I use thinned artist acrylics for my base coat, since I'm modeling an area of the Sierra Nevada where the ground is infused with a lot of vari-colored clay. Usually a 'water-color' mixture of umber, light tan, orange, red and ochre, slapped on with a large paint-brush. Works okay for me.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
I used an light brown (earthtone) flat latex interior paint cut about 50:50 with water to let it soak in properly. While the paint was still wet I sprinked green dyed sawdust (HO scale grass) onto it. Where the grass got a little thin, the earthtone showed thru looking like bare dirt. Pleasing effect.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
I've tried both tans and greens under my grass and I like the tans a lot better. In life, green grass grows on tan/brown dirt. You can get large bottles of tan/brown craft paint for around $2. This way you can pick the exact color you want.
I find that large flat areas look very unrealistic without some texture to them. One advantage of pink/blue foam is that you can carve it to get gullies and ditches to relieve the flatness. I also take scraps and glue them on above the nominal "surface" line to get more uneven terrain. Even so, the fine-scale surface is too flat, so I like to skim-coat everything with Gypsolite. It's a gritty-textured plaster. It's a light gray in color, so I squirt in some cheap dark brown craft paint, and the result is a light tan. After it dries, I use a wash of olive green in a camouflage pattern, and finally add my ground cover. The result is far more convincing than simply painting over a flat, smooth surface.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Yea on mine I plan on using light brown or tan.
I'd suggest using a color that resembles the dirt that's found in the area that you're modeling. Light brown, tan, dark brown.....what does the dirt look like on the prototype? I found a gallon of 'Oops' paint at Home Depot for $5.00 that was a dark tan color.
Don Z.
Research; it's not just for geeks.
i was wondering what is the best colour of paint to you on your foam before and add your grass and trees and what ever