FCSME Member: Bill Carl
M o d u l a r   R a i l r o a d i n g   a t   i t s   B e s t

Basic Scenery - Paint and Grass
You can click on any picture for a larger version.

It is best to paint your base material an earthy color in case you miss (intentional or not) any areas later with ground foam and the 'earth' shows through.  I usually buy of a gallon of latex paint of whatever brown I think looks earthy from the local home service center.  I discovered that if you apply the first layer of ground foam while the paint is still wet, the paint acts like glue and then you have some 'tooth' for the next layers of ground foam.  Plus it saves time!

Once your first layer has dried, apply successive coats of different shades of grass for the effect that you want. Burnt grass is effective as a last coat as it ties all of the other colors together very well.  I wet the area first with 'wet water' which is water with either a couple of drops of liquid dish detergent or some rubbing alcohol. Both work equally well.  Some key things to remember are: use plenty of 'wet water', layer the different colors on, saturate with glue.  You should always use a drop cloth in case of seepage.
Paint a section at a time...
...leaving a wet edge...
...and sprinkle on the
base grade of grass.
More paint...

...more paint...
...more grass...
...more paint...
...more paint...
...more grass...
...more grass...
...more grass...
...more grass...
Overall shots of paint and base grass applied.
After the base coat has thoroughly dried, squirt on some 'wet water.'
Squirt on some diluted glue...
...sprinkle on different
shades of grass...
...some more glue...
...some burnt grass...
...and some more glue.