Hello,
I've always believed that my modules are never 'finished'. As I've built them, I've displayed them in our many regional shows/layouts, but always considered there was more to do and/or add to each. As my scenery techniques have evolved and improved, I've always considered that I'd be going back and updating my existing modules.
This is the case with my Southwestern 'Mother Road' series of modules. I feel like I definitely have my desert mix ground cover down, and the basic desert flora is also good
IMO, but one thing I've never been satisfied with is the lack of actual 'grass' (albeit desert grass) that's lacking on the modules.
In the US. there are VERY few desert areas that have a total lack of actual grass; most do (even most areas of the Mojave). I've known that I was always going to attempt to do this, but a recent build of an inside corner that will represent part of the CA Mojave and feature MANY Joshua Trees, forced me to bite the bullet and try to replicate what I see. I always figured it would be a static grass thing so, I plied the inventory and found what I needed. 4mm Woodlands Scenics 'straw' static grass.
I first covered the inside corner with my usual 'desert mix' ground cover - different grades of Arizona Rock & Mineral "Cajon Sandstone" colors (powder, sand & gravel, rip rap, and boulders), as well as high and low desert rock. After this was secured and dry, I splotched Woodland Scenics Static grass glue in small and large patches all over the ground cover, leaving some areas more bare than others. I tried to be as 'splotchy' as I could (I used a medium-sized flat edge paint brush) so the coverage would be sparse and not full on 'meadow' looking. Then I simply used a quality static grass applicator (Woodlands Scenics 'Static King') and covered the entire module with the 4mm 'straw' grass. Then I used a strong vacuum with a panty hose section in the tube to vacuum the excess and recover it.
The effect ended up being just what I had hoped for. a fairly sparse covering of desert grass among all the desert soil and rock. Then I added static grass tufts of various sizes as well as Woodland Scenics foilage clusters to represent juniper scrub. I'll eventually add 30-40 various sizes Joshua Trees to this inside corner.
Now, of course, because I've proved the concept, I'll have to add the grass to various sections of my existing Southwest modules in order to bring them to this level.
Basic ground cover applied -
First section of static grass added to check -
bushes and scrub added -
full coverage -
In a layout next to an existing single (notice the lack of grasses on the single -
I'm also doing a MAJOR redux of the two "Arbo Canyon" triple modules to bring them up to the same level of detail AND to make them better represent the slopes of Abo Canyon. to this end I stripped all flora from the triples, and removed about 8" of the tops of the two hills/slopes. Then I've been about carving the sedimentary mudstone rock outcroppings (from polystyrene insulating foam) and gluing it into place on the slopes. For the large cut in the side of one of the triples, I used a large section of Cripplebush rubber rock, cut to shape and glued with simple Elmers Glue.
I'll use sculptamold to blend the top part of the mudstone rock outcroppings into the slope immediately above them, sand, then paint. At that point, I'll added my desert mix and let gravity do the job of blending the whole thing. then lots of juniper scrub on the slopes and in the dry river bed. I have about 3 weeks to get this into a somewhat presentable form for a show. Most of the details can wait until after.
original canyon appearance -
Stripped of scenery and tops cut off -
Progress to this point -
