Sawdust?


PNKFLOYD

PNKFLOYD

Mikey
Does anyone still make ground cover from sawdust colored with dyes or thinned latex paint?

I have about 3 quarts of pine and fir sawdust I would like to try to color and dry in batches to see how this "old school" method works for me.

Any advice?

Mikey
 
I do have fun using some of the "old" methods of modeling, just to see if I can do it.

I guess my real question is if there is a real difference in appearance between the sawdust and ground foam applications?
I would think sawdust might give a different texture as applied and add more variety to a scene.
Any opinions?
Mikey
 
If you can get it fine enough, and then add coarser amounts here and there as you can with ground foam, I don't see why you shouldn't do an experiment. The trick is to vary the texture to mimick nature. Texture and hues and colours, of course...shapes, too.
 
Selector said:
If you can get it fine enough, and then add coarser amounts here and there as you can with ground foam, I don't see why you shouldn't do an experiment. The trick is to vary the texture to mimick nature. Texture and hues and colours, of course...shapes, too.
Click to expand...

It's a lot of work to get sawdust to take a color that you want. When I color mine for diff. area's you can figure letting it sit in a paint color for at least 2 weeks. Then spread it out on newspapers to dry(1 week) & then sift it thru a fine screen to get the clumps out. The sawdust doesn't get any dark colors when you use dark paint. I've been doing this for ground cover for about 25 years.
In the long run Ground Cover works better, doesn't lose it's color & is cheaper when you figure the time you have to spend on it.

Larry
 
Larry- I have a stubborn streak and I think I'll try it just to see what kind of results I get.
I can spread it on the layout and vaccum it up if I don't like it.
Just another reason to procrastinate doing any serious scenery work.:eek:
Thanks to everyone for their comments.
Mikey
 
PNKFLOYD said:
Larry- I have a stubborn streak and I think I'll try it just to see what kind of results I get.
I can spread it on the layout and vaccum it up if I don't like it.
Just another reason to procrastinate doing any serious scenery work.:eek:
Thanks to everyone for their comments.
Mikey
Click to expand...

Just one more little thing--When you glue it down, wait a cpl. days before you run any engines close by & then vacuum up any loose dust. It likes electric motors a lot more than ground cover. I guess because it's a lot dustier.

Larry
 
in this economy, my aim is to scratchbuild as much as possible. i tried it and was pretty pleased with the results. I think the method i used came from the scratchbuilders guild website. i modified the technique a little steeping the dye soaked sawdust rather than simply letting it dry out, mainly so i could recycle the drained dye. The key is to use a variation of colors and sawdust textures (i have a bag of the fine stuff and a bag of coarse stuff). I also just use the sawdust as a base and come back over it with some store bought foam for the desired effect...
 
Thanks for your comments Airslide!

From the results in a small area so far, using the sawdust for a base and ground foam for highlights will be the way for me to go.
I have some coarse shavings that provide "bulk" to brushy growths along ditch bottoms and the darker ground foam highlights the tangle of growth.

The sawdust dries out lighter than I thought, so I will have to think about that.
Mikey
 
I've made a lot of rock out croppings using fiber board ceiling tiles and have a lot of waste/scrape pieces that I shread, add white glue to make a paste and then use for ground. Works great and is cheap. So far I've just painted it afterward but may try adding paint to the mix next time.
Doc
 
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