I picked up a copy of Basic Scenery for Model Railroaders by Lou Sassi. On page 15 he talks about a creation he has developed called “ground goop”. I liked the results I saw in the book so decided to make some for myself. I have 2 problems. First, my Pittsburgh paint dealer has no idea what Tobacco Brown number 7607 is and since they don’t have the color in their chart, they can’t duplicate it. Second, it seems that the product Perma-Scene hasn’t been made in over 10 years. I don’t understand how Kalmbach can continue to publish a book that has these errors in it. Anyway, if anyone has an idea of what Tobacco Brown is in another paint like Sherwin Williams, I’d like to know. Also, is there any substitute on the market for Perma-Scene?
Devil Doc,
[#welcome] To the Forums, If you would like to do a little reading, In this link, a person duplicate’s Perma Scene and gives ingredients and mixture’s of how to make your own:
http://15mmvsf.bagofmice.com/Models/terrain/perma-scene.htm
I will do a little searching,for your paint color.
Cheers, [D]
Frank
LOL
And this is your first post?
You may never get off moderation.
Nothing like taking on our host in your first time at the plate.
Rich
P.S. I put Tobacco Brown 7607 in Google and found results right away.
Devil Doc,
I actually overlooked it. In the article in the link, He did not use the paint,you are looking for,he used,Burnt Sienna,Acrylic Artist paint in the tube mixed in with,the rest of the ingredients,to achieve,the ground cover look. [:)]
Cheers, [D]
Frank
PITTSBURGH PAINTS 7607 TOBACCO BROWN
maybe you need a new paint dealer…
Go get’em Kyle. Now’s your time to shine.[:-,]
You also may want to keep in muind that the color of the ground is not always the brown above…Color it to match the area you model
Yes out here in the west the dirt color is much lighter than that brown.
I don’t even use any kind of ground goop or whatever, I just use the real dirt I find outside.
My guess is,that you want the brown color,however,should you want a different color,just change the tint,in the mix,of ingredients,that the person shows. No big deal to change,the color. [:)]
Cheers, [D]
Frank
Whatever material you use, the paint is just added in to give you a better uniform base color. It also helps if you chip off a piece later on, because you won’t be left with a stark raving white plaster gash. Still, you will generally want to paint the surface to add a variety of color. For that, I use a couple of different washes of cheap craft store acrylic paint, some brown, some green, to give me a “camouflage” pattern. Then, I apply a variety of turf colors and ground foam. The mixture of colors and textures gives the surface a more natural look.
Rather than pay a ton for a special paint color mix, do what I did. I went to one of the local big box home improvement stores near me and asked to see their collection of color mixing mistakes and customer rejections. I found a gallon of 100% acrylic mixed to a beautiful light mud color. That particular paint was priced at $34 per gallon. They gave me the entire gallon for $6.
Hornblower is right on the money!
I frequently visit my Home Depot’s “oops paint” section and find useful paints priced at [2c] on the dollar!
One handy find was a sand texture paint that is perfect for scenery base use. Its a very thick consistency and the sand texture is ideal for model scenery base.
Ed
You should use a chocolate brown color that suits your area of the layout.
Also whenever I use ground goop I use it only for a base texture and build the terrain up from there which is why you want to choose the color wisely. I often use natural products such as leaves twigs etc ground up in the blender. Poly fiber is also great for building up the surface. Think layers.
One thing I discovered is how much darker a color looks in my train room than it does outdoors or in the paint store showroom. In addition to the dark shift, the lighting in a paint store can make the color chips look a different color than it would back at the house. If I take a sample-color photograph with me when I shop for paint, I take the color chips and the photograph outside the building to see how the colors look without being influenced by the overhead lighting.
Wilton.
Devil Doc,
[#welcome]
I believe the book is outdated. So are books on “How to control your horse in heavy city traffic” with the “Best buggy whip available today in 1893” that may still be published. Or books on the “Cars of the Century”, first published 1950, is bound to have cars and gadgets not avaiable today! “Reprints R US” is bound to have a copy!
At the time it was first published, I am sure all was well, and they were NOT “errors”. Reprints of successful books are sure to contain some “errors” on listing products no longer available.Apparently modelers didn’t buy enough “Perma-scene” to keep it on the market!
As others have shown, if one paint supplier doesn’t have the exact color by name, try another dealer. Or try another color that seems close to the named one, in this case BROWN is the key word. Surely you have other paint dealers available to you?
“Ground goop” recipies can be a dime a dozen, with each modeler trying to make it with their on-hand materials or available supplies from local suppliers. So even it is not carved in stone.
So don’t take the books LITTERALLY, use them as a GUIDE to create what you want.
[8-|]
Hi Galaxy
I agree I have a model landscaping book first published in 1954. the general comments and some specific comments in the book are just as valid today as when printed.
However some of the materials used would today give a Health and Safety Officer ten shades of heart attack.
Others I had to find out first Umm what is it? and what today will do the same job.
So it is important to first be mindful of when the book was first published then put todays interpretation
on what materials are available and what in todays world just cannot be used.
regards John
I am just starting scenery (and also using the same Sassi book) and plan to try the ground goop on some flat areas for a layer above a base paint coat. I also found the PermaScene unavailable, though tonight I see it might be on Ebay. I read via a google search that the PermaScene is basically vermiculite, plus some glue (but ground goop adds glue anyway). I could not find vermiculite locally as easily as expected, so ordered some on the web. I got 2 gallon bags of “fine grade vermiculite”; good news only $3/bag, bad news $9 to ship, but better than running around at $3 gas. I did find the Celluclay available.
http://www.themadseason.com/Vermiculite-p/5002.htm
I also acquired the books “How to Build Realistic MR Scenery” by D. Frary and “Essential MR Scenery Techniques” by P, Seeborg. The Frary book is my favorite thus far but I’m just getting into the scenery phase. I’ve got tons of info from the books and the forum and the greater need is practice. I’ve recently built some hills of cardboard strips and plastercloth, plus from foam, plus combos, adding rocks from Woodland Scenics molds (using Hydrocal0 and rubber rocks from Cripplebush. I’m enjoying the experimentation.
I’m using some Sculptamold on my hills atop plaster cloth and atop foam, so I plan to try the ground goop soon to see where I want to use GG vs S-mold as a base texture layer. On another thread one person advised he preferred Gypsolite to Sculptamold but I don’t plan to try that at this point.
**Although not all vermiculite contains asbestos, some impure vermiculite contains asbestos, and we all should know how bad that is for us! A mine Virginia, USA was found to be contaminated with asbestos, and that was a problem, obviously.
Vermiculite mines are heavily regulated and tested for the offending material.
AS mentioned, some products are found to be harmful and taken of fthe market. OSHA would have a koniption!
Other products mentioned in older publication simply failed to succeed and thusly were taken off the market.
There are a variety of newer products, “safe” {for now}, that will replace and work well for the recipies noted in older publications. One just has to shop around, craft stores and the like. With the internet age, armchair shopping and searching makes it fairly easy and saves gas!
Also, any commercially made MRRing products HAVE to be comprised of elements that may be available cheaper to the consumer than the “repackaged” MRR-specific products.
So do some diligence, search a little and “seek and ye shall find”.
[8-|]