Hello,
I am starting to develop my model rail layout.
I am basing it on the area west of Sydney (around Kingswood).
What I am looking for ground scenery similar to that kind of area, the light brown soil with with tufts of grass.
I am thinking minatur for the tufts, but what do you all suggest for the light brown soil - an underlay mat or artificial loose soil? can anyone suggest who produces this kind of mat or loose soil?
Thanks.
I lived in the west for pretty well all my life in Sydney, at Mt Druitt for the last 10 prior to moving. A couple of things to consider first up, 1: what era are you looking to model? If modern/today then you have no issues with how to get photo's of the scenery around the area.
The section of track from Blacktown right through to Penrith has dramatically changed over the years, with the amount of developments & suburban sprawl. The sports areas are relatively new but certainly in the last 20 years were developed, prior to that it may well have been very different.
2 Soil colour. Get a small sample of the soild you want to match, around a 500gr tub full, but get a fine sifter & sift the soil into the tub, then see how the colour of sifted soil matches the normal soil you may be surprised at the difference. Glue some of the sifted sand onto a thin piece of card or spare styrene, once dry take to a colour matching paint source & get a sample pot of that colour & try it out on a section of ply that you would be using for the baseboard.
It may be a bit fiddly but the best way to match the ground colour, this is what a local modeller with a very large layout has done for his layout to enable him to match the scenery area of his layout. Once he was happy he now uses that paint over the terrain & up to the ballast area of his layout.
Once the paint is on, you could sprinkle ground foam over the damp paint & it acts as a glue.
As for the tuffs, do some online searches before just picking one brand, will the minatur tuffs & other items a good they are not cheap & there are other options out there. Check out the range from
http://scenicexpress.com/ but watch the postage if ordering. The eco packs are excellent products as is the price.