Scale Carpeting – flock alternative

i have long used flocking ( powdered fabric ) for my interiors to give a bit of added realism and texture in my builds.

i decided to try something different for a change, i have seen a few of my friends having some success with using whats called embossing powder to achieve decent results.

first what is embossing powder….embossing powder is used in stamping to add texture to paper. basically it is a material with a low melting point that they apply over fresh stamp ink ( to which it sticks to ) and then they heat it up with a heat gun to melt it together and smooth it out.

i got a vial of fine clear embossing powder from hobby lobby for a couple bucks. you can also get it in different colors but i plan to paint it afterwards so i stayed with clear.

here are the basic materials i will be using

i am using the floor polish as the adhesive for the embossing powder.

i am starting with the interior tub of the foose 67 coronet kit, seats have a base coat applied but the floor needs some texture, as do the lower portions of the door cards.

i pour the future into a plastic lid ( yes i repurpose everything lol )

and brush an even coat of the floor polish over the interior floor pan, being careful to not get any on the floor mat ( we dont want that fuzzy =o) )

the future floor polish stays tacky for 10-15 minutes so there is plenty of working time

now i sprinkle a heavy dose of the embossing powder over the floor area. ( make sure to do this over a clean sheet of paper so you can reclaim the excess powder to use again later )

i use my finger to push it down a bit to make sure i have it in all the dips and valleys, then let it sit for about 20-30 minutes

i then turn the part upside down and tap the back of it to knock free any excess powder onto the paper.

funny, but it doesnt look like much, but looks can be deceiving.

i do the same thing with the lower door cards

i am brush painting the seats and upper door cards ( dont worry about how they look in the next few photos as this was just with one coat, they will even out when i add another coat later ) this is the paint i am using

apple barrel acrylic, bought for about 79 cents from wallmarts craft section

floor and door cards ready to mask off and airbrush, i use an airbrush on the newly carpeted areas as i think there is less risk of the brush damaging the texture i am going for

i use the same paint, thinned 50% with water and shot at 25psi through my airbrush, 3 coats later and the carpet looks like this.

i have to do a bit of scraping on the floor mat to remove the excess and then that will be painted semi gloss to replicate a rubber matt.

overall i think i like this result better than the fabric flock, to me it looks more “in scale”

cya soon