I picked up a few small carpet samples in Home Depot the other day thinking they could be used in some way on my layout. These are not the large samples but the 4 or 5" square samples above the rolls of carpet. I chose the low pile ones in earthtones where the rows of tuft can be clearly seen. I cut one in a strip two tufts wide, sprayed it with flat paint and rolled it in fine foam groundcover. It looks quite good for a row of shrubs.
I also thought you could use a whole sample intact for a field of crops by just placing the foam on the tops of the tufts.
.They also have small samples of fairly rigid vinly flooring in various wood tones I thought could be cut to use as grade crossings in some way. They are just about the same thickness as code 100 track.
I wouldn’t want to create a big run on Home Depot but any other ideas for using these in scenery building?
I know somebody who had good results with carpet scraps when he “planted” weeds on some secondary trackage. He put down a layer of glue (I don’t remember what kind), then turned the carpet over and put it over the layout area with the fibers sticking into the glue. Then, after the glue had dried thoroughly, he cut the fibers away with a razor blade as he gently lifted the carpet. Once he was finished, he trimmed the resulting “lawn” and touched up the colors with an airbrush. Not all of the fibers stuck, so the pattern was inconsistent, just as real weeds actually grow. Weeds between the rails must be trimmed to a level below the rail surface. After the scenicking was done, we had occasional problems with coupler trip pins catching on a loop of fiber weeds, but these were cut as they became known and within a short time there were no loops left to present problems. It was a strikingly effective technique.
Not sure about the carpet uses for scenery, however, “fake” fur has been used quite successfully for meadow/ field grasses. Once dyed, trimmed and groomed works rather well. the edges can be disguised w/ silflor. Joe Fugate has used this technique and is rather impressive.
Same basic idea. Fake fur generally has long fibers that need to be trimmed quite a bit. If you use carpet, this technique probably will only work with fairly fine fibers. The real coarse stuff probably wouldn’t work very well.
Real fur also works. I had some scraps from my mother’s old Mink coat. They had a slightly different look than fake fur. I thought it was a nice addition. I have not tried Gerry Leone’s tick of glueing the fur face down and cutting it off, but it sure looked good on his layout.