Home Made Ground Cover for Model Railroads
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- Опубликовано: 5 окт 2024
- Sometimes the best materials for modelling with are right under our noses, fallen leaves and bark that have been drying on the ground are a great example of natural material that we can use on our model railroads and dioramas.
I’ve been using them for a while with fantastic results, simply gather up dead leaves and bark then ground them down to a fine texture, the beauty of this is it works for all scales. Depending on the scale you model simply sift out the larger pieces until your left with the size you want.
I’ve used this for HO scale as well as N scale and both give a realistic result. This process is very simple and will most definitely save you a lot of dollars. Just be sure to use dead leaves and avoid green leaves that have not completely dried out as they will change color over time on your layout.
Don’t forget to check out www.bouldercree... for more information, tutorials and modelling articles
If you wish to help and support these videos also check out / luketowan every little bit helps me stay motivated and continue to produce these videos for all to view.
so far one of the best modelling channels I've seen. Clear and detailed, yet concise tutorials; great camera angles and close-ups edited together very nicely; snazzy music; amazingly resourceful, inventive, creative & beautiful ideas; no fuss; 1080p!!! Oh, and I'm loving the Australian scenery! Keep up the good work
+n163126 wow! thanks for the fantastic feedback and comment. I hope I can continue to deliver quality videos for a long time into the future.
Cheers
Luke.
As well as being a bloody great modeller its great to see that you have a great sense of humour to go with it. My uncle used to call me " a bloody little bottla" I pass the compliment on to you.
Hi Luke. at the age of 82, I am a born again model railway fan because of Doctors orders, and my youngest son {42} I have found your video extremely interesting, and the best yet. How can I best apply plain sawdust onto a malomine board. I live in Albany, and as you might guess from the icon, my original hobby was tractors. Many thanks for a very informative site. julian
G'day 1934polly - my Grandpa had the same tractor! I'm building a diorama for his farm, and the Massey Ferguson will be prominently featured...
hope all is well, im yungun at 54 lol, getting into it for the first time, wanted to since I was 9. Now have space and family to share it with.
How are you doing ?
From 2021
I have thought of this after looking at herbs in little bottles in the grocery store at exorbitant prices. Thanks for confirming my thinking, but now I have to wait for Summer again for some "dry" leaves and bark. Enjoy your Summer down under while we have our Winter up here.
+The Shade Tree Fix-it Man yeah the green ones don't work so well. I've actually heard of people using dried herbs. I'm doing my best to enjoy summer except it was 44 degrees C here the other day! and We are in for another few days of extreme heat.
Cheers
Luke.
Luke I use NZ tree fern fronds to get this sort of detritus it is the best I have found. Trim off the old fronds (Brown and dry) remove the main stalk and run the fronds through a liquidiser etc. Neil
Brilliant tutorial as usual but I’m worried that using organic nature will lead to rotting and smell etc? Should twigs, ground cover not be covered somehow to ‘preserve’ it
Brilliant tutorial Luke, I'm definitely going to be trying this on my layout.
Cheers
Howard.
+Mayhew Junction Thanks Howard, it's so easy to do as well and the results are quite good.
Cheers
Luke
Every fall when I have to rake up the leaves I use a Toro leave blower/vacuum/mulcher to suck up the piles and then sift the fine stuff in the bottom of the catcher bag into various sizes. I have more than I'll ever use in one season. Thousands of dollars of scenery materials go into trash bags and to the dump every fall!
100% Nature. Nice Idea🛠👍👍👍
Awesome Channel man I am in the scenery & tree planting stage on my layout so this is very usefull to me Thanks great channel Cheers
+BN Rail Nut No worries mate, glad I'm able to help.
Cheers
Luke
Great tips, its an expensive enough hobby as it is.
Hi Luke ,another excellent vid mate cheers Ron
+Ron Brytcz Thanks Ron, it's pretty basic but it's always good to see it in practice.
Cheers
Luke.
Hey Luke, have you ever done a video on making your own flock and other things like that
i like your work your creating fantastic thema
Glad you like it :)
Great idea like always Luke. Have a Merry Christmas. RT
+retrainrun Thanks RT, Merry Christmas to you too :)
Cheers
Luke
Most excellent Luke!
+Jürg Rüedi Thanks Jürg, glad you enjoyed it.
Cheers
Luke
Hey Luke, great tutorials. Wondered if one needs to possibly bake off anything which might be in the “ dead leaves, bark, twigs” in oven. Live in Fl where temps are usually warm to hot. Thanks
Thanks Luke. I'll give it a try☺
Thanks for the tip.
Good on-ya Luke.
+Richard Redcastle Cheers Richard.
Luke another great tip thanks
+Peter CPRail8748 Thanks Peter
Cheers
Luke
I'd like to try diving into this hobby at some point, but I don't think my hands are steady enough. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the hell out of your videos.
