Grass effects?

[Summertrainz]

Hello Train Lovers 
Well heres my concern
I need a grass effect for my railroad
and i dont want to spend 50$ on bits of turf
and if i do still it gets caught in between tracks and effects the running.
Will green felt work?
anyone know a slightly cheaper more reliable way of making grass effects?

[engineerkyle]

A large 10 dollar shaker of Woodland Scenic foam goes a long way. Get green, fine mixed turf.

You spread down a thin coat of thinned white glue, paint, or even hairspray the shake it on. Looks good (better than felt) and is pretty easy. It's what I use.



A nice coat of it is seen in the foreground here, growing on the little hillocks.

Kyle

[Guilford Guy]

I second kyle on WS ground foam.
Heres another couple examples.


Also, backyard dirt that has been dried for 1-2 weeks and then sifted is good for simulating dirt, well not exactly simulating...

[Paul M.]

But make sure the dirt isn't "fresh". You don't want it to have organisms in it. Some people like to bake their dirt in an oven, but on this forum I've heard at least two failure stories about that method. You could also grill the dirt, but people who aren't model railroaders might think you're a little crazy. 

[hminky]

There's always fake fur.



Visit:

http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/fur_grass/

Thank you if you visit
Harold

[jsmvmd]

Dear Friends,

Second that re grilling fresh dirt or compost on charcoal OUTSIDE, if you want to stay married!

Dear Hal,

An HO friend is going to show me how to make trees from dried sumac flowers. Will keep you informed. I am  not the guru you are. This is my first foray into model rr'ing, etc etc. However, I am willing to try lots of stuff you have showed, and some my friend will show me. However, I do not have the patience right now to spend lots of time with scenery creation.  Four small children, work, garden, grass mowing, business, skiing, you get the picture!  We like to run trains!!

Best Wishes,

Jack

[Summertrainz]

heh thanks for the help there
looks good
just
like if i "grill this dirt"
too i use top soil?
or something?

[Guilford Guy]

Just dry it for awhile and then sift it when it looks nice+dry. Should kill the bugs and sift em out if there were any. Did I mention put the dirt in a zip loc?

[Bojangle]

Has anyone tried the Woodland Scenics grass on a roll, or was that already mentioned?  They say you even mould it with heat.
Bo

[Guilford Guy]

Grass on a roll works okay but there is little color variant.

[Teamanglerx]

I asked the same questions of several websites and many people agreed that the foam grass was better than the roll.  I use a brown latex paint as a base then use two types of grass color.  It turned out real well.  If cost is an issue then use the mat but if it isn't I would go with the foam.

[David(UK)]

So why not use the mat to form your contours, then use the foam to shake on top for color variations?

[engineerkyle]

So why not use the mat to form your contours, then use the foam to shake on top for color variations?

An interesting idea, but I don't think the foam would "sit" right on the texture of the matt. Has anyone tried this?

Another WS grass example;





Kyle