Bristling with Ideas!

I don't think I'm alone in saying this (I hope I'm not alone anyway!), but no matter what I'm doing during day to day life, there is always a part of the brain analyzing things and saying "how can I apply that to my trains".

Whilst rummaging through some stuff whilst cleaning up in the car port, I came across some paint trays and a brush that I used to paint the train ...... umm, I mean spare room about 13 months ago. I don't know about anyone else but those "wash out in water" paints just don't work for me. No amount of rinsing seems to fully clean the brushes, but in any case they aren't expensive these days, and I figured it was still ok for less than perfect jobs. Waste not want not I say.

The colour I painted the room was called Happy Days, a bright yellow ochre of sorts which was bright and cheery, and yet the remnants left on the bristles of the brush were a faded washed out dull yellow brown colour. About here was where the "train brain" kicked in and said "pssssst, that looks awfully like the tufts of faded grass you often see line side and in sun drenched paddocks and fields.

So armed with a pair of scissors, I decided to cut some random lengths off the ends of the bristles, gather into small bunches, and insert into some small holes in the test module. A dab of PVA glue, and 24 hours later I think I have a fair representation of the said dried grass.

It looks slightly coarser in the photos than by the naked eye, but overall I'm pretty happy with the result. Judging by the amount of material I have from cutting off only a cm or so off the brush, I should have a fair supply of this stuff to use on the layout.

So once again my practice of not throwing anything out (which unfortunately also means the garage is still no closer to being empty enough to begin on Gunnedah) has once again paid off. It also shows that with a bit of lateral thinking it's surprising how many items just laying about can be put to use on your layout.