Tulou and Fortress (Part 11) - Texture Beginnings

Here's where we left things...

It's a bit like the flat polygon models in 3D computer graphics, it only takes on a more distinctive and interesting appearance once textures and colours have been added to the model.

I'm making the interior of the tulou with wood, building up a framework and staining it to look appropriately aged and lived in. However, the part that I'm working on at the moment is a stone wall covered with hard packed earth. So I'll be looking for something with a bit of texture, but not too much.

The first step is to get the model into position, then apply a layer of a glue that will adhere to both the foamcore surface and the intended texturing material.

I'd often use sand or dirt, especially if I were making castle walls built of stone, roughly textured ground, or roads. In this case, the wall is pretty smooth, almost like a cement render, so I need much finer particles. I was cleaning up one of the linishers in the school workshops and found some really fine sawdust inside the machine. The machine is a sanding belt that gives a really smooth flat surface, and the wooden dust that it clears from the pieces it's eroding should be extracted by a ducted fan system. Certain interior parts of the machine don't get much airflow, and the dust builds up. I cleared about a liter of the dust, bagged it and that's what I'll be using as an experiment to texture this part of the terrain. I feels like it has the consistency of flour, but since it's wood, I know it isn't going to go off or go mouldly like flour would. Also, since it's wood, the wood glue I've been using for the foamcore is definitely going to work to stick this stuff to the surface.        

Glue goes on..

A thick coating of the dust is applied, and I've lightly patted it down to push it into the glue. At the moment I'm getting "sand castle" vibes. 

I tip the model over, and tap it on the table over a dropsheet to knock off excess dust.  

At this stage, the dust is very fragile on the surface, and any touch knocks more of it loose.

I left the model on Friday afternoon, and it's a long weekend, so I'll check in on it again on Tuesday morning. If the surface is still too fragile, I might apply a coat of spray adhesive to ensure more texture sticks... but at this stage it's experimentation. 

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