Drny malé - pozdní léto

Small turfs – late summer: drying grass for a scene

A finished painted turf from the Czech manufacturer Model Scene. The grassy growth is ready to be laid into a diorama straight away — it is not a loose static grass and not a material for further work. The small format suits filling a scene in on purpose: at the feet of walls, around stumps and stones, into ditches, onto the edges of tracks and anywhere a continuous lawn looks too artificial.

The coloring of late summer

Late summer is the transitional shade between green and drought: the base stays green, but yellow-green and straw-colored stems dried out by the heat run through it. It corresponds roughly to August and the turn of summer, that is to the time after mowing, on stubble fields, on south-facing slopes and along dusty tracks. In a scene this tone supports a parched atmosphere well and reliably sets the scenery apart from spring freshness. It complements dusty pigments on vehicles and dried-out, light ocher terrain excellently.

How to lay the turf

Coat the cleaned base with a thin layer of PVA glue, press the turf down and weight it until dry. Thin the edges out and fluff them up so that no straight edge is left anywhere, and cover the transition into the terrain with soil, sand or fine scatter. Irregularity helps: combine late summer turfs with islands of bare ground and with a few richer green spots where the soil would be damper in reality. Dustiness can be brought out with a very light dusting of a pale shade from a greater distance.

Who the turfs are for

• Builders of dioramas with a summery, parched atmosphere.
• Military vehicle modelers who work with dust and dry terrain.
• Railroad modelers for embankments and road shoulders in the late season.
• Anyone who wants quick grassy growth without an electrostatic applicator.

The turfs are supplied finished and painted. The glue, the base and any further scenery materials are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.