Hi anyone have any good ideas on what to use. was thinking maybe real dirt i think you have to put it in the oven for a few min. but is there a product i can get from like menards that looks good to use and more of it at a good price. thanks Ron
Ron
I use WHITE Play Sand (available at the Big Box stores) !
It comes in a 25 lb or so bags for about $3.00
It is already sanitized and sifted!
They do have other PLAY SAND that is BROWN and it is NOT sifted nor sanitized!
So be aware!
Once I put down the sand I cover it with ground foam of various colors and coarseness !
Glue/Water mix holds it down!
BOB H - Clarion, PA
LION used bricks once.
Yes, the brick walls were crumbling, and so LION gathered up a bucket of the stuff.
Put it on the layout, wet it down a little, add some ground cover, sprayed it with some glue and called it a day.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Dirt works. Yes, it is a good idea to bake it. I think a half an hour at 350 degrees is recommended, but not sure. Be sure to run a magnet over it, just in case it has some metal bits in it. I was amazed at the amount of metal I got out of some I used.
You can dye sawdust and use it like ground foam.
I use a tan/earth color paint over my base and sprinkle my first layer of ground foam onto that, saves gluing the first layer of scenery material on. Add more colors and textures in the future layers.
Depending on the size of your layout, I'd get a large jar/package of a basic color or two of ground foam. Get some smaller packages of various colors and textures to go along with it. Of course if you are doing a large layout (or are planning one) the larger packages are more cost effective. If you are only planning a 4x8 small packages will do, though you might need two for your most basic color/texture.
For trees you can use sedum, goldenrod and other plants. You can also get a package of poly fiber and stretch it very thinly over twigs, sprinkle on a little ground foam.
Have fun,
Richard
Ron,
Great question, and some good responses so far. I am not at the point for ground cover yet, but I spend alot of time thinking about it.
I have a couple of quart bottles of dyed sawdust made up and a few more gallons waiting to be dyed. I have done two different shades of green so far, but will need a lot more when I get to that stage. It takes some time to do it, most time is waiting for it to dry.
I am following your thread with interest, it will be nice if someone comes up with other ways to by ground foam that are not so pricey.
Aflyer
I've been wondering about how to spend as less possible on scenery, ground cover as is practical and still have it looking like it belongs there. Great tips great question.
I use real dirt and, call me particular, but it all has to come from a specific trail in the UP of Michigan. I sift it to get two different textures, run a magnet through it but have never baked it and have never had an issue. I will sift it onto wet paint and then spray it with dilute matte medium. I also use ground up leaves, small sticks, stones - basically anything that would work. There are several companies that offer packaged materials - mostly ground foam which I also use - but in my mind, nothing looks any better than the real thing.
There's never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.....
Why do you need to run a magnet through the dirt, as long as you are not using it for ballasting does it mater?
I'll leave it to others to answer the magnet question, but wanted to reinforce the idea of using natural materials. I "harvest" dead elm leaves and small twigs, and grind them up in a coffee grinder. I use dyed sawdust of 3 or 4 colors, and sometimes grind each of them separately as well, as even after sifting there are still unnatural sized pieces present. A recently discovered favorite is to combine the leftover small chunks of ground foam from making trees of several colors, and sprinkle them over glue or wet earth-colored paint. I think the ground leaf/twig mixture is very convincing because of the natural color and texture in HO scale. Picture to follow.
Wilton.
The "dirt" around the store is ground leaves and ground dyed sawdust. The small greenery in front of the fence is the combined leftover chunks of ground foam over wet glue. Hope this helps.
When you paint things like mountains, the more colours you use the better the finished product. I think the same holds true for ground cover. Real world landscape is covered by more things than you could count, so if you do the dogs breakfast on your layout (varying the mix here and there) it should look good.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I use a lot of natural dirt and rocks for ground cover. Painted plaster that shows through the vegetation doesn't look right to me, so I try to ensure I have a layer of something on top of it before adding grass and such. Various types of dirt and sand will work. Paver sand from the home center is a good option, and "play sand" works too if you don't have a convenient natural source.
I never bake the stuff, but I know that's popular with some of the kids these days.
Several different colors and grades of sand and rocks were used here. If you don't like the color of a particular natural material, you can dry-brush or airbrush it to change the color. I did that to lighten some of the larger rocks in this scene.
