Flocking Large Areas

[Logan]

Hi all,

I\'ve got the Citadel Realm of Battleboard which I\'m looking at covering with static grass and the like. I\'ve done various bits of modelling with some success in the past but never covered 2\'x2\' tiles in static grass.

I\'ve got various colours, dark green, spring grass, summer grass and scorched brown and wondered if anyone can give me some advice on creating a realistic looking job before I go ahead and make a giant Fuzzy Felt...

 

[Gilvan Blight]

I\'ve never done anything quite that large, but for large hills, rivers etc. what I have found works the best is to vary the type of flock and try not to make it even. If possible try to think about how the ground will be used and flock accordingly.

For example use plain thin flock or potentially even sand painted as mud for heavy traffic areas. Around these use slightly thincker flock for somewhat traveled areas. In areas that wouldn\'t get much traffic use things like Coarse Turf.

The only thing I have online that would show this is a a lake I did that can connect to a series of rivers. http://www.coolminiornot.com/23938 It\'s not the best picture, but the darkest areas are just plain flock, close to the ground. The lighter yellowish areas are static grass (applied over the flock). The dark areas are Clump Foliage. There is also another flock used that\'s in between the normal and the clump, it doesn\'t show well in the pic though, it\'s kind of brownish/green. Along with this I placed a Model RR tree and a couple Lichen Bushes to vary things a bit. All of the stuff I used was Woodland Scenics.

 

[freakinacage]

buy a battle mat? some stockists sell flock on a mat, which would save a LOAD of time. just glend in the edges and add some different flocks to break it up

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by Logan
I\'ve got various colours, dark green, spring grass, summer grass and scorched brown and wondered if anyone can give me some advice on creating a realistic looking job before I go ahead and make a giant Fuzzy Felt...

I\'ll give you a tip....Use a Flour Sifter/Sugar shaker. (Thanks to generulpoleaxe)

But for the colour distribution, darkest green closest to water, mid green after that and summer green on higher ground. If you\'ve any of the mix with touches of brown on it add that amongst scatterings of rocks for a \"limited growth/nutrient apperance\".

 

[donga666]

Seal it afterwards, or you will spend your life Hoovering up flock!

A very thin mix of pva and a drop of detergent (to break surface tension) works well.

 

[Amazon warrior]

I\'ve seen puffer bottles in my freindly local hobby store that I think are used to apply flock. They\'re just plastic bottles with a couple of holes in the cap - you fill \'em up with static grass and then squeeze to blow the grass out onto the area you want. Supposedly they\'re quite effective. Might be useful for flocking controlled areas.

 

[Logan]

Thanks for the help folks.
I\'ve got some puffer bottles which as well as being useful for distributing the static grass, are supposed to charge the fibres inside due to the particles rubbing together, thus making it stand up.
However, I do like the good Generul\'s (I hate having to misspell that! lol) tip with the sugar shaker Mike.

Thanks for the ideas re: higher ground, rivers etc - much appreciated guys...

@Donga - What do you do with the mix? Brush it on? Put it in a spray bottle? It\'s not something I\'ve heard of.

 

[Theomar Pius]

What I do is flock a large section with your primary color, say a dark green, and then while the glue is still wet, take a yellowish or lighter color and reflock the thin spots.

 

[Logan]

Originally posted by Theomar Pius
What I do is flock a large section with your primary color, say a dark green, and then while the glue is still wet, take a yellowish or lighter color and reflock the thin spots.

Ho ho! I was waiting / hoping for you to post - The scenery master himself.

 

[ScottRadom]

This has nothing to do with the technique but I would urge you to NOT shop for flock from game stores, they tend to be smaller packs marked up quite a bit for the small amount.

If you need large amounts of the stuff I would push you to check with model railroad stores as they will have larger containers for much less.

This is not a knock at game manufacturers at all, but if you need bulk amounts you needn\'t pay for the extra packaging and convenient sizes of the small gamer sized ones.

Check out woodland scenics, I think they\'re typically the cheapest.

At least that\'s how it works \'round here.

 

[alextheartist]

Buy a bag of sand froma diy store with a bucket of heavy duty wood glue.

Dry the sand inside as it can be a little damp.

Mix a few bags of differnt sized stones etc in when its dry, so its nicly mixed. get a pack of flock and throw that in too.

Get a large brush (eg, one you would paint walls with) and mix the glue with a small amount of water, then paint the whole board with it.

