Hello!
I am working on making a 1:1 scale model of a mussel reef. We have mussel shells which need to be dirtied up to look like they have been in the water for a long time.
Would any of you have suggestions on what material could be used to replicate the texture in this photo:
I was thinking PVA glue and wool? We are planning on dyeing lichen to replicate the red seaweeds.
You say it’s going to be 1:1 scale, but that doesn’t really give a relative size requirement. As I’m not sure the dimensions of what you are trying to accomplish, these may or may not work.
I initially thought about flocking to give the texture (commonly used to represent carpet in 1/25 cars), but I’m not sure if that would give enough texture on a larger item.
The other thought I had, if needing something larger, would be dyed sawdust. It’s an older technique that was very mainstream for train layouts in the past. It might be something worth considering.
Hi Frozin!
Thank you for your comment. Dyed sawdust would probably give us the effect we are after for the model. The base will have an area of 1200mm by 1200mm and the mussel shells will be between 50mm to 150mm in length 
