On the front edge of my layout there is an 8"x24" area that I would like to model as a tidal marsh with mudflats, cattails, and framites(sp). But out of these the only one I have ever seen modelled is cattails so I don’t really know what to do for the others. Here’s my question, does anyone have experience or ideas for modelling these?
Thanks,
Chad
I have an old article about modelling a swamp, if that’s what you’re looking for.
Are you modeling fresh water or salt marsh? I don’t remember cattails in the salt water marshes (lived there over thirty years ago for a few years, so there could have been, especially if it was near where a freshwater stream or river outlet). There was a lot of pampas grass, very tall, light tan, fluffy heads. Either marsh would be quite level, have course grasses and flat expanes of wet mud. The mud wouldn’t be smooth as there is a lot of “stuff” that floats in and gets caught in the mud. A few scrubby bushes also manage to get a hold here and there with small trees at the shore edge. There were also little cuts through the grass where a small stream would run through the marsh to the waters edge.
Have fun,
Just wanted to point out the name is Phragmites and I have thought about modeling them too, as they seem to inhabit many drainage ditches, sumps, tidal eras etc in the North East US. I always associate them with purple flowers/leaves at the top (I guess not all species have this), so what if you took some model reeds, and flocked/sifted/glued some purple ground foam (or model grass or whatever) just to the top of the reed?
OK, to be helpful, I checked my old article folders, so lets go back to the future:
RMC, July 1986 - Making Mud - Jim Wild/Dwayne Easterling
Basic concept - hydrocal plaster, then add dents, footprints, etc, then shifted dirt, then Min-Wax Jacobean Stain, and cover w/ Acrylic Resin to thin coat the muddy area (the resin will also gather in any dips, representing puddles - add raw umber to get muddy water).
RMC July 1988 - Modeling A Marsh - Jim Wild/Dwayne Easterling (again - hmmm)
Various concepts, but their recommendation for reeds uses Scrub brushes with NATURAL bristles (good luck w/ that at this late date) and Wisk brooms - basically chopped up to size, and planted in the (future) marshland - do fluff up the bristles a bit.
RMC Jan 1998 - Creating A Swamp
Still no Phragmites, but discusses Bulrushes using raffia (a palm leaf) and some 1" lengths of 22gauge bare wire painted either flat green or flat tan, depending on season modeled (some insulation pieces are retained, placed back on the wire, and painted brown to represent the cattails). ‘Swamp grasses’ clumps are simply bristles from a bottle brush (3/4" length), bundled up 20 or so, tied at the bottom w/ thread, and painted medium & dark green.
MR Mar 2001 - Lily Pads, Cattails, and Pond Scum.
The reeds are bundles of Woodland Scenics green/dark green/gold tall grasses. Catttails are .010 plastic rod (for HO cattails) 1" long, painted coach green - then a blob of brown nail polish coated on
It will be a brackish water marsh on the edge of the Susquehanna Flats. There will be several freshwater sources though, like the overflow from a small resivoir and several drainage culverts. I think what you call the pampas grass is what I call Phragmites. It at least sounds like the same thing. They would be hard to model. About the only way I can think of is woodland scenics field grass cut longer and topped with tan ground foam. The mud is also a challenge. Maybe plaster painted brown and coated with acrylic gloss?
About the article, it depends what’s in it. A couple months ago MR ran an article about a fresh water swamp, but it concentrated more on the swamps that occur when water collects in a low area, not a large tidal marsh.
Thanks,
Chad
Thanks a lot for the articles. Especially the one about making mud. I’ll keep looking for a way to model the phragmites. I’m going to go start carving foam for the bank so I can get started, but any other ideas are appreciated as it may be a while until I get to installng scenery.
Thanks,
Chad
NSR (N Scale Railroading) did a great couple of articles on just this - if i could only remember what specific month/year. They looked really sharp !
Go to http://www.woodlandscenics.com/ and click on Demos - there’s two that would help - flowering fields/water and deadfalls. Both show marsh type locations.[:)]
I found the NSR issue you referenced. It’s Nov./Dec. 2006. I also watched the woodland scenics videos. The N-scale grass would be too short for HO but there might still be useful stuff in the article. The woodland scenics videos show what looks more like a freshwater marsh. I’m modelling a brackish water marsh that should look more like this.
Thanks,
Chad
I can’t find the magazine I found the marsh article in, but I know most of the info. It was in an issue of Model Railroad Craftsman between 1996 and 1998. I’ll keep digging around.
A few of articles from my database that may be of interest:
“Model Realistic Tall Grass”, MR May 2006, Using static grass, Noch applicator, which may be a bit pricey to buy
“Add Weeds to your Layout”, MR Dec 1995, Weeds from twine, string
“Lilly Pads, Cattails and Pond Scum”, MR Mar 2001
“Making Mud”, RMC Jul 1986, Puddles, seapage, drainige, wet spots
“Model a Swamp”, MR Nov 2007, Swamp / small pond w/ Scenic Express prairie tufts and cattails
“Scale Tails”, MR Nov 1989, Modeling cattails probably not appropriate for a salt marsh
You may want to look at Scenic Express, they have a lot more scenry materials than just trees http://www.scenicexpress.com/
A little progress update.
I decided to extend the marsh area to 5 feet long and I got abou half the foam carved. I also built a pipe bridge a culvert and a sluice gate as details for the marsh.
Here’s some pics…
First the pipe bridge. The dam behind it is a modelrailstuff product. This pic ended up a bit blury (please don’t kill me!)[:O]
Next is the causway and the culvert under it that was kitbashed from the Woodland Scenics concrete culvert by adding a pipe and water.
Here’s an interior veiw of the culvert.
And finally the sluice gate I scratchbuilt today. It hasn’t been weathered yet and still needs wing walls and water on the base.
Thanks for the help. More pics will come when I get farther along.
Chad
I did some experimenting with modelling phagmites. This is stranded copper wire striped of its insulation, planted in foam, ground foam glued on top, and painted. A little time consuming…
Here’s a test patch…
So what do you think?
Looks pretty good!! I don’t know if I would paint my house that barf green though! [:-^]