After its dry, water down some of the glue quite a bit and go all over to seal the stuff in. After this go back and glue some larger rocks on.

Spray paint the whole thing with brown. Get a big pot of black acrylic from a craft shop and mix it with water, then wash the whole board. After that is dry, drybrush the whole thing a fairly light colour.

Finally glue static grass randomly all over the board. I would mix a few colours together.



OR, if you dont want to paint, get a pack of green flock and a pack of dark brown, mix the two and do the same, but without the painting.


Alex

 

[generulpoleaxe]

every blade should be made seperatley and glued in place with tweezers.
only then will you gain the hatred that leads to the darkside.


either sift/shake loose stuff mate or get a battle matt and airbrush the differnt tones onto it.
it\'s so easy even cyclops could manage it.

 

[Theomar Pius]

Originally posted by Logan

Originally posted by Theomar Pius
What I do is flock a large section with your primary color, say a dark green, and then while the glue is still wet, take a yellowish or lighter color and reflock the thin spots.

Ho ho! I was waiting / hoping for you to post - The scenery master himself.

lol
No master, just a guy who had a lot of free time to work on techniques.
I\'m pretty old fashioned when I do this stuff too. Paint the base a dirty brown, in case you miss a spot it will look like earth.
I use white glue, applied by smearing it with my finger. I then sprinkle the Woodland Scenics model railroad flock using my hands, to control where the stuff goes, and how much of it goes. Tap off the excess onto a newspaper and pour it back into the plastic zip bag. Pretty straight forward.

You can always batsignal me via PM if you have any questions. I love to talk shop.

 

[ScottRadom]

Theomar Pius- You\'re far too modest! You ARE the terrain master!

I\'d be suprised if you couldn\'t levitate X-Wings with your mind.

The fact that you say you don\'t game on your stuff makes me cry.

 

[Theomar Pius]

Originally posted by ScottRadom
Theomar Pius- You\'re far too modest! You ARE the terrain master!

I\'d be suprised if you couldn\'t levitate X-Wings with your mind.

The fact that you say you don\'t game on your stuff makes me cry.

You\'ll be happy to know then that I played Dungeon Dwellers in my cavern at Gencon this past summer.
Past that, I don\'t even know how to game, and my mates who do game live overseas and such. Probably just not in the cards for me.

 

[ScottRadom]

Originally posted by Theomar Pius

Originally posted by ScottRadom
Theomar Pius- You\'re far too modest! You ARE the terrain master!

I\'d be suprised if you couldn\'t levitate X-Wings with your mind.

The fact that you say you don\'t game on your stuff makes me cry.

You\'ll be happy to know then that I played Dungeon Dwellers in my cavern at Gencon this past summer.
Past that, I don\'t even know how to game, and my mates who do game live overseas and such. Probably just not in the cards for me.

A couple points
1- It\'s a start! Well done!
2- Make new friends closer to you!

Or give me your terrain and roll dice all up and down them streets!

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by Dragonsreach


But for the colour distribution, darkest green closest to water, mid green after that and summer green on higher ground. If you\'ve any of the mix with touches of brown on it add that amongst scatterings of rocks for a \"limited growth/nutrient apperance\".

nice tip there! thanks for sharing

Originally posted by ScottRadom

If you need large amounts of the stuff I would push you to check with model railroad stores as they will have larger containers for much less.

yup seconded

 

[Amazon warrior]

Originally posted by freakinacage

Originally posted by Dragonsreach
If you need large amounts of the stuff I would push you to check with model railroad stores as they will have larger containers for much less.

yup seconded

Thirded. I\'ve seen quite big bags of flock in the railway shop that cost less than a small GW pot of the same stuff.

 

[Logan]

Originally posted by Amazon warrior

Originally posted by freakinacage

Originally posted by Dragonsreach
If you need large amounts of the stuff I would push you to check with model railroad stores as they will have larger containers for much less.

yup seconded

Thirded. I\'ve seen quite big bags of flock in the railway shop that cost less than a small GW pot of the same stuff.

Well, I\'m a fan of GW\'s minis but you won\'t catch a tight-arsed Yorkshireman buying PVA, sand, static grass etc when I know you can get it cheaper and in larger quantities by shopping around.
I bought a boatload of the Noch stuff cheap from a scenery place on the net a few years back.

Re: the board itself, to be honest, I\'m just going to have to take the plunge. I\'m a little nervous due to the scale and potential for mess-up but nothing ventured, nothing gained...