I'm a newbie having trouble creating a natural look to my basic ground cover that features a variety of textures, densities, and colors, similar to the foreground grass in this Grampy's Trains image from Photobucket:
I've tried successive applications of blends and textures but always end up with a jumbled mess, not with the distinct components in the foreground of the Grampy's work.
Could someone please post a step-by-step tutorial that assumes I'm one step from brain-dead? I've emailed Grampy but he hasn't yet responded.
(BTW, this is my first attempt to post an image; apologies if I didn't do it right. If so, the link to the photo is http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm237/GrampysTrains/?action=view¤t=P1010334.jpg)
Thanks.
Rick
There must be a zillion books, online topics, and posts here on Trains.com that cover scenery methods great and small. You could read them all, memorize them ad nauseum, and still never get the "ultimate" scenery look. That can only come by practice, practice and lots of mistakes.
My personal advice to you is that "less is more". Don't work trying to achieve an exact look, let the materials you are working with decide that for you. Do a little sprinkle of summer grass, then a dash of course fall color here and there. Now take a break for a day or two and then see how it looks. Add a bit of verticle- weed or bush- then take another break. I don't know how anybody can senic a layout effectively in one evening, I never could- it takes me many months of small additions to get it "just right". Remember it's easier by far to ADD than to TAKE AWAY and time is your friend not your enemy.
The Dixie D Short Line "Lux Lucet In Tenebris Nihil Igitur Mors Est Ad Nos 2001"
Here is what I do. Try to simulate nature if you can, and think about water and how it keeps things green, or the lack of it not as green. There are some ways that work for me. Ground foam is "stuff".
Dirt first. Very fine stuff.
Next is ballast, because you rarely see dirt on top of ballast.
Next comes the stuff that grows. Things grow from small to large, just like people. So the small stuff should be applied first, then work up to coarse stuff, and trees come last. Don't try to get a full covering except for the dirt. You can also vary the color of the dirt.
As for foliage colors, the new stuff is generally greener that the older stuff, so that means fine darker green first, but also add some lighter green too. Don't use all the same color for big stuff either. Some big stuff is really green, but don't over do it unless it just rained. If you are not planting a lawn, there are wild flowers around too, and ground foam that will simulate them. Use sparingly.
It is best to apply a lot of small coats of different types, colors, and sizes of stuff rather that one large one of the same stuff. As long as you have all the materials on hand, they can be applied and glued down at the same time. If you have a gully or depression, they are usually greener than other areas because they usually hold rain water longer.
The ground cover of a model RR is a model too, so proceed slowly, just like you would when assembling and painting a building. If I could get only one book on secenery, it wiuld be Dave Frary's Water Soluble Scenery book.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
Although photos of model railroads can give you inspiration, some of the best advice I've heard is don't model the model, model the prototype. If you model a railroad near you, do some railfaning and model some interesting areas. If not, just find some interesting scenic areas near you, photograph them from various angles and practice modeling them. When modeling the prototype you'll never be able to model every bush, tree, etc. With scenery, more often than not, you're after the, "feel," of the scene. Shoot for that.
Ray