If you lay your scatter, as I do, by sprinkling the stuff from your fingers you’ll love – or perhaps hate – this tip.
Someone shoot me.
While researching the previous post on how to make your own scatter I had an epiphany from the school of the blindingly obvious: use a sieve to apply scatter.
As I said, stupidly obvious.
- Paint the area you want to cover in watered down PVA.
- Go and nick a tea strainer from the kitchen.
- Fill it with scatter.
- Sieve the scatter over the area you want to cover.
Doing so covers an area quicker and with a much evener application so it looks better.
It’s also more a more efficient technique as less scatter is needed to cover an area.
Why oh why have I never thought of this before? I don’t want to even think about how much I could have saved over the years if I’d done this!
Agghhh! Someone shoot me.
Sorry, if you do the same as I did and I’ve just ruined your day 🙂
> A final, personal, note: I spend a huge amount of time testing, photographing, writing and researching techniques for these articles and pay for all the running costs of MRE out of my own pocket. If you found this article useful you can support me by making a donation on my fund-raising page. Thanks and happy modelling, Andy.
Andy is a lifelong modeler, writer, and founder of modelrailwayengineer.com. He has been building model railways, dioramas, and miniatures for over 20 years. His passion for model making and railways began when he was a child, building his first layout at the age of seven.
Andy’s particular passion is making scenery and structures in 4mm scale, which he sells commercially. He is particularly interested in modelling the railways of South West England during the late Victorian/early Edwardian era, although he also enjoys making sci-fi and fantasy figures and dioramas. His website has won several awards, and he is a member of MERG (Model Railway Electronics Group) and the 009 Society.
When not making models, Andy lives in Surrey with his wife and teenage son. Other interests include history, science fiction, photography, and programming. Read more about Andy.