Sawdust >>>> Scenery

[Anonymous]

I have heard that sawdust can be used for ground cover.
Can anyone out there please tell us the procedure.
For instance, when to use paint, glue. etc
Already searched the forums on sawdust without any luck.
TIA

[ukguy]

A few links you may find interesting Don

http://www.dansresincasting.com/Ground%20foam.htm

The next one explains sawdust.
http://www.nex.net.au/users/mjbd/Back_to_Basics.pdf

And the results this guy achieves with his sawdust
http://www.nex.net.au/users/mjbd/html/enterprise_logging.html
(tip:- click on the 'guest appearance' link on the left and go view some of the work displayed for inspiration.)

Have fun & be safe.
Karl.

[oleirish]

I worked at a mill and had two kinds of sawdust course an fine to work with,The way I did it was to get a pot of water boiling drop the sawdust in it with RITZ dye,then take news paper to sprad the mess on to and let it dry,comes out real good but takes a while to dry[^][:)]You got to keep moving it around while drying or you get clumps[:(]Sure makes a lot of ground cover[2c]

OLE'IRISH

[dehusman]

This is what we used to do in 1975 before ground foam was common.

Next we'll be back to Zip-texturizing.

Dave H.

[rrinker]

Yup, that's about when I last did that, had some huge coffee cans full of sawdust, made a HUGE mess with piles of newspapers and RIT dye, and ended up with big cans full of green sawdust for my HO layout at the time. A couple of years later when I built an N scale layout, I used ground foam. I'll bet if I dig around in my Mom's basement I might find a can of the green sawdust still around.

--Randy

[ndbprr]

This is what we used to do in 1975 before ground foam was common.


My 1930's MR's suggest the same thing. Done correctly it is a very good ground cover.

[ukguy]

Zip-texturizing ????

Excuse my ignorance
Karl.

[oleirish]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ukguy

Zip-texturizing ????

Excuse my ignorance
Karl.

[:)]Zip texturizing,I use it all the time,I take a coffie can,punch holes in the lid put texture in the can,wet an area with white glue an water mix and shake it out onto the area,[^]That is zip textureing.[8D]

OLE'IRISH

[CNJ831]

QUOTE: Originally posted by oleirish
Zip texturizing,I use it all the time,I take a coffie can,punch holes in the lid put texture in the can,wet an area with white glue an water mix and shake it out onto the area,[^]That is zip textureing.[8D]

Actually, created by Linn Westcott back in 1965, Zip texuring was a lot more complicated than that. As originally proposed, you started out with your bare (sometimes precolored) plaster terrain, wetted it down, and added fine layers of various dry pigments, washes of colored dyes, sifted soil/dirt, shaker applied flock/sawdust,ground foam, with intermitent further spray applications or washes of water or stains to create the impression of erosion. All this was done sequentially during a single work session, so that you went from bare plaster to essentially finished scenery without interuption in a very short span of time.

Although this technique works just as well with modern scenicking products, I think more often today modelers do the various stages of scenery in separate sessions.

CNJ831

[tsasala]

Was it Linn Westcott or Bill McClanahan?

[jkeaton]

Older MR scenery books, like Bill McClanahan's, have instructions for making and using dyed sawdust - and sometimes it still turns up for sale, if not on the MR counter of the hobby shop, then in the military modelling or wargaming scenery sections. (These two groups, unlike some in the MR world, don't just abandon the older techniques for the new and trendy - they blend the best of both together. Perhaps that's why military modellers so often achieve stunningly realistic results...). I find that dyed sawdust makes a good complement to ground foam - the difference in textures helps scenery, especially woodland scenes, look more realistic - Mother Nature uses an amazing variety of textures, and so should we.

Jim
Ottawa

[CNJ831]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tsasala

Was it Linn Westcott or Bill McClanahan?

Re the origin of Zip Texturing, it was Linn Westcott. I pulled the relvant issue just to be sure before I posted yesterday.

CNJ831.

[AggroJones]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dehusman

This is what we used to do in 1975 before ground foam was common.

Next we'll be back to Zip-texturizing.

Dave H.

Doesn't the mighty Eric Brooman use sawdust in areas of his scenery?
Saw dust is useful in some applications.

[Anonymous]

sawdust is just one more texture.....it can range from quite coarse, to powder. Frary suggest using it before the ground foam...layer over layer seems to give a nice varied texture to scenery...use all of the materials....i still do a bit of zip-texture, sawdust, foam , real dirt etc etc

[Medina1128]

For variety, I have a parmesan cheese container that I use for an applicator. I have a couple of those gallon ice cream containers to store foam and sawdust. One with foam, another with sawdust (the other great thing having your own table saw. When I'm ready to texture an area, I brush on a liberal coat of diluted white glue, then sprinkle the texture on. When it looks close to like what I want, I wet it with wet water (water with wettting agent). Photo-flo works great, and you don't get the bubbles like you do with detergent.

[cheese3]

how exactly is the saw dust colored. In the link provided by ukguy it just says what they used to dye it. Did they color it after it was applied or what? I am so confused.

[pcarrell]

The dye colors it.

[cheese3]

QUOTE: Originally posted by pcarrell

The dye colors it.

I know that, what is the process in wich it is colored?

[jxtrrx]

After following this thread, I decided to try the sawdust idea. Cheese3, the Rit Dye comes as a powder in a small envelope. It takes very little of it to color a huge amount of sawdust. I found that adding LOTS of hot water to the powder, allowing it to dissolve, then mixing the dye/water mixture into the sawdust does the job. I then dried it in the hot Colorado sun. My first batches we too "colorful." Go for more subdued tones (less powder, more water). I really like the look of it on my layout. Lots of texture. I made two green shades and a yellow... then did add some Woodland Scenics ground foam in a darkeer green over the top very lightly which gave a nice fini***o it. I had read in some Model Railroading book along the way that sawdust was a bad choice for ground cover, and so had avoided it til reading this thread. Am glad I tried it. Love the look. Love the price.

[Medina1128]

Fireman had mentioned a powdered sawdust. When it's real powdery, I like to use that for dirt roads. Perfect texture, and just about the right color too (very light tan). A good source of sawdust is a lumber store. If you don't have a table saw, I'll be they'll let you come in an sweep up for them.

[Anonymous]

Use the liquid RIT Dye. Its easier to work with. Just pour it in.