I am doing a midwest (indiana) layout in ho and was looking for ways of doing the farm fields in the area. I could do most of the fields after harvest but would like to have some standing crops like corn in the fall before harest. Any way for me to do this?
Astro turf looks okay but if you want a real killer then you can get etched brass frets of corn from Alkem Scale Models in HO or N/
these are very well detailed and were outlined in the June 2002 MR by Bill Darnaby (page 62).
it would be quite expensive to do a big layout with them though!
Wheat… check out the fake fur at your local fabric store. Corn could be done with broom straw stalks, and tissue paper leaves, but would be time consuming. Beans… yarrow buds?
For wheat, definitely look at fake fur. Since I’m modeling June, I use light green fake fur extensively for tall grass.
Beanfields can be modeled using Woodland Scenics’ clump foliage pulled into small balls and glued in straight lines. If you want beans that are growing, use dark green. If you want ripening beans, hit the dark green rows with Aqua Net hairspray, and sprinkle on WS Burnt Grass fine flocking.
Corn is a pain to model. Alpen makes photo etched cornrows that are the most realistic, but cost $12.95 for one 8.5x11 sheet, which only makes eight short rows. Astro Turf has been used a lot, but I don’t think it looks realistic. I’ve seen modelers use mature seed heads of tall grasses with good effect, but it would take forever to plant a big field of the stuff. For my late spring layout, I’ve found an indoor-outdoor carpeting at Lowe’s that looks like short-nap Astro Turf. It’s not perfect, but is the best think I could find to create new growth corn.
This is going WAY back but a few decades ago I recall reading in a Kalmbach publication about using coffee grounds combed into rows to model an empty field. I would think it might be a good idea to add some bleach to this or possibly seal it with matte medium so that mold wouldn’t eventually grow. There may be a better, modern day equivalent to this now.
As for modeling corn, the standard ways have already been mentioned. However, there was some sort of evergreen tree growing in our yard which we had cut down when putting in and widening side walks last summer. Not sure, but I think it was a cedar. It used to drop these little brown things that were about an inch long, having a straight central stem with little side spikes coming out all around from the central stem. These spikes were about 3/16 inch long and the ends were very pointy, to where if you leaned on them while they were on the ground, they usually would stick into your hand – ouch! I saved one of these as a reminder that I thought it could be fairly passible as an HO scale corn stalk. Downside would be you would have to plant them all individually, but I figured I could use them along the front edge to trick the eye somehow into ASSuming whatever was beyond was the same, kind of like putting the highly detailed trees in front with the much less detailed, if at all, “trees” behind the first row or two. If you have access to a cedar tree, check these out and see what you think.
Foxtrackin,
Don’t know if you raise them as a cash crop in Indiana, but I remember fields of sunflowers in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Walthers has Busch’s HO scale sunflowers, item 189-6003, on sale at $ 6.49 for 60 until 31 March 2004. Some rivet counter will probably want to animate them so that they follow the sun ! [:)]
Bob