Playing with groundcovers.

[Zephyrus52246]

It's been experimentation week here at The Empire.  First I tried Durham's water putty for an asphalt parking area.  It didn't offer any advantages over my usual spackle, and it was much harder to sand smooth.  Next up was ground cover.  I've not done much scenery except on dioramas.  The medical term is sceneryphobia.    I'd used Woodland Scenics ground foam on one of their demonstration kits years ago, and it looked OK.  Since the new static grasses came out, I've use them exclusively.  But the static grass looks too uniform.  You can try adding other layers over it, but the layers look "stuck on".  Tom has showed us his techniques on his new layout, and I must admit, though I've "looked down on" the Woodland Scenics ground foams since the static grasses came out, it looks great!  He uses WS earth as a base, I wondered how it would look with my "dirt" a product from Scenic Express.  In the front of this picture, you can see the WS dirt on the right and the SE dirt on the left.  I think either looks good, but like the SE dirt better. 

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

Next up I added static gras over the base.  The static grass kinda made the under scenery disappear. 


Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

Another problem with the static grass is that I've been using 6mm length grass.  That comes out to over 20 inches in HO scale.  I need to use shorter grass.  Or trim it down, so it's not nearly as uniform.  This seemed to work well.  The first pic shows a figure in the trimmed down grass, the second in the tall grass. Making it less dense may help as well, I may try this next.



Jeff

[Powersteamguy1790]

Looking good Jeff. 2-3mm would be ideal

Stay cool and run steam...........

[cuse]

I mix a variety of lengths in the hopper to get a more natural look. I haven't modeled any fields or lawns that would be more consistent appearances. I use a variety of textures (including 3 WS colors of static grass-not out of the static grass machine, tea leaves, ground up twigs, minimal ground foam here and there...) and soak them all with glue/water mix...Then, I use the static grass right over the top...so it's not so critical to get thorough, dense coverage...I have all kinds of textures and subtle color changes beneath...also, all of this is over a layer of earth colored goop, which provides further color coverage and a little bit of irregularity of surface.


Good luck.


John

[S&S RR]

Jeff


Great thread.  I too have been experimenting.  I haven't come up with the exact formula I will use for the layout but here are a few conclusions I have made with what I have tried.  I will back this up with pictures - once I get the trains running.  I assured myself that I would not get sidetracked until I complete that goal. 


So here it goes:


1) Mix the static grass, both size and color.  I always try to use at least 3 colors and 3 different sizes - I use 2, 4, and 6 mm.


2) I have been putting the static grass down first and then adding other materials on top.  I didn't like hairy logs.


3) Just like with flocking trees, don't use to much.  The only place grass grows evenly is in my neighbors lawn.  At least that's what my wife says.


4) To me, static grass looks better in tuffs.


5) Wild grass grows high.  20 inches is not to high for wild areas. 


Anyway - that's my 2 cents worth for tonight.  I have to get this figured out - I have a lot of area that needs scenery. I will be following this thread with great interest.  When I get back on the scenery - I will post pictures of my experiments.

[ReadingBob]

It's been experimentation week here at The Empire.  First I tried Durham's water putty for an asphalt parking area.  It didn't offer any advantages over my usual spackle, and it was much harder to sand smooth.

They weren't kidding when they labeled it Durham's "Rock Hard" Water putty.  I tried it for a road once and ran into the same thing you did.     I do use it to add texture to paint though and for stucco as well.  For roads/parking lots I experimented with this stuff:


You mix it with a diluted white glue (50:50 mixture of white glue and water) until you get a consistency you like to work with.


I smeared a little white glue onto the surface where my 'test' street was going to go.


And then spread it on with an offset palette knife.


I scribed expansion joint into it when it dried.


After it dries you can soften it up a bit with a spray of water if need be.  I found you can sand it smooth if you didn't get it quite the way you wanted it initially.  It's got a textured surface to it grabs hold of chalks/powders like you wouldn't believe.  Tread lightly in that area. 

They also make an Asphalt mix which I have, but haven't tried yet.

My go to, after this, is still joint compound.

By the way.  Great thread.  I like seeing different approaches to ground cover, grass, debris, etc.   

[Zephyrus52246]

Thanks for the input, guys.  I gotta get me some of that concrete, Bob.  Here I used three different colors/heights of grasses in the static applicator.  It had an attachment to make a small opening the grass comes out of for better control. I used blobs of glue and didn't apply as much as usual.  Combined with the other ground cover I think this looks pretty good. 


Jeff