My experiment in groundwork/scenery

[Gordon Ferguson]

Hi Chris, belated welcome.

Stay with it, we have all been there ......... I have had several memorable critiques of my work which have initially prompted the the sort of response you would expect from a Glaswegian ...... You know, violence can solve anything  

However taking a deep breath and looking back at the work most of if not all the comments have been valid, it helps dispel the danger of believing your own propaganda ........ you know something is not right but you think you will get away with it, my classic example of this was in my 4 in line trailer and a certain winch  

Anyway back to grass , you may find something useful here

In the middle of this thread are pics
http://www.finescalerr.com/smf/index.php?topic=1993.0

And if of interest, how it was done

http://www.finescalerr.com/smf/index.php?topic=1999.0

[compressor man]

Gordon,

Your grass looks fantastic and it exactly what I wanted to end up with. I am not in the UK and will be looking for a more local source for some of that type of fur. Do you happen to know of what material it is, I am assuming that it is a man-made material.

Thanks,
Chris

[Gordon Ferguson]

Chris,

Try a search under "Faux Fur" you should get some local suppliers who will stock a variety of types

Although I have not tried it Marc R. Came with a suggestion which is worth following up ...... Fishing Tackle shop, you need one that specialises in Fy Fishing lures , these guys use a lot of natural fur for tying flies and these places sell a lot of different furs many of which will be coarser hair, which I think may be more realistic

Let us know how you get on, other people's experiments, success or failures are a great source of learning for all of us

A man of many failures and a very full waste bin

[Malachi Constant]

Chris --

Ed (eTraxx) posted close-up photos of a variety of spices in this thread:

http://www.finescalerr.com/smf/index.php?topic=2115.0

I've played with oregano for leaves on an O scale diorama recently and found Marc's observations to hold true there ...

Also, I'm just getting started with a static grass applicator (some notes and pictures in that same thread).  I got an assortment of 6mm static grasses from "Aussie Scenics" (on ebay) -- those are about a foot high in O scale, which puts them at about 8-9" in 1/35 or 6" in 1/24 ...

Noch also makes 12mm static grass which is available from a variety of sources, for example:

http://www.sceneryexpress.com/products.asp?dept=1046&pagenumber=4&sort_on=&sort_by=

Keep rolling!  Also, read around the forum and you'll find that there are quite a few "sharp edged" (aka "smart ass") comments ... especially among and between the long-time regulars ... and if you really read thru the stuff and see what comes of it ... well, you'll really be glad when they start "letting you have it" ...

And, by then, your skin will be so tough, the mosquitos will literally bounce off ... which is an added benefit! 

Now ... go play in the mud!  Have fun & post more pix ...

Cheers,
Dallas

[Malachi Constant]

The pavers were really there just to take up space and be a 'foil' to the ground, they were basically just tossed there. I used no reference and had nothing in mind when I made them. The whole reason for doing this was to focus on the ground texture ...

Fully understand what you're saying about the pavers ... and the context there ... but, before I forget ... if you like Gordon's grass work (which is great!) ... you should see what he's done making cobblestones using ordinary air-dry clay:

http://www.finescalerr.com/smf/index.php?topic=549.msg30151#msg30151

I've tried it and found it quite "approachable" ... ie, easy to get similar results without a big learning curve!    -- Dallas

[compressor man]

Guys, thanks for all of the help that has been given over the last couple of days. Really appreciate advice from all of the really great talent that I see here. If anyone if curious, the ground/grass experiment was intended to go on this 1/32 diorama that I was working on a couple of years ago and have recently dug back out. I have never before made a really successful grass and dirt, etc job and wanted to pull out all of the stops for this project. Again thanks for the help.

Chris

[michael mott]

Chris
I am truly sorry you took my serious comment as being mean spirited, I can assure you I did not make it in any way as an insult or put down, I was truly trying to help with your experiment, I was being as observant as possible. As we work with a new idea we sometimes fall into the trap of not seeing the forest for the trees, and a comment from another modeler or a layman can trigger the thing we are trying to resolve.

At a local museum where there are some dioramas of the natural landscape with animals the grass looks as real as if were really growing. I asked the builder how that was achieves her response was the grass was cut from paper and painted and each blade was planted, I was stunned it was so simple and such an elegant solution, the material costs were tiny compared to the value that the time taken achieve the results.  As I read the comments that proceeded mine it was this long ago discussion that popped into my head. I thought it worth sharing, perhaps if I had shared the whole story, you would have understood why I made the comment.

The modelbuilders on this forum are a wonderful group of extremely observant and yes often nit picky to the 'N' degree, never once have I considered real criticism from them as mean spirited.

So again I am sorry that you thought mine was.

In the spirit of what this forum is all about Please have a second look at my comment while looking at the picture I referenced. I think you have a good Idea that needs a little more work.

Michael   

[compressor man]

Chris

In the spirit of what this forum is all about Please have a second look at my comment while looking at the picture I referenced. I think you have a good Idea that needs a little more work.

Michael   

Hi Michael,
IM sent. 

Chris