Well, I've just tried out a little experiment with terrain making, and it seems to have worked. Just posted it on here to get some feedback from you guys. What do you think of this?



The best part, it was free! Just a piece of wood I found lying around, some soil, some water, and some PVA glue. Well, almost free.

Ola Dave

Sadly the pic is a bit too dark and not much detail is visible. But.... I have unleashed some Photoshop magic on it ...........

and voila there is actually a very good looking piece of groundwork under the darkness. What I love (and that is all due to her majesty mother nature) IS the random diversity of your groundwork. Having the smaller stuff and the bigger "rocks" mixed up in a very neutral way. Also the colors are very good. I wonder what kind of vehicle will take the place on the tracks you have done.

Great job on this experiment.

Thanks for the comments. Yes, it is a brown blob from some stones on it, but the point is A. It looks real and B. It was free (or very nearly).

Faust, thank you for reworking the picture, I really appreciate it when people go out of their way to do this sort of thing for you. I intend to put a Bren carrier and maybe a destroyed Kubelwagen on it.

How solid is that? If you run your fingers across it will you be picking up little pieces of dirt and rock? It really looks great for a cheapy setup

I tried it, and picked up a little bit of loose stuff, but nothing much. Most of it is pretty solid. It's not dry yet, might take a few hours, but it looks like it should be fine. I tipped it upside down and bashed the corner until nothing else fell off.

Hope you don't mind a little insight from a Hiker

the only thing I see that is not "natural" about it is that the soil is to open and by that I mean the rocks don't naturally set in little craters they are more often "moulded " into the earth by rain and erosion. In addition the earth also looks to "open" like a scrape on a knee when the earth is actually smooth looking from a certain point of view. Go out and take a walk and observe the texture of the ground and you will notice that hard pack or soft soil look the same until disturbed by rain or vehicles or the passage of man and animals.

just my 2 cents

Points noted, thanks for the advice.

The concept is solid. Sure a bit of touch ups with some extra dirt and the open-ness is gone.

You could seal it with some hair spray to give it an overall coating.

Is that dry? If it is I am heading to the back yard to grab some dirt. I did this type of thing a long time ago and when the soil dried it all cracked everywhere. I did not add the PVA. That may have been the key.
As far as the open texture goes, a shot or two of static grass and some Woodland Scenics turf scattered about and you have a cheap winner there.

Thanks for the tip.

Shaun

Not sure how it'll work out when dry, I'll give you an update tomorrow or Saturday when it's dry.

Dave:

Let us know if little cracks appear when the whole thing is dry. The Grim Reaper (a member here) told me over the phone last night that when that happened to me (as I was making ground cover from dirt, white glue and flour mixed w/ water) I didn't put enough Elmos 'er White Glue into the mix. Iwould really like to know how yours comes out when it is all dry.

For my Olga base posted in fig forum the other day, and several others that just had a rather small base, I have ground the dirt into almost a powder form. This is done by sifting it thru a screen and then using the end of a dowel rod to smash the dirt particles even more. Then used a small brush to put the white glue and water mix on the base. Then I used a putty knife to sprinkle the powdered dirt on to the wet area. After that I'd turn the base up side down and knock it w/ the putty knife so the loose dirt would fall off. I would keep repeating this process until I'd covered the area I wanted to be like earth. I wouldn't recommend this process for a large dio, however.

Looking good Dave. I use a lot of a la naturale soil in my dios too. You can get a bit of contrast if you collect different colored soils. Even with the same soil if you dig deeper the color should become progressively lighter.

Sprinkle a bit of the lighter ones using a tea strainer will be good enough to give you some contrast and also save you a bomb on paints. All you need is a tiny bit of paint for highlights. Anyway it looks pretty good as it is now even if you decide not to do the highlights.

As for cracking its due to the nature of the soil. The more clay you have the more likely it will crack on drying. When using clayey soils its best not to use too much water in the PVA glue:water mix. Also add the PVA:mix just enough to barely wet the soil. Too much water makes the soil mushy which will then tend to crack upon drying. Great for a dried river bed but not too good for regular groundwork.

Got to love nature for the ability to duplicate herself in minature. Cheap too.

Looks great to me. Would you mind sharing how it was done?

Okey doke.

1. Go out into your garden and find some good clean soil. The less clay the better. Sift it into a bowl.

2. Microwave the soil for a couple of minutes to kill any bacteria.

3. Make sure it's in a bowl that doesn't matter much. Pur in water until it's a sort of thick mud, and add some thick PVA/white/elmers glue. Stir until you have a lumpy mixture that you can spread.

4. Using whatever, spread the 'mud' over you base or whatever. I did it straight onto 1/4" hardboard, so it didn't warp.

5. As soon as you have spread it to your satisfaction, sprinkle the top with more soil until it is completely covered. It will stick.

6. Shake off any excess soil. If you want tracks in it, now is the time to make them.

7. It will take a couple of days to dry solid, depending on how much water and glue you used. Check it every few hours, and if cracks begin to appear, push them wish you finger to fill them.

8. A while later, your done! Enjoy. That's how I did mine.

Pros:
Very very cheap. Everything needed is free, except for a bit of glue.
Reasonably quick and easy to do.
Looks real because it IS real.
Surprisingly durable considering what it is made of.

Cons:
Not fantastic quality.
Smells a little bit, but you have to be pretty close.
May crack.

Cheap is good! Thanks. After it dries, did you coat it with some type of sealer?

Not yet. Hairspray should be fine. Usually is for this sort of thing.

Hairspray? I never thought of that. But come to think of it, my Mom used to use it and her hair wouldn't have moved in a hurricane.