Wenlock's Blog

Wow - you have certainly learned a good lesson from Mr Gravett! Try these people for a good subtle mix, they also do 10mm fibres that are great for O gauge;

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180871605807?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&var=480121053388&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Superb workmanship wenlock- so many modellers overdo the static grass so that it looks like Boris Johnsons hair on a bad day. Yours is very convincing and I hope you don't mind me 'cribbing' your methods for the verges of a layout I'm planning. Thanks for sharing with us,

Kind regards,

Jock.

Dave,

Looking very effective!  I particularly like the variety of colours and textures around the private siding and the end of the siding at the front of the layout

Wow - you have certainly learned a good lesson from Mr Gravett! Try these people for a good subtle mix, they also do 10mm fibres that are great for O gauge; http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180871605807?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&var=480121053388&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Thanks Kevin, yes Mr Gravett was definitely my guru! Thanks for the link, those fibres might be just the job for some tangled grass at the edge of a bit of woodland that I'm planning :-)

 

Superb workmanship wenlock- so many modellers overdo the static grass so that it looks like Boris Johnsons hair on a bad day. Yours is very convincing and I hope you don't mind me 'cribbing' your methods for the verges of a layout I'm planning. Thanks for sharing with us,Kind regards,Jock.

Thanks Jock, glad you like the result and doubly pleased it doesn't look like a Boris hair do! :-) Please feel free to crib any of the techniques I've used, I can't claim any real credit apart from the ability to follow Gordon's excellent instructions!

 

Dave,Looking very effective!  I particularly like the variety of colours and textures around the private siding and the end of the siding at the front of the layout

Thanks Ian, I was trying to get the effect of grass and weeds growing through the ballast and an air of neglect on the private siding.Best wishes to allDave

Nice work, Dave. It's really starting to look superb now.

 

I've also been using postiche as a basis for tree foliage. One other material that's somewhat similar in application, but comes in larger packs, is Woodland Scenics poly fibre. It's similar in that you can tease it out into a lacy, fibrous mass that you can then treat with additional scatter material, but I find it slightly easier to work with. On the other hand, postiche comes in a wider variety of colours, including black, so they're both useful products to have in the scenic box.

Nice work, Dave. It's really starting to look superb now.

 

I've also been using postiche as a basis for tree foliage. One other material that's somewhat similar in application, but comes in larger packs, is Woodland Scenics poly fibre. It's similar in that you can tease it out into a lacy, fibrous mass that you can then treat with additional scatter material, but I find it slightly easier to work with. On the other hand, postiche comes in a wider variety of colours, including black, so they're both useful products to have in the scenic box.

 

Thanks Al! :-)  Yes I've got a bag of the poly fibre, but I've not tried using it yet.  I was rather put off by it's pale green colouring, but if you think it's easier to use I'll give it a go!  I suppose I could always tease it out and then spray it with a darker colour before applying the scatter.

That's coming along splendidly Dave - Gordon's techniques provide excellent results.

 

For anyone experiencing palpitations at the thought of the price of Gordon's book on Amazon, my chum Simon Castens is now the proprietor of Wild Swan books, and it can be bought directly from Simon's bookshop The Titfield Thunderbolt for the heart-safe sum of  twenty five quid.

 

http://titfield.co.uk/WildSwan/WSM_TECH.htm

Thanks Adrian, good to hear Simon has copies of Gordon's book at a reasonable price. You'd need to be either very well heeled or in desperate need to undertake scenic modelling to pay Amazons price!

Nice work Dave

Hi Dave. It's really coming alive now! The brambles in the grass works really well, helps avoid that "lawn" look. Interesting to see how the vegetation also brings out the lovely track. It occurs to me that I haven't seen photos of how grass was cut along the line in the 1900s. I assume a scythe was used. Not considered photo-worthy, I suppose. 

Very nicely done.

Would there have been any weeds at all on the GWR track, given the era?

(Private sidings are a different matter!)

 

Simon

Hi Dave. It's really coming alive now! The brambles in the grass works really well, helps avoid that "lawn" look. Interesting to see how the vegetation also brings out the lovely track. It occurs to me that I haven't seen photos of how grass was cut along the line in the 1900s. I assume a scythe was used. Not considered photo-worthy, I suppose.

 

Thanks Mikkel, glad you like it! As it's the first time I've tackled 7mm scenery it's all experimentation :-) I'm thoroughly enjoying playing though and it's nice to finally get some colour on the layout! I think you are probably right about the use of a scythe to keep the grass at bay, I can imagine it was a very time consuming task in the summer months.

Very nicely done.

Would there have been any weeds at all on the GWR track, given the era?

(Private sidings are a different matter!)

 

Simon

 

Hi Simon, glad you like the progress so far. I'm of the opinion that although it was a time of plentiful and cheap labour, some weeds would have appeared here and there. I'm sure a lot of effort was put into keeping the main line as weed free as possible, but I'm guessing the ends of sidings and around stop blocks would get less attention. I have certainly found in my own garden that after a week away, on my return I'm knee deep in wretched weeds!

 

 

 

 

I wasn't thinking so much of plentiful and cheap labour as of martinet station masters and district inspectors!

 

Of course, very few photographs will have been taken of such mundane areas in your chosen era, and most of those would be official photos and everything would be spotless.

 

We may never know, but I liked the impression created by the odd clump at the end.

 

So, next question. Do the weeds match the time of the year you have chosen to represent with your scenery generally? (I shall do a passable impression of a mail train picking up a pouch as I head past my coat towards the door...)

 I think you are probably right about the use of a scythe to keep the grass at bay, I can imagine it was a very time consuming task in the summer months.

 

I did a little internet search, but the only real result was this early illustration from Sonning cutting, which doesn't give much detail and probably isn't very reliable anyway. Must have been cumbersome if the women worked in their dresses! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonning_Cutting_railway_accident#/media/File:Sonning_cutting.jpg

I wasn't thinking so much of plentiful and cheap labour as of martinet station masters and district inspectors!   Of course, very few photographs will have been taken of such mundane areas

 

Hi again Simon, The Stationmaster at Sherton Abbas is a fairly genial chap, but even he was most put out to hear his beloved station referred to as "a mundane area!"

 

The last time the District Inspector visited was back in February when fortunately a heavy frost had killed any weeds in the trackbed :-)

 

 

 

So, next question. Do the weeds match the time of the year you have chosen to represent with your scenery generally? (I shall do a passable impression of a mail train picking up a pouch as I head past my coat towards the door...)

 

No need to head for the door :-)  The layout is set in the first week of September; Chamerion Angustifolium are in full flower and the Urtica Dioica have reached their full height!  

 

Best wishes

 

Dave

I did a little internet search, but the only real result was this early illustration from Sonning cutting, which doesn't give much detail and probably isn't very reliable anyway. Must have been cumbersome if the women worked in their dresses! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonning_Cutting_railway_accident#/media/File:Sonning_cutting.jpg

 

Interesting picture.  I hadn't thought about women being employed to cut the grass, I've been trying to persuade Mrs Wenlock to cut ours for years, but apparently its "menswork"  I shall look forward to showing her evidence to the contrary! :-)

 

Best wishes

 

Dave

Chamerion Angustifolium are in full flower and the Urtica Dioica have reached their full height!  

I am sure that I read somewhere that you can get ointment for that..