I have two Scenic Express blends that I put down–Spring Green and Alpine Meadow. Is that enough to give the layout some variety? I tend to blend them together or put them down in patches for variety.
The other question I had was how you create shrubs and where to put them? I thought to get small armatures and glue coarse foam on them before gluing them near the tracks or in bunches around the layout.
TIA!
Lee
Lee, It really depends on what effect you are going for. There are huge areas on my layout that I will be covering with a single color of ground cover/static grass because that is exactly what the prototype area I am modeling looks like. I would suggest looking at some photos of the real thing that you are trying to duplicate and see how it compares. Jamie
Boy there are many many different options for all that out there. Open up a Walthers catalog to see how many different companies produce so many different things along those lines. I tend to think that, as in nature, the biggest variety of options you can think of will tend to add more realism. I use an extremely varied selection of commercially available products along with a mixture of natural materials. Ground foam to clump foliage to different grasses to blends of turf, to sticks and stones! (Alot of this depends on the season you model as well.) I constantly scour the great outdoors for ideas. I recently found a piece of a twig that looks remarkably like a dead tree that has been struck by lightning. I’ve pulled weeds in the gardens to find a root structure that once cut off from the plant, cleaned, dried, and lightly painted looks alot like a dead tree or shrub once it’s inverted. You ask a really open ended question here and hopefully others will sound off with what they use as well. Happy modeling!
Matt
Matt, I didn’t think about looking at a scenery catalog. I have one from Scenic Express and it has TONS of stuff in it with all kinds of materials that I had never heard of before. Lots of photos of their products in action: trees, foliage, turf, static grass, fake fur, and on and on. A very good idea book and the price is right (free). Jamie
I usually just use one color of grass and then paint it in different hues with my Airbrush.
as mentioned above it depends on what you are doing. For example a backyard with a swing set would have tones of brown mixed with green , often yards have a mixed shade of green/ tan unless its a perfect yard… I like layering lighlty using fibredecor as a base. this gives good depth.
Still unfinished backyard . sorry about the overexposure
Bill D
I have several books on trees and frequently I read something to the effect that this tree usually grows as a shrub but occasionally reaches to tree height. I am like you: I view model shrubbery as a ground-hugging tree and it needs an armature to really look authentic. I have always found lichen and foam clumped against a building for instance to look like . . . . . . . . . . lichen and foam clumped against a building.
Hi Lee: In my opinion, depending on the area you are modeling, the more variety, the better. As to your second question, I like the small pieces left over from making Super Trees, WS fine foliage, and clump foliage. DJ.
never waste any of the supertrees. I do the same here. Clump foligage has its limits. Always something to do with them. for thicker cover you can use polyfibre that has been flocked. Once I found some artifical flowers at a bontique, and the base fibres made for nice reeds.
I think that the more variety you have can differ depending on what area of the layout you are working on. Areas that are less visible and farther away from the viewer dont need as much variety as closer areas. As previously stated by one of the other members, picking products from different companies can create a more diverse scenery look. A few that you might try include Timberline Scenery, Ts Custom Trees, Scenic Express, Woodland Scenics.
I have one use for lichen: I like to use scissors and shred it into bits about 1/4" long or smaller. I sprinkle this on top of the ground foam. It adds a lot of texture and I think it looks pretty realistic as a depiction of natural debris.
I also use WS clump foliage for small bushes and bushy weeds, but I agree that a shrub more than a couple of scale feet tall should really have an armature.
Here’s a picture with some of the lichen ground cover and small clump foliage:
I’ve been struggling with this question as well. I wanted to landscape around some houses and office buildings with shrubs such as boxwood or yew bushes. Some are round and others upright… Has anyone tried cutting the tips off evergreen trees??
Bob