On flat scenery my methods of adding turf or grass is to spread down some white glue, sprinkle on the scenery particles, then let dry and vacuum or brush leftovers. When it come to vertical scenery, what is the best method to do this being there is a gravity problem. I was thinking of modifing a type of airbrush where I can spray it on the wet glue. Another thought I had was to sprinkle the scenery on a plate, then blow it on the surface with a blow gun. Any ideas would be appreciated.
I like your plate idea. I'm not sure what you would need a grass effect for on a vertical surface, but I've done the illusion of distant trees, brush, etc., by sticking foliage to the back drop with the tacky glue. It's still there after 8 or 9 years.
Maybe you can brush on the adhesive, or use a spray type adhesive such as 3M, instaed of an air brush.
Or maybe you could pre-finish some type of matt material, like this:
Sepetated into thin sheets, and painted like this:
And covered with the grass of your choice, and then glue that to the vertical surface.
The above is what I used for general, all-over ground cover, textured with grasses, etc., and then glued to a painted base.
Just some thoughts,
Mike.
My You Tube
willy6 blow it on the surface with a blow gun
Pneumantic compressor or Amazon poison dart gun?
Gerry Leone's trick for getting ground foam close to buildings and such is to put it on a piece of paper, folded down the middle and blow it parallel to the fold, with the now, politically incorrect, soda straw. Probaby not allowed in California.
For truly vertical surfaces, I think of rock rather than grass, or bits of follage
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Yah the left out here in California has gone a bridge too far in my opinion. That being said, what do you mean by virtical, like on the backdrop or vertical stuff on rock formations. For backdrops I allow an inch so that I can put hills etc. made out of carved foam covered in plaster cloth and then sceniced off the layout laying the peace horizonaly depending on the material and the look I am after. For vines and stuff on rock faces the blow meathod works great on white glue.
I see lots of "alternatives" straws are popping up in stores. I seen a neat assortment of supposedly stainless steel "straws", that I just had to have, for uses other than straws.
But I digress.
RR_Mel
York1 John
I brush on straight white glue, then apply the scenery material by folding a 3x5" index card. Put some scenic material in the fold of the card, then apply it by softly blowing through a coffee stirring straw. When the glue sets up, I then dribble diluted white glue on it.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
mbinsewi I like your plate idea. I'm not sure what you would need a grass effect for on a vertical surface, but I've done the illusion of distant trees, brush, etc., by sticking foliage to the back drop with the tacky glue. It's still there after 8 or 9 years. Maybe you can brush on the adhesive, or use a spray type adhesive such as 3M, instaed of an air brush. Or maybe you could pre-finish some type of matt material, like this: Sepetated into thin sheets, and painted like this: And covered with the grass of your choice, and then glue that to the vertical surface. The above is what I used for general, all-over ground cover, textured with grasses, etc., and then glued to a painted base. Just some thoughts, Mike.
What paint do you use on polyfill? Spraypaint? I haven't had much luck coloring it.
Gary
Yes, spray paint. I give it a coule coats, from each direction, and I might mix in another green or two, just for contrast.
I used the camo stuff, and flat paints. After the paint drys, I use the spray adhesive to add different ground cover textures, and then use the same spray adhesive to fasten the pieces to the layout. All of the basic ground cover on the lay out I did using this.
I cover good sized areas at a time. After that, the srubs, trees, etc., etc.
I have recently aquired a static grass applicator, and I'm anxious to play with it, and add more ground effects. I haven't used it yet, on any of the lay out.
My layout is mostly flat, but for my small vertical spaces I like rock castings. I have some of Hydrocal, but lately I have been using Bragdon foam castings, although those are more time consuming. They do look great and they're very light weight.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Henry, Mike, Mel,
All your scenes look great!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Such helpful tips! The suggestions here are beneficial to me since I have vertical rock croppings and hiils to replicate southern VA. That area is very pretty, but a challenge to model. I like replicating the scenery using straw parts to blow the grass and ground foam around.
Thanks Dave.