Dear Folk,
Haven’t found this anywhere. I want to create freshly turned (plowed) sod for my HO Woodland Scenics Farmer, horse, and plow. How can I make that?
Thanks,
Mike
Well, a couple of things come to mind. You can use Vallejo Diorama Effects or you could find some latex or acrylic paint that matches the color of a freshly plowed field, then add some texture (fine sand, grout, etc) and apply to your mounds of dirt. Depending on how “fresh” you’re looking for, once the paint dries, you could try applying some gloss (pledge floor finish) or semi-gloss material.
For the mounds, you could apply a bead of caulk (they even come in brown), and shape to your liking before drying.
Terry
I am curious to hear from someone who actually did this. I have not.
If this was my layout, I would use real dirt or sand, and glue it in place using a similar method used for ballasting track (using an eyedropper, apply alcool, then apply scenic cement). The glue will give it a dark color. The tricky part is getting the right shape of the soil for the look you want - freshly plowed. I would try using styrofoam, punch in some lines, and cover it with dirt.
Simon
Do you still have your corduroy pants from elementary school in the 1960s, then again maybe you are not that old.[(-D]
You can get some corduroy at the fabric shop, it comes with the bumps and valleys in different widths. The finer the better for our purposes. You can take your plow to the fabric store and buy a corduroy where the grooves match the blades of your plow.
Glue it down and start experimenting with the cheap Walmarts acrylics, greens, browns, blacks… The best one I ever did I covered the fabric with either tile thin-set or grout shook the excess off and hit it with black and brown spray balms. I then started dabbing the greenery on ( the paints) in the end it looked really good. Placing the little John Deere with the plow on it finished the scene.
Along the same lines as Brent, I’ve used thin carpet squares that were shaded a blue/green and then painted brown with various shades of black/brown over the top, leaving some the green show through to look like grass. I’ll post some pictures later.
Scott Sonntag
The one method the create plowed rows is using the inside of cardboard. That correlated piece works well to shape the field. Some sanded grout or dirt to cover it.
my thoughts for a different plowed field, get colored sanded grout and spread it in a layer over the field. Once it gets stiff, take a soft bristle brush and lightly drag over the area. That should rough it enough but not tear it up and leave plow marks from the bristles.
shane
You can BUY it:
Walthers part numbers 483-701 and 189-7192. Both versions will need to be painted. I have no idea how good they look after installation.
I have not made a plowed field, but I’ve done something close in doing run-off texturing in dirt hillsides. Based on that, I would EXPERIMENT with using a slow setting sheetrock mud (mixing your own from dry seems to work better), spreading it out in a layer, waiting until it’s dried “just right”, and then dragging a multi-blade “plow” through it. You want to catch it midway between runny and set. More towards “set”, I think.
If I wanted such a field, I would do the job off-site until I got just what I wanted, then install it in place.
Ed
Mike, while it looks like you’ve been a member of the forum for a while, it says this is your second post.
If that’s true, welcome! I hope you can post a picture or two, and tell us more about the layout.
I imagine quite a few of us would like to see your results if your field turns out looking good.
I’ve never made a plowed field, but has anyone tried either fresh coffee or coffee grounds? I would thing the color and texture would be a good starting point.
Hello All,
I recall seeing a thread or article about making ground foam from used coffee grounds.
The author baked the used coffee grounds at a low temp 150ºƒ, if I recall correctly, to dry them out. They did this to avoid mold growth during storage.
Then they added the used, dried, coffee grounds to the latex paint color of their choice to add texture to the paint.
I could see how this technique could be adapted to model furrows, minus the latex paint.
Using corrugated cardboard as a base or form could produce the results you are seeking.
Another advantage of using the cardboard as a base will allow you to experiment in small sections until you get the look you want.
I would also paint full-strength glue on the carboard to avoid making it soggy through traditional ballasting techniques using “wet water”.
Hope this helps.
