I wanted to pull together a list of some of the material I use for my dead season modeling to help others find what they’ll need.
A quick warning: I don’t promise these links will work forever. In fact I don’t think they’ll all work for very long but hopefully the names and other product info will help you find what you’re looking for.
Dirt
For dirt I almost always use unsanded grout from my local big box hardware store. Pick some colors that match the color of dirt in the area you’re modeling and go nuts. Don’t be afraid to blend colors to get what you’re after. I often blend a black and a brown to get darker shades.
Don’t miss my Winter Forest Technique post for info about how I apply is.
Grasses & Ground Cover
Low Grasses
Unsurprisingly I have found that in N scale fine ground foam does a good job of representing low grass. I use a selection of colors and recommend matching your color choices to your reference photos.
The Woodland Scenics “Fine Turf” colors are all very useful and should be thought of as paints on an artist’s palette. Of course “Yellow Grass” is widely used in my scenery, but “Burnt Grass“, “Earth“, “Soil“, “Green Grass” and “Weeds” are all useful. Especially do not ignore the Green Grass because even though there is plenty of dormant grass in many dead season scenes, there’s often more green than your mind’s eye sees. These are generally available at almost every hobby shop and even some big box craft stores.
I also use some fine turf from Scenic Express. I like that they have a wider range of colors than Woodland Scenics, but their Desert Dust, Light Brown, and Earth Blend are all also useful.
Tall Grass
Static Grass also has a big place in dead season modeling, especially in scales larger than N. I don’t personally use a lot of it, but remember to keep scale in mind.
Forest Floor
I have written an entire article on creating forests, but here’s the quick list of the products used.
- Scenic Express Leaf Litter SuperLeaf
- Scenic Express Light Brown Fine Turf
- Scenic Express Leaf Litter SuperTurf
Trees & Bushes
Trees
I have found no better option for efficiently and effectively modeling winter trees than Scenic Express Super Trees. For more information on how I turn them into N scale trees, view my post on the subject.
Bushes and Undergrowth
One of the biggest challenges in modeling the dead season is vegetation between grass and trees. Verdant modelers have a bevy of products available to them, but dead season modelers are not as lucky. I use a number of products to varying degrees.
One of my most commonly used materials are small bits of super tree. While I uses the biggest armatures in the box for trees, smaller pieces make for perfect smaller vegetation. I often end up painting up the less useful pieces in one big chunk and then just breaking pieces off as needed.
ironically, given its place in the history of the hobby, I also have found lichen to be useful occasionally as well.
One of my earliest techniques, and one I still find to work, was to use a Heki product called Wiesengras. It’s somewhat hard to find and has a cousin called “Wildgras” that should be avoided. Take the Wiesengras, stretch it out, and then paint it in the same way you would trees. Then, it can be torn into small clumps that have a very delicate branch structure.
I have also found the Woodland Scenics “Briar Patch” in brown to be useful, while uneconomical for large scale use.
Other
Final Thoughts
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