Dead vegetation?

[Andrew May]

Sounds like an odd thing to want but I'm looking for ideas or products that I could use to represent dead vegetation. Things like dried out ivy, "gone over" weeds, long dry grass tuts, dead grass/flock etc.
I've thought about grinding up some natural sponge, unwinding some twine and using roots but I'd like to find as many ideas as possible, any good tips?
Thanks chaps. 

[OSHIROmodels]

What on earth are you planning 

cheers

James

[Glitzer]

I'd try to use the same stuff as for green plants. Just colour it in grey and light yellows (that's what Busch-Modell does with their dried shrubland plants, and the look rather nice look -> here )

[Silent Invader]

Dried twigs and the fibres from a natural hair paintbrush are good starting points.

[Mason]

Use the standard tufts and other scenic materials out there...underbrush, flock, static grass etc, only use the autumnal variants.

Stick them down with PVA and once dry give them a washing of cheap superglue.
(Cheap as you may well use a fair bit  )

Then go to town with drybrushing them in greys and creams, and as the superglue has hardened everything, it will take well to a drybrush.

[Andrew May]

Cheers folk.

What on earth are you planning 

I'll start revealing stuff before too long!

[Elk101]

Sounds interesting! You're not modelling my garden are you?

If woody plants (trees and most shrubs) die out as a result of drought they are frequently snapped in the wind, so that would look good. Trees also tend to die top down, so a dying tree might be a stick in the top half with sparse foliage to the base.

[ink the troll]

For dead trees- dried twigs & branches.
If you want larger areas covered with dried out grass and bare earth, try a cheaper grassmat and drybrush that with ochre and yellow (if you can't find one appropriately coloured allready). If you choose one that's paper backed, it's fairly easy to use e.g. a wet brush and rub that over the surface to remove the grass for a patchy look.

For larger areas that you want to look like cracked earth, take some air drying clay or premixed plaster and roll up a ball of alu foil. Try to pry that open and then compress it into a ball again until it looks wrinkled. Press that into the clay.
That's what I did on the base below (only that I used putty), though I didn't bother to make it look overly neat as it was supposed to be partly covered under snow for a frozen earth look.

Also thick bristle brushes will work for creating smaller, more subtle cracks if you press them into the clay lengthwise.
While the material is still workable, you can insert a few tufts of off cut bristles as well for some cheap dead reeds or longer grass.

For small shrubs- twisted strands of wire with a bit of putty on the lower parts. pull apart the wires to form branches. Paint greyish brown. Probably will look a bit more realistic, if you add a few dry leaves still hanging on a couple of branches.