Wieland - Scenery Progresses

A few weeks ago, scenery was going forward at a furious pace. Then, our DIY static grass applicator died. Electronics simply gave up and it was clear the cause was the cheap chinese components used to build it in the first place. This applicator was built about two years ago and saw less than 5 hours of use in that amount of time. This unfortunate event meant a forced hiatus that wasn't scheduled.

Green grass is mainly visible along the drainage ditch

However, I could take pictures of a step I rarely document here: how I prepare my ground cover.

Applying grass isn't a straight forward single action but rather the addition of several layers. Except if you want that clean and even look of a tidy green carpet.

Grass often dies quickly near switches due to pollution and drainage

I always start studying prototype pictures before committing to scenery. It's too easy to assume how things are and miss the subtleties of nature.

Before even applying grass, I generally paint a generous coat of brown latex paint to cover the ground. It blends everything together and provides a sound foundation for further scenery work. At this point, I will generally sprinkle some small rocks, debris and other similar junk to provide some roughness to the soil. While not visible under the grass cover, these elements will later provide some texture in the grass, making it more realistic.

The locomotive shed track is poorly maintained and dead grass is plenty.

A first step is generally to add white glue blobs along the ballast where grass has a hard time growing and dies. Tuffs of static grass are then dabbed into the wet glue and let to dry. I don't use an applicator since this dead grass is rarely standing perfectly upright. With the help of photos, I also repeat the same treatment in other areas where dead grass is expected. A rule of thumb would say that higher elevations and spots where water gets drained quicker are generally prone to be yellowish.

The transloading track is also another spot of neglect

After that, I repeat a similar step but this time using quite bright green grass (generally a Spring mix made by Noch is my memory serves me right). This time, still using pictures, I identify spot where grass is much greener. Mainly along the bottom of ditches, but also here and there in a quit of random pattern based of topography.

It is not rare at this point I'll sprinkle greenish ground foam over the new grass but also unscenicked areas. This add texture and relief, further enhancing the idea the grass cover is made of several layers of vegetation. This ground foam looks like very small plants and can truly bring life and color to the final results.

Highway ditches are generally well watered and vegetation thrives there

It must be noted I apply the dead and green grass tuffs before I applying the overall layer of static grass because these colors are quite garish and contrasted. The future layer will tone down the contrast and blend everything together. Later, dead leaves, vegetal debris and weeds will complete this blending into something compelling.