how to Grass on the side of Mountain? anyone

J

joe ramirez

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Nov 26, 2004
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attathed is the side of my mountain, I was wondering if any modelers have devised a plan to get turf on the side of a mountain that is already attached to the plywood? I have tried throwing it at the side but that is just not cutting it, I tried to put it in my hand and blow it to the side of the mountain, (maybe I should have bought that manual after all
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) thinking out loud.

 

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In my part of the mountains, what you have shown is close to what I see. Those extreme slopes would have had any soil washed away long ago, if any could have clung to it after the glaciers carved them 10,000 years ago.

I form my cliff faces, paint and color them, and give a final coat of clear spray or matte medium. While wet, I slowly pour real, sifted dirt down the face. The areas flat enough to catch soil gets coated and the steep areas sheds it. I vaccuum up the excess dirt and the areas on the cliffs that have enough dirt gets some vegetation. The steep areas where the rock shows through are too steep to support plant life.

This formula seems to work well enough in nature that I'm happy with it on my layout.

Wayne
 
Well, keep in mind that real grass doesn't stick too well to real vertical cliffs either!

A steep cliff so close to the tracks would probably be a cut--rather than trying to put grass on the wall, why not simulate a rough rock face? From the look of things all you'd need is some paint and maybe a couple of rock castings or some Sculptamold.
 
Wayne, I have no mountains here just over passes that go really high in the sky.
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I was thinking that it looked realistic but as I was excited to see the board come to life I wanted everything green. Guys here I have attached a side view of the cliff, I like the natural formation of the plaster cloth, so I should paint it a light grey or leave that earth color?
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reclaiming excess

the bottle of turf tells me to pour and then reclaim the excess turf, what is the best way to reclaim it, I mean I paid for it right I claim the right to reclaim it. Seriously what is the best way?
 
joe ramirez said:
the bottle of turf tells me to pour and then reclaim the excess turf, what is the best way to reclaim it, I mean I paid for it right I claim the right to reclaim it. Seriously what is the best way?
Click to expand...
One of them small hand vacs. (dust buster) Fred
 
joe ramirez said:
so I should paint it a light grey or leave that earth color?
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I'd start with a light gray base, but first I'd take a close look at the rock formations in the area you're modeling. Even in an area with no mountains (how can anyone live with no mountains???) there shoud be rock cuts or short cliffs where you can get an idea of the colorization. One thing that's almost universal, even in the flatlands, rock cuts, cliffs and canyon walls never have a uniform color. So if it's safe to start with a light grey base coat, some reddish tints, black streaks, etc will highlight the rock face. A thin wash of "inkahol" will go a long way towards giving it some depth.

Wayne
 
Dash10,
Suppose that I don't have one of those hand vacs but I needed a free way to get the excess, I tried a rub with the finger that worked but then the excess looked like clusters and not all fine like it was prior to use.
What do you think?
 
wayne,
I live in Houston, Texas and we don't have any mountains, hills, cliffs or anything that resembles a hill side, just those freeway under and over passes. As far as what I am modeling, No clue just thought it would be nice to have a mountain for the train to go through. On the opposite side is going to be the coal mine where the people go to work. But I get the idea I can look at some pics on the net and go from there thanks for the advise. What you don't see in the picture is the soon to be farm land and downtown area, already paved for construction, but need to put the grass down first. I also have a lake for the locals to go fishing. My girlfriend lisa, is laughing as I type this stuff cause she thinks ya'll will think I am crazy, but ya'll are modelers, they'll understand I tell her.
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Joe
 
I had relatives near Norfolk, Virginia and and the highest point in their area was called Mount Trashmore. Yep, it was a park they built on top of an old garbage dump. I'd hate to see the color of a "rock cut" through that mountain.

Tell Lisa we're all a little crazy. Most of us just build a little piece of "normalcy" in miniature to remind us.

Your mountain, standing as it does on relatively flat land, looked to me like it had a volcanic rather than upheaval & glacial origins as our mountains do. Take a look at this site for examples of the Davis Mountains in western Texas. http://www.cdri.org/Discovery/News.html It may give you some ideas. Some pretty interesting geology there.

Wayne
 
About the only way to collect the stuff short of a hand vac would be to tilt the layout on its side onto some pieces of newspaper.

There would also be a big pile of talus at the base of such a cliff--cliffs tend to drop rocks, which gather at the bottom of the hill. You can use Kitty Litter or any small, rough stones to simulate that. Color as suggested above--start with brown or gray or deep red or tan, and add splashes of different shades, then go over the whole thing with an ink/alcohol wash to bring out the highlights.
 
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