Woodland Scenery

[Drew]

A couple of years ago, when I was working on an O scale diorama, I came up with a new method of doing woodland scenery typical to the eastern/midwestern US…This method yields fairly good results IMHO, & more importantly, adheres to my overall model railroading credo of “cheap, fast, & easy!

I’ve aways enjoyed doing eastern woodland-type scenery typical of where I live in Kentucky, & typical of the Appalachian foothills…

On previous layouts, I’ve used the tried & true method of using Woodland Scenics Poly-Fiber balls covered with ground foam…This worked well, especially when I was modeling in N scale. But when I started on the O scale diorama, I felt like I really needed something different…

One evening, I was doing some “honey-do” chores, washing the dishes, & I kept thinking, “Wonder if I could do something with those plastic dish-scouring pads…?”

So here’s what I came up with…

I can buy these things at the local grocery in packages of 6 for about 75 cents…Each package will yield in the neighborhood of 50 (give or take) large clumps of foliage…



These things are just long strips of plastic mesh rolled into a ball…I can cut them with scissors, & unroll them, then I cut a piece roughly the size of my hand, & then just kind of pull it & tease it into a random shaped “clump” about 15 -20 feet in diameter (HO scale)



Then I spray them with cheap flat black spray paint (this HAS to be FLAT black, not gloss) I get the paint at Wal-Mart for a buck & some change per can…After I paint a bunch of ‘em, I let them dry for at least a couple of hours…



After they’re dry, I hit them with some 3M spray adhesive, & roll them in some ground foam (medium coarse)

[Drew]

The next ingredient I throw into this mix are various dried weeds & flowers from the back yard (or wherever else I might find them) I use things such as crepe myrtle, seedum, spirea, & some of the very hralthy crop of weeds we have in the flower beds every year!



I hit these with the spray adhesive also, & sprinkle on some ground foam…



Here’s where I’m going to plant my “forest”…I have painted the scenic base & added some ground cover, & I’ve cut some toothpicks in half, & stuck them in randomly into the foam base…



I put a dollop of white glue onto each toothpick, & then add the clumps of scouring pad foliage…



Then I add the dried weeds in among the clumps of foliage (I make sure to include some bare trees here & there)…I plant them by punching a hole in the foam base with a nail, putting a drop of white glue on the base of each “tree”, & planting it…I think the end result is a fairly good representation of a wooded area…

[ezdays]

Nice, I like that. That gives me an idea for a barren area on my layout.

[LynnB]

I remember trying this along time ago when you first presented your method and it never worked for me then, I think I should try it again.

[Biased turkey]

Thanks Drew for that detailed tutorial about making trees howto.
Is it the kind of technique you used for the trees on your nice "Photo Diorama" thread ?
I have to admit that trees making are the weakest spot in my railroad modeler abilities.
I can make Woodland Scenics trees using plastic trunks + clump foliage or make conifers from scouring pads, but for whatever reason I'm unable to use natural materials, even if I collected a few weeds samples.

Jacques

[Drew]

Thanks for the comments guys!

Lynn,
Sorry it didn’t work for you…was there a particular problem you experienced?

Jacques,
As you can see in those photos, my individual trees don’t look that great either…but if you’re modeling a forest or wooded area, you don’t have to model every single tree…you just have to make it LOOK like there are a lot of them…
And yes…this is the method I used on the diorama, as well as the last layout I built…I plan to use it on my current layout as well…if I ever get to the scenery stage…

[LynnB]

I don't recall the problem I had now Drew, but I will be trying it again .

[Spitfire]

I think the end result is a fairly good representation of a wooded area…

Fairly good? I'd say it's excellent! In some ways it would be nice to be able to just buy all trees ready-made, but that gets expensive, and I think it's also a lot less interesting than the look you get when you make your own.

cheers
Val