I am modeling a rural area of the midwest which I think would be incomplete without at least a hint of a corn field. I have tried the mats that resemble indoor/outdoor carpet but the results from every attempt were disappointing. Does anyone know a realisitc way to model corn in the field in N scale?
No problem. Let us know how it goes!
there’s good articles about how to model corn in two of the Kalmbach scenery books. I forget there name, but the pictures look pretty realistic. You don’t mention what scale you’re in, but the articles are for HO (I think). One of them, by Art Curren, sounds great! The other one, the guy says it’s tedious, but looks “good enough”. Maybe you can do what I was planning for my HO railroad (and hopefully, I’ll have a chance to do someday), just make 1 or 2 rows,depending on the size of your field, and paint the rest on the backdrop.
Ron - Been thinking about your corn problem. I don;t know how many corn fields you have around you, but I seee a lot of them here in IA! When you look at a real field of corn, you can’t see more than 2-3 rows into it, if that, during the summer when it’s pretty much fully grown (remember the movie “Field of Dreams”?). If that’s the look you’re after, you don’t have to model each stalk in the field, just around the edges, and then fill the rest with something that looks right from above. Maybe the carpet you were trying would work for the latter.
I’ve seen some methods for HO also, but they don’t work realistically in N. I want to cover a triangle at the corner of my layout that is about 6" on one side and 8" on the other. I’ve heard of the etched brass too, but I can’t find it or who makes it.
Ron - How many corn stalks are you planning on having? I have one of the Kalmbach scenery books (not with me) that describes a way of modelling corn stalks in HO that sounded pretty good, but as I recall it looked pretty tedious. If you’re interested I’ll pass along a description when I get home.
Also, I recall someone selling etched brass corn plants (not a cheap way to do 100 acres) - maybe do a search at www.walthers.com if you’re interested in going that route.
BillK
Ron,
Go to http://www.alkemscalemodels.com and check out the etched metal corn they have. The pictures look really great although I have not seen them in person yet. Good luck!
Doug A.
Thanks for the tip, Doug. The pics on the site to look great. I may have to give this one a try. Thanks again.
What you say is true, Bill. I am filling a corner of my layout. I need probably 3 rows of good looking corn stalks to look convincing, or that’s my guess anyway. I think the Alkem photoetched corn is promising, but i can’t find anyone who carries it and i’m nervous about ordering it sight unseen. I think I will probably try it regardless.
What was the final result for your corn field problem? I am doing the same kind of thing for an Ohio layout olso in N-Scal;e.