Grassland and flock

[Woodie]

All,

Next one... I've just attemepted to "grass" some area of landscape. Using coloured flocks and sprinkling on PVA glue. QUestion. How much flock, and how much glue should I use? Just a thin layer? then thin sprinkle? Or heaps of glue, and get the flock to soak it all up till the glue shows through? I found that just sprinkling it on the glue and letting it dry, you can just brush it all off again. Should I use a press or fingers to press it into the glue? When dry, should it feel rough and solid, or still soft like the original product? No probs with the way it looks, or colour combinations etc. Just a method to get it to stick.

Thanks,

TOOT!

 

[shamus]

Woodie,
Brush on the 50/50 water/woodglue first, sprinkle on grass, let it dry, then do it again three or four times. Go to the garden and grab some dead leaves, put them in the grinder/mixer with a little water and grind to a pulp. Dry it out (I do mine in the microwave) and brush on some glue to your grassed area and sprinkle the dead leaves on. Amazing how it will look.

 

[Woodie]

Shamus,

Thanks. I was trying to to it all at once. Should I brush off the excess each time I repeat to laying? And the dead leaves idea as well. Just what I needed for bush litter. It's all for bush undergrowth and areas like that, not manicured household lawns.

TOOT!

 

[shamus]

Hi woodie,
This photo might help you with your undergrowth. After the stages of appling the grass and leaves, add JUNK to it.

 

[kf4jqd]

Woodie:

Remember this: Mother Nature is not perfect! In other words. You can't get this wrong!

Here is what I use. I use Mountain Scence folage. I put it into a spice shacker. If I want added color. I just add a different color folage into the shacker. Then I shack it.

I then take 50/50 glue and spray it on the area I want. Then I take an old paint brush to even it out. I take the shacker and sprinkle it about. If I want more in an area. I just add more.

This is very easy to do.

Good luck,

Andy

 

[Drew1125]

Hi Guys!
I'm curious about something - I keep seeing the word "flock" - Is this ground foam? Or is it some type of poly fiber?
I am also not familiar with PVA glue?
Anyway, one thing you want to remember for making good looking ground cover is to use several textures in several layers. (DO NOT brush anything off!) Jut keep repeating the steps. wet the area, flood it with diluted (50/50) adhesive, & add more texture. A perfect example of this is Shamus's photo. Notice how some areas are exposed earth & rock, while others are covered with brush & tall grass. This is what you want to shoot for.
Whatever you do, try to avoid that "Plywood Prarie Golf Course" look.

[This message has been edited by Charlie (edited 04-27-2001).]

 

[shamus]

Hi Charlie, Flock might be a UK terminology, anyway it's the grass that is sold by Woodland Scenics in Pkts. Medium/light/forest green etc. Very fine stuff, not the static grass which stand up when puffed out of a bottle after the bottle has been shaken. (BUT NOT STIRRED)

 

[Woodie]

kewl. That's the sort of technique ideas I'm after. Do I need to flood with glue? 50/50 mix or not? do it in layers? All at once? etc etc. I'm using the Woodlands scenic stuff, of different shades of green, and browns, together with the "forrest mix". The Aussie outback ground cover is not necessarily green. Ususally dead and brown from drought.

TOOT!

 

[shamus]

Hi Woodie,
No need to flood it, just brush on as if you were painting a door. I use a 1" brush for the 50/50 water/white woodglue and make sure everything where I need to put grass is covered.
Have fun

shamus

 

[Drew1125]

Woodie, I'll just explain what I do myself -
1.)Paint the area with earth colored latex paint.
2.)While the paint is still wet, sprinkle on sifted dirt, or sand, which will stick to the wet paint.
3.Spray the area with wet water (about 6 drops of liquid detergent to roughly 32oz. of water)
4.)Cover the area ("flood" might be too strong a term) with diluted white glue (50/50 glue & water) then sprinkle on some fie ground foam (I prefer a yellowish color for this first layer.)
5.)Repeat steps 3 & 4 as much as you want, increasing the coarsness of the ground foam, & adding some color as you go.
6.)Put some drops of full strength white glue in places, & place logs, rocks, tall grass, or other details.

 

[Woodie]

Thanks guys for your advice and guidance. What I have done so far is very similar to what you recommend. I have built up my layout to represent the sandstone that is typical of the surrounds of Sydney and the Blue Mountains. To do this I used polysytrene fruit & vegie cases broken into pieces ($1 each from the local fruit & vegie shop) I then covered this with plaster bandage and pressed it hard against the pieces to give a layered and strata look. I then painted on a thick mixture of plaster coloured with yellow oxide artist acrylic paint. This gives the basic colour of fresh sandstone. I then brushed on a very thin wash of red oxide acrylic paint to bring out the grain of weathered sandstone. Next was a thin wash of burnt umber to weather it further, and get the look of water run off stains. Next was a dabble of black wash to tone the colours down. This gives me a good rock base to work with. I then brushed a think layer of PVA glue through the depressions of the rocks, leaving the rasied areas exposed of course. Using different colours of flock from sandy coloured through to the greeens etc, I spinkled it all on in the natural layers from the sand first moving up to the greens etc. Also using different grades of flock from the fine to the course lumpy stuff. I then pressed all this down into the glue to make sure it was going to stick. Finally sprinkled a layer on top to finish it off, and then sprayed with water to wet it thoroughly. Let it dry and VOILA! good ground cover that has stuck, and allows me to brush it clean of dust etc without any of the surface coming off. I'll post some pics later today when I get a new scanner (cause the last one blew up). Again thanks guys.

TOOT!

[This message has been edited by Woodie (edited 04-29-2001).]

 

[Woodie]

Yep. They're there. Posted some new pics. They are of about a week ago, and I've done a bit more since then. But hopefully, will give you all and idea of where I am up to. I've set aside a "test corner" of the layout to try and test techniques out.

http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~niceboys/april1.htm

TOOT!

 

[Shay2]

Hello All,
Charlie, Flock is a generic term and is sold under that name by Woodland scenic's and other manufacturer's. Almost any good Hobby Shop carries it in the U.S.A. They sell it in several different textures. Coarse, Medium and Fine. I use the coarse for background, on trees and mountain areas. The Fine stuff I use for basic ground cover with several different shades of green spread randumly and some light and dark brown colors mixed in to represent burnt grass areas around the tracks.
The Glue is just plain old Elmers wood glue or carpenters glue as most refer to it. (I guess your not suppose to mention brand names or something) I think it works great for just about any application as far as scenery is concerned. Mix it 50/50 for flocking or full strength where you think you need it. I always "set" everything with unscented hair spray, when the glue has dried, then I vacuum anything thats loose off the layout. I have a cheap shop vac, one of those one gallon size units that I only use for flock applications. That way, anything I vac up I can reuse again, even though I may have several colors mixed in the tank, I can always use it for fill someplace.

Rich

------------------
Rush Run River Logging Co.

 

[shamus]

Woodie my friend, looks good for starters, now the fun begins adding the little details to it like weeds/long grass/odd tree stumps/leaves from the garden (Ground-up) etc. Then after that, you will think of something else to add. Great Fun.
shamus

 

[Drew1125]

Thanks for the clarification Rich.
It sounds like you & I went to the same school, we just use different terminology.
That's interesting how you utilize the shop-vac. I've got a large plastic mixing bowl that I shake off all my excess scenery materials into. I jokingly refer to it as the "debris bowl". It's very handy to have.