In a piece of cardboard is a ribbed piece sandwiched between two thin pieces of card. Gently peel the thin card away leaving the ribbed card. There is your ploughed field. Cheap and effective.
David
Hello All,
Not to disparage your modeling technique, but…
This past April “She Who Must Be Obeyed” and I visited the Chicago Museum Of Science And Industry.
While viewing the HO model train display; depicting the modern BNSF line between Chicago and Seattle,
I had to explain to her modelers’ license.
Her comment was simply, “Well, it still looks like carpet samples.”
I hope your technique is more detailed than what we saw on the CMOSAI display.
Hope this helps.
Hello All,
Those are far more detailed than what we saw on the museum display!
Great work [bow] [bow] [bow]!!!
I don’t think “She Who Must Be Obeyed” would have had the same comment had their fields look like yours.
Hope this helps.
From the “For What It’s Worth” dept:
Living in the middle of corn country, almost all corn fields are planted with 30 inch wide rows. I’m not sure how wide cardboard corrugations are, and what they would translate to in HO.
There is a move to narrow the rows, but it’s still unusual for anything except 30 inches.
A first time broken field will look quite different to a re-ploughed field. They called it sod busting for a reason. If your plan is to display the field being plied from turf for the first time, say with the plough and ploughman in mid operation, some unbroken ground and some already turned over then you want solid looking ridges with curved tops and maybe a little grass peaking out here and there. The colour will be darker the fresher the furrow is, I.e. Closer to the plough the tops of the furrows will look quite dark.
After sod busting a field for the first time the farmer may replough or just harrow because the first turningover isn’t really going to produce much. So fields regularly ploughed will have a crushed or broken look all along the ridges of the furrows, quite different to freshly turned sod.
Also, where you are would affect the look. In deep soils the ridges will be quite high whereas in dry country often the field will more likely be shallow ploughed to avoid reaching the subsoil.
A quick google freshly ploughed sod:
https://smallfarmersjournal.com/the-science-and-art-of-plowing/
Who knew?
I accually did a feild on my last layout. Thried many things but what worked best for me was to do my standard zip texturing and then took my scale discker by SS Ltd and plowed the fields while they were still wet, even the turn around details. Added some extra details where needed and when dry added any extra color needed. Worked out great and looked nothing like carpet squares. I mean you need the turarounds etc. to make it look relistic.
Dear Folk,
Thanks for the ideas. I think I was not clear enough on what I’m wanting to model.
I’m trying to portray a grassy or field of dried corn stalks, that is just being turned (plowed) by a man, horse, and plow. I do not want neat clean rows of dirt. I need to portray sod with grass or stalks that have just been turned over. The dirt behind the plow will be a row of rough “coils”? of sod grass or stalks on one side, and solid smooth earth on the other. Seems some sort of sculpey, caulk, etc., tooled to look like it was turned by the plow might work, but I’m ignorant of how I can actually do this. Is that clearer?
Thanks,
Mike
Mike,
If you want to go the easy route, and the area where you will model the field is failrly flat, Busch #7182 is a row-plowed field. The product is actually just exposed corrugated cardboard with brown sprinkles glued to it, but it looks pretty good when installed.
This is the actual, unmodified product in a photograph. For how easy and inexpensive it is, this might make your Woodland Scenics farmer, horse, and plow feel right at home.
JR Miniatures makes a flexible plowed field. This field is a bit more colorful, and has some plant bits on it.
I think it looks a little better, but it is much smaller than the Busch field.
This the JR Miniatures plowed field in a photograph.
Just food for thought… if you want to model a wheat field “quick and easy”, nothing beats a TRAMPA from Ikea.
This is what a Trampa looks like on a layout:
I hope this helps.
-Kevin
I used Woodland Scenics Fine Earth to make my plowed farm field. Sprinkled it into place, applied a white glue mix and ran a kitchen fork through it before it dried.
You could also use WS Earth Blend, either Fine or Medium texture. Toss in some WS Ground Cover if you want some green in the plowed field.
Rich
