can someone plaese help me with the steps to making the grounwork for a dio or vignette. Thanks in advance
-NERVRECK-

FAUSTs feature is a great place to start. It's urban but a lot of the same techniques apply to rural settings also
http://www.armorama.co.uk//features/142[/utl]

Here is another nice feature too,
[url]http://www.armorama.co.uk//features/393

Take a look and ask more questions as you go.

Im sorry, what I had meant to say was the ground work such as dirt to know how to place plants in stuff in it.
-NERVRECK-

Dirt - no problem -
One way is to use household wall spackle (found at Lowes Home Depot etc). Get the vynal crack resistant stuff.

Get the ground work rough stuff built up with styrofoam. Then apply a thin coat of spackle. There are two ways to get 'dirt' into/onto the stuff. You spread it and sprinkle it onthe gently push it in with a finger. Tap in then wait till it drys then dump off the excess. Or you can put the spackle in a mixing container then mix the dirt into the spackle then apply.
What to use for dirt - well - dirt or coffe grounds or sand or saw dust. It's going to be sealed with paint and sealer so it doesn't matter what you use as long as it has the texture you're after and is dry before use.

Thanks very much slodder, Ill try that technique and see. Its been a pleasure.
-NERVRECK-

how do you glue the static grass on. Should there be anything that you apply, like say fine turf, before you glue on the static grass? Which plaster technique would you suggest, pressing the dirt in, or mixing it?

On top of the 'dirt' in my previous post you would mix up a batch of whiteglue and water and place that where you want the static grass. I usually have pretty thick mix 70/30 glue/water.

Then on top of this I carefully place a lot of static grass. I let it sit a bit till the glue gets tacky. Then I tip the base over to dump all the excess off. Then I use a stiff brush and brush the static grass 'up' to make it stand.

Then I let it set and dry. Then you're free to paint, pastel or work with it.