Welcome to the Fantasy Factory

In last post, I left you with wondering how I got gravel onto a model of a garden spot on an imaginary spaceship. It’s quite easy, really…you use model railroad supplies! I got the idea from a couple of other builders, and modified it to suit my needs and tastes. I got a bag of Woodland Scenics Fine Ballast, Fine Turf – Green Grass, and Scenic Glue. And no, I don’t get a dime from the company.

You’re supposed to put the glue down, then put this stuff in some kind of shaker bottle, and…well, shake it out over the scenery to get a natural look. The pre-made shaker bottles are 8 bucks apiece…time to improvise! I took a small workbench container, drilled some small holes in the lid with my trusty Dremel, and…

Home-made shaker bottles!

The pics below show the method to my madness. I used the exact same steps for both ballast and turf, so we’ll skip the complete play-by-play. The first pic shows all the ballast down, and some of the turf. The second shows show I “painted” the glue over the area to be covered. I used a cheap hobby paint brush for this, making sure to get a uniform coating.

Next, I took my shaker bottle, and generously coated the glue area with the turf. After allowing it to dry (2-3 hours, depending on the humidity), I tapped the sides of the part to shake away the excess. If a little got outsie of the lines, I scraped it off gently with an unfolded paperclip. Once complete, I sprayed the whole thing with some Scenic Cement, to seal all the ballast and turf. The final pic shows the fully covered Arboretum.

Do you see those little holes scattered around the turf? Remember those lame trees (the sticks with cotton balls)? That’s where they go in. I figured that I could do better, and Woodland Scenics was able to help out again. I trimmed some of the branches off their Deciduous Armatures, and glued them into the holes using the Scenic Glue. I then dropped a blob of Scenic Glue in the fork of the branch, and dropped a Medium Green Bush onto it. I teased and trimmed the stuff to look like tree foliage, painted the doorways a medium gray, and sprayed the entire setup with a dullcoat lacquer.

And with the ceiling piece in place, ready for the rest of the lower hull.