Rob Spangler
Rob
That looks really good. Another trick to use, especially on rocks is to use weathering powders.
Bis Why do you need to run a magnet through the dirt, as long as you are not using it for ballasting does it mater?
There is some thought that if there are metalic particles in the dirt they may get into the motors by being attracted to the motor magnetics. Personally, I don't think that is much of an issue but better to be safe than sorry. I do the magnet thing and then take care never to use real dirt within a few inches of the track itself.
Like everyone else, I use a variety of different materials to achieve the layered effect, which I think looks the best. For areas that are covered with grasses, tall weeds, and lots of green, I use this:
From a local Michaels store, and I separate into thin see-through sheets, and paint them different greens, for a base color, like this:
Then I cut to fit the area I want to cover, use a spray-on adhesive, then sprinkle with various grasses, foam, whatever I need for the area, seal it with hair spray, flip it over, put a heavy coat of spray glue on the back, and stick it to the area I want to cover, then add more details, to get this:
and this:
I use latex gloves, and pat the ground cover down, to make sure it sticks good to the painted foam sub-base. The hair spray keeps everything from sticking to your gloves, as you press it down.
My sub-base is pink foam, shaped, and smoothed out, and painted dark brown, so no pink shows through.
For gravel and dirt areas, I use, well..gravel and dirt. Actually washed mason sand makes good gravel.
Mike.
My You Tube
This looks good may have to try this out. I was looking at green filters at wallmart the other day. looks a lot like this. Thanks for all the help will try out all the ideas and see what works for me the best. Thanks again Ron.
Wilton,
That is a very nice scene, and I would have to agree your twigs and leaves and dirt are very convincing. I have to go know headed out to the garden to start harvesting!
Hi
There are many and varied brands of scatter and other products that can be used.
Also there is natures store of materials that can be used for ground covers.
It all comes down to two simple questions which is best for me to represent this
and which can I make work for me.
scenery is definitely not a one size fits all area of model railways I have seen really good results using both natural and man made products
Each has its merits and techniques to make it work my suggestion is experiment and find out which works best for you
Note some things like raw weathered wood and coal are best represented Ermm with wood and coal and, some things like water just don't look right and are just not suitable to the model situation.
all a case of finding out.
regards John
I just got some dirt from my daughter's yard to try. It is very sandy and clean and I should be able to sift it and get some nice grain size variations. But the color is a bit light. Is there an easy way to darken it up a bit?
Also, those that actually having experience with dirt and other natural materials- has anyone here ever actually experienced a problem with mold, etc? I've seen recommendations to bake dirt to sterilize it (as already discussed here a bit) but wonder if there really is a chance of problems or if this is complete overkill. Searching around on the internet I can't find anyone that actually had any problems without baking it.
A check with a magnet makes sense. I imagine the source of the dirt can influence how much iron may be in it.
Huntington Junction - Freelance based on the B&O and C&O in coal country before the merger... doing it my way. Now working on phase 3. - Walt
For photos and more: http://www.wkhobbies.com/model-railroad/
HObbyguyAlso, those that actually having experience with dirt and other natural materials- has anyone here ever actually experienced a problem with mold, etc? I've seen recommendations to bake dirt to sterilize it (as already discussed here a bit) but wonder if there really is a chance of problems or if this is complete overkill. Searching around on the internet I can't find anyone that actually had any problems without baking it.
I'm unaware of anyone having mold problems without baking the material either. Then again I live in a dry climate so it may be less of a concern here. I've been making extensive use of natural dirt and rocks for going on 30 years without baking it.
A check with a magnet makes sense.
I suppose it does if you're using the material for ballast, but I'm not sure about otherwise. I haven't checked my ground cover for magnetic particles, and have never had a problem with any of it getting into loco mechanisms or anything else. This doesn't mean you won't of course.
Although I haven't used it yet myself, but I know of a guy who uses a combination of peat moss & sawdust. I don't know what the percentage is of each, but I would imagine you can make it lighter, with more sawdust, or darker, with more peat moss. From what I have seen on his layout, it is very convincing, and I really liked it, so I plan on trying it on my layout.
Sam
i found that shifted dirt was too granular and out of scale. I think i tried rolling it to be finer.
So besides a mixture of colors and materials, i think you need to consider texture and granularity, which i guess is why some powders look better
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading