with a power screwdriver go in just as fast or faster than nails. They can also be removed more easily than nails when necessary. Good sizes are 1", 1-1/4" and 2" #6 drywall screws.

This design of clamp has proven to be extremely effective in aiding layout construction. They clamp and release quickly and hold tight. They are used to hold the new benchwork in place while drywall screws are driven. I got by with just four of them, two in this smaller size and two larger ones.