Does anyone know where to purchase bulk clump lichen? I am at that stage to cover a lot of hillsides like the scenes in last month’s Model Railroader (November, 2006) article “Celebrating the Pennsy” p. 48. To go with the small bags by Woodland Scenics would cause me to come out of retirement.
I was at my local Michael’s arts & crafts store yesterday. They already have the Christmas supplies out and in one aisle they had large bags of colored lichen (they called it “Holiday Moss”) for $5 each.
Micheals or any craft store BUT
I prefer microfiber and ground foam for trees.
Lichen does make nice bushes if mixed with other styles.
I also prefer poly fiber and ground foam for masses of background trees.
If you’re a hardy soul, Dave Frary’s How to Build Realistic Model Railroad Scenery contains instructions for picking and preserving your own lichen.
Nick
What is microfiber and where do you buy it? That is, is there a place you can buy it other than a LHS?
I got some at a craft store. It was white and I painted it. They say you can get it at walmart. I also get some at a hobby shop from WS that is colored and has some foam imbedded. The fall colors are pretty good.
For the white, I pray the trunck to color, put the microfiber on while wet. Spray the microfiber greens and yellows and put the foam on wet. I then mist everything with hairspray.
It takes practice to get great trees, but good ones are fairly easy.
I don’t know if it’s the same as micro fibre but I love accoustic wadding - the stuff they pack loud speakers out with… available from places that sell that sort of equipment. It’s synthetic so it doesn’t rot or fade, it comes in white and takes spray paint without wadding up… so you can have what season you like.
In another post I’ve been told that you can also use the stuff they put into some air filters.
Oh yes… and the wadding is designed to not burn or smoke which is good.
Polyfiber is used for pillow stuffing. An craft store or one that caters to the home sewing crowd should have it. It is usually white, so you would have to spray paint it.
Got a bag at Michael’s, stuck some of it on two armatures and sprayed them. For a first try at trees it didn’t turn out bad. Maybe the trees are a bit too full, if that’s possible, but I’m pretty proud just the same. Thanks guys!