How-to make ground cover...

RonP

Member of the WMRC
Ok I have seen the question many times and wanted to prove something to myself and now you.

Ok this isn't a question it is an answer. Ok we made the ground cover with Sawdust. We used acrylic and water and a coffee can. Detailed instructions in the link. however for those that don't want to go it is terribly easy and I could not seem to screw it up.

Full article here
 

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RonP

Member of the WMRC
only difference I can see is the smell of wood. It is fluffy and doesn't get crusty at all like you would expect.
 

doctorwayne

Active Member
This may be a throwback to the earlier days of model railroading, but the colour and texture definitely shows it to be a step forward. A very useful and money-saving technique. :thumb::thumb:

Wayne
 

Triplex

Active Member
That first photo shows a better foliage texture than most foam scenery, to my eyes anyway. 1950s techniques still work!
 

ezdays

Out AZ way
I've got a bunch of sawdust that I dyed a long time ago using Ritz powdered dye. It didn't turn out nearly as good as what you've done. The colors I came up with didn't look natural, yours do. I really like your idea using watered-down acrylic paint.

A great tip.:thumb: :thumb:

Oh, you've convinced me to throw away all that old stuff that I have been hesitating to use, and try it your way.:wave: :wave:
 
That's definitely a return to the old school. For that matter, from the 1920s through probably the 1950s, Lionel used to sell dyed sawdust as ground cover, but it didn't look like that (when they were going for realism, Lionel's layout builders used something else).

The sawdust you made looks really, really good.
 

Go Big1

Member
This stuff looks great! Have you put it on a layout yet? I'm wondering how well it worked during the install, with using "wet" water and glue.
 

RonP

Member of the WMRC
This stuff looks great! Have you put it on a layout yet? I'm wondering how well it worked during the install, with using "wet" water and glue.

I'll take pictures, I combined it with other styles of ground covers. To be honest it looks different, and i need more time and use of it to give an opinion on that.
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
Thanks for sharing the old school tecnuque. I havent done much with sawdust in years, although I do take peat moss, run it through a blender to get my forest floor material.

the acrylic paint is a big improvement on the rit dye, which even if you get the color right, will fade over time. .


Bill Nelson
 

screen48

New Member
RonP- the thread is an old one but I am interested in the article.
The link does not work for me. Can this be updated?
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
old school method.

This was the way we did it before there was ground foam. My Momma taught me how to do this when I was eleven or twelve, working on my first sceniced layout. At the time Momma had me use Rit dye. this worked well, but the colors faded over time. Next time I have time, I will try to reproduce the method, only using acrylic paint to make up a stain, and see how that works.


A former co worker of mine used to get big blocks of foam packing, chew them up with a grinder with a wire wheel, and then spary paint the ground up pieces with and air brush. I never saw the results, but he claimed it looked teal good, and he worked in the body shop, and could paint a car, so I have no reason to doubt him.


I have a big pile of sawdust saved from the last time I refinnised a floor in my 130 year old farmhouse. perhaps the next time I get involved with a scenery project I'll do some of it old school, and share photo's. Ground foam is great. the sawdust is cheaper (if you have sawdust); and more importantly, it has a different look and texture, and the more textures we have on our pallet, the more convincing our results will be.


Bill Nelson
 
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