My friend George stopped by today. He is neither a model rail hobbiest nor scenicking pro. However he produced a selection of wonderful “off the bush” trees he had made for me. These are straight out of the wilderness…merely trimmed, hair sprayed and spray painted. Nothing added or glued…not armatures, or flocking. What a great job.
I had mentioned how expensive trees can be…even my modest favourites, the Bachmann SceneScapes at $3-$4 per tree…not to mention premium brands at over $20 per tree. Also mentioned how deciduous are much harder to make appealing on a budget compared to coniferous.
I don’t know what the bush is, but George graciously volunteered to pick me as much as I want. They seem quite similar to another product I bought for over $25 per pack. But I’ll take these any day.
The camera flash has made them appear rather more shiney than in reality. One can see how easily they could be made in verious shades. But as I am always on the lookout when out walking for just such useful items, without ever finding anything so useful, I am very very pleased with this surprise set!
Nioce find. [tup] Be good to find out what this stuff is. The trunk looks a little anemic, but the branching and foilage are wonderful. I could see them working as is or, even better, decorating a more representative trunk.
I don’t believe that is Sedum. It could be a variety of Asilbe. The dried flowers from last year are ready for harvest. It looks similar to Queen of the Prauire, but not quite. They are sure nice trees. I could use a couple hunderd, if your friend could give a positive identification. It also might help to know where they were picked and if they were flowers or the ends of branches, like super trees.
That looks a bit like the goldenrod I used for trees when I lived in PA. The stuff was plentiful around the edges of marshy areas and near stream beds.
Mark, I think you have hit on it. I will know for sure when I go to the spot to pick more.
My friend got it along a little lake here on the southern west coast of British Columbia, at elevation of about 700 feet. I see from the web that the fresh product is not similar, but a picture of dried Canada Goldenrod looks like this below (Solidago Canadensis). Trimmed and sprayed green could be the same as the one brought to me.
The photo was taken in Nebraska so I am sure that the species grows throughout much of the US…as well as other varieties of goldenrod. More info after the weekend.
Tell me, fellows - I know that soaking fresh lichen in glycerin helps keep it supple and fresh, and that old and brittle lichen can be revived somewhat by also soaking it in glycerin. Has anyone tried soaking sedum or astilbe or goldenrod in glycerin to keep it supple and fresh?
I have the glycerin and not much if any lichen left.
We would harvest bunches of the stuff from the edge of the Schuylkill River while it was still green and hang it inverted in my shed till it dried out, then dye it and add some ground foam as needed. Here in northern Nevada there doesn’t appear to be any goldenrod, so I’m searching through the many desert weeds looking for something similar. I’ve been making trees with Woodland Scenics tree armatures and their ground foam/foliage and it still gets spendy.
I use some lichen from an area craft store as shrubs. I’ll pull a clump and throughly wet it with thinned white glue then roll it in ground foam, same as puff ball trees. Seems the glue solidfies the lichen and makes it resistant to crumbling.
There are goldenrod trees on the RSME layout in Reading PA that are better than 35 years old.
I found more of the material locally, behind my daughter’s school in a field. I still don’t know what it is for sure, but now that I have found my own bushes, it doesn’t appear to be goldenrod afterall. When the leaves are in full bloom and the flowers come out, I will perhaps know for sure.
Anyway seems to grow in empty lots all over town…just never noticed it at this stage of its dryness.
Here are some before and after shots. I rather like the natural brown, but it is too dead looking even for my semi arid scenery. I sprayed it first with lots of strong hair spray. Then an olive green, a matte camoflage green, and a touch of brighter green at the last.
Still would like to brighten it up more, or add some reds and yellows to match some fall colours on the layout. I think I will have to do that by hand…The spraying takes so much paint that I must use cans rather than airbrush and the stores do not have much in the way of brighter greens…unless glossy.
Hand painting some trunks and branches browner would also help. However, I still have way more than the space left on the layout.
Camera work with and without flash not so great for true colour. But here is some before and after, also with my new (and weathered) Baldwin VO-1000. Just propped some examples up next to the fall colours temporarily.
Sedum it is: there are about 389 varities of sedum, it is used as standard garden plant grows from about 12’’ to 36’', let it dry out in the late fall, clip it off, and dip in green paint , add a few splotches of yellow to the outer branches paint the trunk brownish gray, and you can trim the “branches” to any shape tree you desire.
