MisterBeasley wrote: DavidP1013 wrote: I'm thinking we're just rushing. For a balanced offense, you've got to mix in a few passes with all that rushing. Makes the game more exciting, too.
DavidP1013 wrote: I'm thinking we're just rushing.
For a balanced offense, you've got to mix in a few passes with all that rushing. Makes the game more exciting, too.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Thanks for all the help guys.
We are going for the American football field(NCAA College to be exact) look. We want a table that is original for when we go tailgating at the football games.
We have used primer on the plywood as well as a coat of green paint. I'm thinking we're just rushing. Thanks again for all the suggestions.
MisterBeasley wrote: orsonroy wrote: I'm assuming that your comment, "Looks like a football field" is a bad thing, Funny, I took it the other way. So, are you trying to make a football field, or not? And is it American football, Canadian football, Australian football or maybe even soccer?Please post pictures of the cheerleaders when you're done, OK?
orsonroy wrote: I'm assuming that your comment, "Looks like a football field" is a bad thing,
Funny, I took it the other way. So, are you trying to make a football field, or not? And is it American football, Canadian football, Australian football or maybe even soccer?
Please post pictures of the cheerleaders when you're done, OK?
Hey! You missed out Gaelic Football! Worse you missed out the two real games - League and Union... I surely don't have to mention the significant word "Rugby"?
Is this field supposed to be before or after the match? If your players have the correct shaped ball it could easily end up more like a ploughed field.
Just had a truly awful thought... you're not looking for an under-heated Astroturf field are you?
A very interesting take on the OP Orsonroy. I like it Even if it isn't what was being asked about it answers some stuff for me!
Just one thing... shouldn't weeds be lighter than the surrounding grass?
I'm assuming that your comment, "Looks like a football field" is a bad thing, and that you want it to look more like an open, overgrown field. To make bare plywood look like something more than a ping-pong table, you need to add both texture and scenery.
For texture, the simplest thing to do is to slap down some drywall compound. This generally goes against my general advice of adding foam on top of plywood and carving it to a desired shape, but it sounds like the layout is already up and running, and carving the edges of foam doen to meet the plywood base layer evenly is VERY hard to do effectively. Adding the joint compound isn't hard, and you shouldn't think about the process to much while ou're doing it. Thinking too much will likely result in terrain that's too even and unnatural looking. Just slap down irregular patches of the stuff where you don't want flatness, shape them into naturally curving mini hills, and let it all dry. Remember to vary the size, shape, and slope of the blobs of compound, so the effect looks better than an assortment of upside down grapefruit halves.
Adding the scenery takes a little more effort, and will stretch out over a period of days. Of course, most of that time will be the material drying, since adding the material really doesn't take a whole lot of time. Here's how I add base scenery:
Once done, you should have an area that's got a lot of texture, color and character.
Ray Breyer
Modeling the NKP's Peoria Division, circa 1943
There are a lot of different techniques. This works for me, but I work with pink foam as a base:
Paint the surface. For a football field, it will be mostly green. I would add some light brown streaks up the middle (end zone to end zone) where most of the play would be, wearing down the grass. (Look at a real natural-turf field. A high-school field will do to get the pattern. Take a picture for reference, while you're there. A lot of us use pictures of the real thing when building our models.)
Once the paint is dry, mix up a bunch of "scenic cement." This is Elmers and water. I use about 1/3 Elmers to 2/3 water. I have an old Elmers bottle, long since emptied, that I use for this. I've got a gallon jug of hardware-store-brand white glue, which is generic Elmers. Shake well to get it mixed up.
Squirt some of this glue on the surface. Spread it evenly with an old paintbrush. I try to only to about a square foot at a time. I use about a half-inch brush, but my work is more detailed. I'd suggest a 1-inch brush for what you're doing. Now, while the glue is still wet, sprinkle on the grass. I like Woodland Scenics grass (green turf) in the big 1-quart shaker bottle for this. Again, I do my work in small areas, so I apply it with my finger tips, but for a large space you can use the shaker bottle. Put the green grass where you've painted it green, and use something like "brown fine turf" where it's brown. Don't worry about "staying inside the lines" on the paint colors. The uneven edges will look more natural anyway. You can sprinke multiple turf types in the same area to get a mix of shades.
Next, let it dry. You might want to gently take a vacuum cleaner (no brush, just pass the hose over the top) to the field the next day. This should pick up the loose stuff, but leave most of the grass firmly glued in place.
Finally, get a model of Bill Belichick with a video camera, and you'll be done!
If you're getting bald patches I'd sack the ground staff and hire a new crew!
Sounds like you're using a floq or other powder.
If you haven't done anything to prepare the surface of your ply the most likely problems would seem to be that the wood is absorbing the water out of the glue too fast in at least some places, you are attempting to work too large n area at one time or both.
I would at least try priming the ply with (probably) a (green) waterbased emulsion paint. Choose the right green and any baldness won't show up so much anyway.
I would guess that you might be getting a problem with some of the floq not sticking because the glue isn't wet enough... which ties in with the ply drying it to fast... hmm, I think you said you were using a spray glue... can't do much about that... For the spreadable glues try looking at the threads on ballast laying and note the comments on wetting the track first with "wet" water (water with either detergent or alcohol added in tiny proportion to break the surface tension).
You might find that just dampening the ply helps... or makes matters worse... it will almost certainly make the setting time longer.
Or just work small areas...
Hope this helps.
Please let us know what your best results are.
PS if nothing works, paint the bald bits brown and blame it on awful weather
PPS It just occurs to me... if you paint the ply you might think about marking out the white lines (is this real football or the Ameircan kind?) these should not only show through the "grass" to give you a good guide for painting the grass but give depth to the finished effect.
Then again, if you are using a floq, you might be able to get a white floq powder (for snow scenes). If you use something like the Tamiya masking tape (for striping model race cars) you could mark out the lines in tape before you spread/sprinkle the glue and green grass... then peel up the tape and carefully go round with the white stuff to mark the lines...
This should be fun... like detailing track ballast...
Hi all,
A friend and I are building a table that looks like a football field. We're using the grass that you guys use for your model trains, and we're running into difficulty making the grass stick to the wood. It is just a sheet of plywood. We got some spray on glue hoping that would work, it does an okay job, but it seems to leave patches where the grass doesn't stick so well. I was wonder what you guys suggest to make the grass stick to a flat surface.
Thanks a bunch.