William L. Bozarth if i learned anything from folks like Luke, it is that it really is that easy. Nature is messy, brother. Makes it look REAL. I carved foam rocks ham handedly and they look great. My first tall pines look incredible, even (especially!) where i messed up.
William L. Bozarth if i learned anything from folks like Luke, it is that it really is that easy. Nature is messy, brother. Makes it look REAL. I carved foam rocks ham handedly and they look great. My first tall pines look incredible, even (especially!) where i messed up.
I am wanting to get into building some dioramas for photo shoots with my engines so I need all the help and ideas I can get...
0:23 that looks real
Luke, why the alcohol before the glue. Does that help seal it? Or help the glue to soak in?
some nice tips and tricks for me
Hi Luke, coming to from Johannesburg, South Africa. Does using organic compounds ie. coffee grounds, leaves etc not cause problems with mould or funghis growth further down the line?
brilliant... I've got a few leaves in the backyard... :)
+oorail.com you might get a few odd looks when you start collecting them and bringing them inside. lol.
Cheers
Luke
@@BoulderCreekRailroad Like me, bringing in my favorite rocks. lol!
You sound like Danger Dolan. Exactly like him lol but anyways good stuff Luke!
LOL 😀
@@BoulderCreekRailroad Can you put an Arabic translation because I am from Algeria 🇩🇿 ♥ ️
I guess the best way to model natural things is to use nature. There is never a shortage of leaves. Thanks for the tip.Scott
+Scott Downey Yeah there is definitely no shortage around me!
Cheers
Luke
Exactly what I was thinking when I started my first project a month ago. I wanted my plants displayed nicely and thought, how cool to set them directly into a scene. It all started with a huge box full of soil and plants, some deer, real rocks and a house (the river initially to be just a pebble trail), but after watching my first video, which happened to be yours, Luke, I was excited. I could make a rock face from foam (way lighter than the "boulders" I brought in). I could create a resin river to look real. I could create water over the falls. I could add moss and fake plants onto the rest of the scene. This was so exciting!
I created a waterfall, river, cliffs scene. Along the top, I set pots (into which I had to replant my plants, including a couple of bonsai trees and some that look like bushes with the right mindset) into the structure. With your help, Luke, my project will now have a much more realistic look with the river, rocks, and all. I've struggled with the perspective, though, because obviously the real plants are huge compared to the other items in my scene.
I'm about to start adding the ground cover and shrubbery, and hoping that will resolve the fake-looking cliffs. Just waiting for my applicator thingy to arrive.
Thank you for all these valuable tips. Here's hoping my next project will be far better than my first. ;-)
Nice one mate!
+jjab99 Thanks mate, Glad you liked it.
Cheers
Luke
Blending the leaves also works
Any issues with mold growing on crushed leaves or similar organic material? Thanks
Sure, burned blender xd
Try blending dry dirt... it works really good for scenery.
Great tutorial Thank you!
অসাধারণ luke!!!!! ☺☺☺👏👏👏
Thanks for your videos, they are very usefull!
+Максим Васильев Thanks, glad you have been finding the videos helpful :)
Cheers
Luke
Genius
hi Luke!
can you do a video with a diorama of a race track curve with curbs, a forum and a location for the marshall?
thanks
+Simo 14 F1 I'll add it to my future videos list. I get lots of requests but yours sounds like a great idea for a scene to display model race cars.
Cheers
Luke.
Great video!
+althrox Thanks :)
great video like always!!!
+model railer Thanks mate :) It's a simple concept and can be described in a matter of seconds "Crush some leaves..." but often it's good to see someone do it in practice.
Cheers
Luke
Great videos! Have you tried using autumn leaves? Will the colored leaves hold up to the shredding, and will they retain their color? I'm wanting to use actual leaves for an autumn scene, and thought it might be possible to incorporate some real leaves. Of course I would seal them several times, and I assume I would have to do the sealing rather quick!
Not 100% sure, I think they would eventually loose their color but If you seal them quickly after applying them to your scene they might retain color? and I think blending them would work ok. I'll have to do an experiment.... my only thought is the Autumn leaves may still have a small amount of moisture in them and when blended they might turn a little gooey? I guess we won't know until we try :)
Cheers
Luke
Ok, thanks for the honest answer!
Just do a sample. Find some leaves, process them as you intend, and apply them to, say, a 4"/101mm cardboard square, and see what happens.
Hi Luke, thank you for sharing, but let me ask you Why you always use isopropyl alcohol for your dioramas, can I use the normal alcohol or isopropyl have a special funtion?
Best regards,
Ale.
Impressive work mate, great tips. Tell me, why the alcohol before the glue? Is the Mod Podge a PVA type glue? Sorry for the noob questions :)
+ratofvengence Thanks for the great comment, the alcohol breaks the surface tension so the glue can penetrate the scenery and get better adhesion. Mod Podge is very similar to ordinary PVA glue but I tend to think it dries more of a matte with less shine.
