Spent a little more time on this build since the last update. I’ve been playing around with stowage for the pickup, haven’t decided on final layout but I’m close. I’ll bulk it out with resin bits and add some home made stuff as well.
I’m going to concentrate on the base for now though until I figure out the exact stowage, I don’t want to start weathering the truck until that’s sorted.
With the foam glued into my styrene frame and left to completely dry, it was time to start the groundwork.
My choice for the base layer is fast setting joint compound. The number on the bag designates the set up time, in this case 20 minutes. I’d recommend getting the 90 if you’re gonna try yourself, this stuff sets fast and as hard as a rock.
We go through a lot of this stuff on job sites and there is always extra bags hanging around at the end that just end up getting tossed in the dumpster. We don’t use much 20 minute so these are usually the ones getting tossed. I mix a little in a solo cup to a thick consistency; the thicker the mix the faster the dry time, the wetter it is the slower it is.
Then it’s fairly simple, pack it in the crevices and spread it around to get good coverage. It’s water based so clean up is easy. Even after it hardens it’s still pervious to water, so until it’s painted you can still soak it and scrub it off so I’ll use my fingers to mold it to the shape of the foam if I have to.
Those drag marks don’t look natural and I’ve gotta’ deal with that, nothing kills ground work realism for me more than seeing the spatula marks under a tank or soft skin on a dio/vignette. To deal with this I simply sprinkle on more dry powder from the bag.
I knock the excess powder off into a box top to reuse and tap any high spots down with my finger, if I try to drag I’ll just year the fresh powder coat off the wet surface.
I give it a very quick, light spritz of water from a spray bottle making sure to keep it as light and mist-like as possible since any sizable droplets will hit the surface like a meteor and leave a crater.
Then I simply dump more dust on the surface, tap off the extra and allow to dry completely. (Which due to the nature o the product, happens fairly quickly.)
The last thing I do before setting it aside to cure is push any vehicle and/or figures into the soft surface before drying. This will keep vehicles from standing on their ‘tippy toes’ and give them a realistic, weighted look sinking slightly into the ground.
Once there are sufficient tire tracks, foot prints etc. in the surface and it’s fully dry, it’s time to add more texture. I like using stone dust as it has every size from the actual dust, all the way up to small stones that are perfect for rocks and gravel at this scale.
Using thinned PVA glue and a brush I go about setting stones and gravel around the surface. I work in small sections and slowly pick my way around until I have it right. Dropping more glue into bare areas and sprinkling on more dust of needed.
This will take much longer to dry than the joint compound so I quit here for the day. I’ll let this set up overnight and start with vegetation next.
And one final shot, just and idea of the final layout that I’m still tweaking.