Wes, for bushes I've used broken pieces of Super Tree material.

Wes I don't remember what era or local you are trying to model. Get or take pictures of what you are trying to model and try to model what you see in the pictures. In HO I model the local area so I have sifted local soil for my scenery base. The weathering of the structures will refect that same soil colour. I went down to the local railway and took pictures around the tracks. I realized that the ballast, track, ties, plants and everything in the area were gungy. In the steam era that I model the soot would have been everywhere. Indeed colour pictures of the period reflect that point. What month of the year are you modeling? Here in our area we have four seasons so the vegetation in the spring is very green while in late summer there are a lot more tans and browns in the vegetation.

On the ON30 Dolly Varden layout we used pictures from the book on the railroad. Went on the web and looked at current pictures of which there are very few. But what we did notice is that everything looked wet. (they get over 200 days of rain there) there is low foliage and full size ever greens . The rock is very sharp and angular and is very black with hints of mutted pink. Around the buildings there is debris everywhere and hundreds of steel barrels line the right of way.

I hope this helps.

Wes,

I think that using a variety of materials is the key.

Here are two photos. The base is ground goop covered with sifted dirt, foliage includes Pot Toppers, ground foam of several 'weights', WS 'bushes', WS clump foliage, and grass tufts (Silfor, etc.). For finer looking bushes, I've used a variety of dried weeds, sprayed with cheap hair spray, and dusted with ground foam.

Wes,

Here is a link to a thread where Mike C builds a diorama for a Bar Mills Kit.

While this is for a specific scene there are many tips in the thread for building scenery.

http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/t...?TOPIC_ID=5843

Thanks Chuck and Rick

Dont really have a specific era or local i am modelling. Just want to make my scenery on the dioramas i build bit more realistic. The ground foam gets a bit mundane and boring to be honest. I like your comment about the rock Chuck. Its a scenery item i dont really use alot. Will keep that in mind for sure.

Thanks Bruce and John

Your pictures are the exact kind of effect im going for Bruce. There is varying heights and it looks realistic. How do you glue everything down?

Thanks for the link Rick. Will go through it this evening. I know Mike C always has great ideas.

Wes,

I brush diluted white glue (about 50/50) over the painted scenery base (plywood, foam, ground goop, etc.) On to that I sift the first layer of dirt and sprinkle the first layer of foam. Any additional layers of foam need to be held by dripping diluted white glue (or matte medium) from above. I use a much more diluted mixture for that. Any foliage clumps, tufts, or pot toppers, get full strength white glue applied on their 'bottom side' before putting them in place.

For more info on pot toppers, here is a link:http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/t...earchTerms=Pot

Wes,

When I do ground scenery I keep a couple of items in mind. First is light. Think of sunlight and if the diorama was in the real world, where would sunlight play at different times of day. Always keep the sun path constant to the diorama. Also think about shadows cast by various walls, structures and hills. The second item is water, and all of the very small threads of depressions which it creates. Think of how a light rain would drain down the hill, around various structures, objects and roads. Then think about how light will dry the areas, and plant the appropriate colored weeds for the area in mind, remembering that nature will provide a natural watering and the plants will be greener where the water drains. It also helps to select a specific month or two in the year and model with those colors in mind.

I use a lot of products to make weeds. Caspia branches glued together back to back with ground foam, Supertree material, lots of jute twin, ground mat foam rolled and twisted between my fingers for the base of the bush, Silflor weeds, which I really like but are a bit expensive. I also use lots of different colored (AMI Scenery) ground foams, medium and fine textures - but use with caution. I use sifted dirt (through 2 layers of panty hose) as the top layer, with sand and just a bit larger pebbles/grit under the top layer, and will sprinkle the grit along the edges of paths.

The following is are pictures modeled for the late April-May time of year in a higher elevation, approximately 4000 feet.

Note in the final picture the dark green weed pattern coming out of each side of the bumper box where the water would run. I used a little too dark weeds on this, but it really shows the patterens I'm trying to express.

Thanks for taking the time to reply guys. Its really appreciated. If you have any other ideas or hints etc, please post them.

Sure there is plenty of begginers here on the forum who can learn from your posts.

KP I really loved your pictures of your Quincys Salvage. You did a phenominal job on it.

Hi Wesley,

I really enjoy doing scenery personally and I can spend as much time scenicking a scene as building the structure (which is only right IMO... )

Firstly, really REALLY look at pictures of the area you want to depict to get an idea of what type of plantlife is actually there and how it is structured/combined with the other plantlife and terrain.

Secondly grab as many items as you can that are even vaguely plantlike from anywhere you see them. Even items that you wouldnt usually think of using.

Diversity and variation as mentioned previously certainly provides the most realistic scenery I have personally seen.

Third, cut a 4"x4" or 6"x6" piece of foam/card/whatever and have fun, try things out.

As well as variation, layering is also an important part I feel in realistic scenery, I usually like to have at least four various layers before I even get up to the grasses and small shrubery....

I'm sure I used over 20 different scenery 'materials' on this small 3"x6" area alone. Not outstanding scenery, or photography, but it was close to hand for a photo and shows what I am trying to say.







Fantastic work on the Quincy scenery Kris.

Karl.A

Well said Karl... and BTW... where have you been hiding this little gem?? What a wonderful study. I also realy like how you used the wood as scene blocks to create 3 different mini scenes while at the same time framing the junk pile. Nice...

Thank you for you kind words Kris,

it hasnt really been hiding its just a 'spare' corner on one of the only two dio's I've actually finished in the past three years.

Usually the pics are concentrated on the structure and not the surroundings.

If there was any 'framing' or 'mini scenes' or 'scene blocks' going on it was all coincidental or subconcious, not planned, just moving things around 'till I liked how it looked.

I'll post some more scenic closeups tomorrow around the dio to show more examples of the layering and variations of colour/texture/form, at which point you'll probably recognise the dio. That is of course if there would be interest to see it. I would explain my thoughts as it was made for each area shown.

Karl.A

Thanks for the pictures and reply Karl.

That is some fantastic scenery you have made in that little scene. Im looking forward to your

explanation of how you did it. Im Sure its going to be very interesting and helpfull.

Karl.. Great instincts. I think for a lot of us we just move stuff around until it 'feels' or 'looks' right. I know I do. I guess it's one of the reasons that we should not just 'place and glue'. I have noted that for a lot of guys who have created great scenes it was not until much later that they realized the technical aspect of the scene which made it look good. About a month ago there was a fairly involved conversation on the balance of mass in a scene on the Finescale Modeling Forum. ( http://www.finescalerr.com/smf/ ) Looking forward to your additional postings on creating a scene.