Cheers
Luke
Luke Towan Nice, thanks for that mate. Makes sense. I sometimes add a tiny drop of detergent to washes to help with surface tension, but I can see that wouldn't work with the glue. Matt finish is good to know.
What is the purpose of the alcohol before glue?
+MrCardholder7 it breaks the surface tension ,another words it makes the scenic glue flow better without disturbing the material you spent hours applying.............
+MrCardholder7 BN Rail Nut is spot on
Nice!!!
hi luke..is it possible to use pencils shaving (the curly, finer type) as leaves? have u ever try?
Thanks Scott. I've often wondered if leaves and the like can be used for modelling. Does it go "off" with time?
+Tony Sellick As long as you select leaves that are totally dried out and dead they should remain the same color and once you apply the scenic glue over the top it will help to prevent them from decaying over time.
Cheers
Luke.
excelentes vídeos, te felicito
Thanks for the fantastic comment :)
Cheers
Luke
te felicito por tu blog
0.23 the dryed up and cracked area beside the road....
Is tha technique in a vid?
What exactly do you use as that "ground texture"? Sifted sand and grout, but what is grout? Is that the stuff used to finish the seems between tiles in bathrooms and kitchens?
yeah that's exactly what grout is Bandit, I just mix a good color grout in with some sifted dirt from the backyard
Is this what you use as a base in your dioramas? What ratio of dirt to grout are you using? Thanks and love your work.
1:43 In this case it's 1 to 3, right?
Does it matter if the Isopropyl Alcohol is 70% 90% or 99%?
Could this work in bigger scales aswell, 1:72 or even 1: 35?
certainly, just blend the leaves until you get the approximate size, I blended the leaves for a while to get finer leaves for HO scale.
Cheers
Luke
are you from new zealand luke
+William Lulham I'm from Australia :)
Cheers
Luke
Any idea how I could die it red to make that red mulch they spread on gardens?
hmmm, I guess you could try using some food dye? Or maybe an art store might have proper dye but if it was me I'd probably go for the cheaper option first.
Cheers
Luke
@@BoulderCreekRailroad Couldn't you just use red mulch? Someone used bark chips in his scene.
I follow this tutorial but my leaves become darken and never recover after i spray glue(water+mod podge) on them.
How to make greenery on ground
can u tell me in which video u have shown the process....on the ground
greenery in ur models looks real
Stupid question, why isoprop ?
Viewport3 Ltd makes the glue & water mix absorb more easily without disturbing your stuff.
CAN U PLZ ADVICE ME
I am in final year of civil engineering we have to make model on civil base what shoud I make
PLZ PLZ ADVICE ME
hmmm, sorry I'm really not familiar with what's expected? I guess you'll just have to figure out something??
Any model of road, railway,airport
I think modeling a road would be the easiest spot to start? You could add railway lines to create more interest?
Roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, pipelines, railways are what civil engineers do, isn't it? So is there a way to connect your project to one of your classes? Do they expect your model to provide an example of your job? ie: building a dam? Illustrate that.
"LOCK IT DOWN WITH ANOTHER LAYER OF SCENIC CEMENT"
Another really useful video. Just been on your website, and intend to sign up to your "become a patron" just as soon as PayPal sort out my account; I think at $1 per video it represents good value for money!
+struck2soon Thanks mate, I really appreciate the support. The good thing with "Patreon" is you can set a maximum per month as well, that way if you sign up for $1 per video and I post 100 videos you wont be giving $100, which might be a bit over the top for most people, you can cap it at say 2 or 3 videos.
It's great to know people are enjoying the content I post as well, I thoroughly enjoy making these tutorials and building the website. I have a couple of modelling articles that I'm working on as well.
Thanks again and I hope you continue to enjoy the videos I post and the website.
Cheers
Luke
+Luke Towan thanks for the clarification on the 'max per month' bit, I hadn't fully cottoned onto it. However, can't really see you doing a lot more than you already are unless you throw away your pilot's uniform.
Yes, it is fun trying to make a video look good, I have had a few reasonable results on my fly fishing clips and am currently working on editing some footage of my first train of weathered rolling stock. Those hours just slip by once you sit down in front of that editing software...
doing 2 or 3 videos a month is pretty much my limit... I can't see myself giving up that pilots uniform anytime soon!
I took a look at your website and watched some of your fly fishing preview videos, they look fantastic, I'm not really into fishing that much but used to go fishing and camping with dad in the "snowy mountains" streams quite a bit as a kid, watching your adventures in NZ makes me want to go fishing again!
And you're spot on with the editing, some nights I could be up to 3am and not even realize.
+Luke Towan thanks for the kind words Luke, I will send you a link to the 'weathered freight cars' clip when it's finished, put you back into familiar territory!
any of your models
Most of my models are scenery based but something like 'Realistic Scenery Vol - 5' might be something you might like to build.
Ti