I bought some light brown latex paint for ground foam. Just a few questions before getting started:
1. How many coats do I need on my pink styrofoam I am using for the sub-roadbed?
2. Should I thin the paint as Frary suggests in his book on scenery or go full strength?
3. Do you put ground foam on while the paint is still wet or use white glue after the paint dries in case you need a 2nd coat of paint?
4. How to avoid clumps with the ground cover? I thought to use a combo of different green shades in coarse texture with some fine texture mixed (pardon the pun!) mixed in.
Cheers,
Lee
When building the Longview Kelso & Rainier Ry. we used pink insulfoam. It was shaped and carved then texture paint was applied. The earth tone paint followed in two coats. Then the areas that were going to be covered with ground foam were painted with Elmers yellow glue thinned 25% with water. The ground foam was then applied while the glue was wet. A spray of water with a bit of liquid soap was then applied to draw up the glue through the ground foam. When dry a final spray of cheap hair spray was applied.
E-mail me and I can send photos.
On dioramas I put the paint on without diluting and add the foam, dirt etc. When dry I add what is needed with white glue or more paint depending on whats happening. Never find the paint holds larger shrubs though.
Latex paint covered my extruded foam (blue) in one coat. I thinned the paint with water about 50-50. Thinned paint was a little thicker than milk, as opposed to the raw out of the can paint being nearly as thick as sour cream. The thinned paint soaks in and colors cracks and joints.
I added the ground cover (dyed sawdust in my case,but ground foam ought to work about the same) right into the wet paint. I used three different colors (light, medium and dark green). I applied the sawdust with a sifter made from old window screen to break up the clumps. The use of three colors breaks up the otherwise artificial solid monocolor look.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
I use one coat of paint and apply the initial ground cover directly to the wet paint. I use a mix of Woodland Scenics Fine Turf - - a mix of Green Grass and Earth (3:2) - - and apply it right out of the shaker. I use the side of the shaker with the round holes and it is possible to evenly apply the mix and completely cover the wet paint. Then, I apply Coarse Turf, first Dark Green, then Medium Green, then Light Green. I wait a few hours for the paint to dry, then I spray "wet water" (water in a spray bottle with a few drops of liquid detergent) over the entire area. Then, I spray a mix of matte medium and water (1:1) over the entire area. After a 24 hour drying period, it looks great and stays in place.
Alton Junction
A slight diversion but I was just looking at some pix of a layout where they had painted the foam moderately dull GREEN. My fist thought was it was too much like the old Likelike "grass" mats but they wanted the layout ready for an open house fast so the green didn't seem like such a bad idea. Looked better than bare brown ground to me. FWIW.