Ground Cover: How Do I Create A Natural, Variegated Look?

[fkrall]

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&current=P1010334.jpg) 

Thanks.

Rick

[tangerine-jack]

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. 

[gandydancer19]

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.

[rayw46]

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   

[Grampys Trains]

Hi Rick: Sorry I missed your e-mail, I've been away for the weekend. Here are the materials I used for this scene. I first painted my hard shell earth brown. Then I used the following WS foam: blended turf - earth blend, blended turf- green blend, fine turf - soil, coarse turf - med. green, fine turf - green grass, fine turf - dark green or weeds, fine turf - burnt grass, and static grass flock - burnt grass. I applied full strength white glue to about a 1 ft. long area. Then I sprinkled the above products (pretty much in the order I listed them) in random patches on to the white glue. After going through all the above products, I sprinkled the whole thing with a light coat of blended earth and blended green. I let it dry and vacuumed up and loose foam. Hope this helps and good luck.