chaz Posted July 9, 2016 Author Share Posted July 9, 2016 (edited) On the subject of adhesive - I bought a rattle-can of foliage spray from "The Tree Lady" at a show. It was £10, which struck me as a bit steep at the time but I have done so many trees with it so far that I now think it was a bargain! Checking with the website http://www.railwaytrees.co.uk I couldn't find the product to order some more so I assume it's only available at shows. It makes sense when you consider the restrictions on the mail that are now in force. Chaz Edited July 9, 2016 by chaz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 9, 2016 Author Share Posted July 9, 2016 I put the trees onto the crib-wall section this afternoon. here's how it looks in place... The Bachmann small caboose is there to check the headroom. A couple of branches needed adjusting upwards - fortunately the wire armatures are flexible and providing the branches are not bent too far the bark mix doesn't crack. A closer trackside view. The cocktail stick is keeping the fallen log in position while the glue below it sets. Later I will either remove or disguise it. Memo to self - next time you take a snap at this angle block off the tunnel at the other end so the inside looks black! The last photo' shows the paper mache fill I have added between the crib wall and the track bed. Rather than use my usual wallpaper paste to make up the fill I mixed the paper shreddings with 50/50 PVA and water. This is stiffer to apply but I think it dries stronger and should lock the section in place. Chaz 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted July 10, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 10, 2016 Looks very good. Not sure about closing access to the hidden siding. I could see a wagon left there being captured by the spiders. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 10, 2016 Author Share Posted July 10, 2016 Looks very good. Not sure about closing access to the hidden siding. I could see a wagon left there being captured by the spiders. Don "I could see a wagon" - that would be a freight car? Joking aside - Having no access to to the hidden staging track could be a problem. There is a detector that lights an LED when a car gets close to the end. I don't intend to run locos down this siding so there will be no need to clean the rails. I don't anticipate any problems propelling a rake of cars onto this siding providing the end car is left in sight BUT if problems do arise I will just put a stop block across the rails and stop using it. Chaz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 10, 2016 Author Share Posted July 10, 2016 (edited) Now that the decision has been made and the scenic section is fixed down I can go ahead and sort out the odd mismatch in ground levels at its LH end. Here's how it looked yesterday (before the trees were "planted")... Next photo' shows a cardboard weave added to smooth out the "bump"... Then I put two layers of kitchen roll glued with PVA/water 50/50 mix to cover the holes in the weave. ...and then a first layer of paper mache added to start the shell. More layers will be added when this has dried to make the shell thick enough and strong enough to support trees. While this work is drying I can switch my attentions to the area over and in front of the tunnel. Plenty to do yet! Chaz Edited July 10, 2016 by chaz 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 12, 2016 Author Share Posted July 12, 2016 Yet another tree... ...mounted in that very useful device - a Panvice. I like the way it can be turned and tilted on a built-in ball and socket. Here's the tree with the foliage added. As this tree is going to stand very close to the track I cut two of the branches - as a MoW gang would have done. Chaz 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 13, 2016 Author Share Posted July 13, 2016 I wasn't all together happy with the way one of the trees had fallen forward, it being a sloppy fit in its hole... ...as the foliage was obscuring the view of the trunk and branches. The ploy I had tried to use of glueing a fallen log in front of the trunk with a cocktail stick as a peg wasn't as successful as I had hoped. I drilled a small hole in the backscene immediately behind the tree and then threaded a thin cotton through it. I wound it round one of the fatter branches and superglued so that it held the tree upright. You can now see more of the tree's structure. Chaz 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
51235 Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 Hi Chaz Talk about a prototype for everything, this is exactly what we did last year in the garden. We moved a weeping cherry tree to a better location, the tree then weeped forward. Behind the cherry was a post and trellis. So length of string was used to loosely tie the main stem of the cherry to the post to stop it weeping too far forward. Keep up the good work Andy 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 16, 2016 Author Share Posted July 16, 2016 (edited) Being aware that the contents of my aerosol spray foliage adhesive will run out soon I went into Eastleigh to AC Models (excellent shop) to see what they had to offer. I came back with a bottle of Woodland Scenics "scenic cement" and their spray head (which comes attached to a smaller bottle). On the left is the rattle can of foliage spray which cost £10, on the right the Woodland Scenics product - the bottle of glue cost £8.10 and the spray head and smaller bottle was £4.25. To test the Woodland Scenics stuff I got a tree ready for foliage. The first and most obvious difference, compared with the rattle-can, is that the Woodland Scenics is runnier and less sticky, so if it is sprayed on all over it drips off alarmingly, creating a fair amount of collateral damage! The spray-can glue is immediately much stickier and doesn't drip much, so the whole tree can be can be "glued" on all sides and the foliage done in one hit. Once I had realised this difference a couple of quick puffs of the hand-sprayer on one section with the foliage added and then the next section dealt with worked well. It didn't take much longer than the spray-can - once the foliage is on it "mops up" the glue allowing the next bit to be done more or less straight away. This has resulted in a very nice tree. ...seen from the other side. It has a very nice "open" look. Doubtless a denser foliage could be got by further sprays and applications of foliage. And one last photo' of the tree, positioned in a patch of sunlight. Looks nice, doesn't it? The spray head fits on the large bottle of glue nicely, which means the small bottle can be filled with warm, soapy water so that it can be used at the end of session for washing out the spray. Chaz Edited July 16, 2016 by chaz 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 16, 2016 Author Share Posted July 16, 2016 (edited) Before I made the tree in the previous post I tried out the new spray and glue on some shrubs. I wanted some taller shrubs so I started by glueing two layers of horsehair together. From L to R... two squares of horsehair roughly cut two squares glued one above the other with PVA a double height "block" rounded of by trimming with scissors finally a block made a bit more ragged (to avoid a topiary look) by pulling bits from the edges with a metalwork sciber A batch of shrubs waiting to find a home. The cocktail sticks are stuck into the "blob" with PVA. They can be pushed into 2mm holes drilled in the paper-mache shell of the scenery. They could be glued in place but it doesn't seem to be necessary - the cocktail sticks are a tight fit. I'm not sure the shrubs are quite ragged enough to look like wild growth. When attacking one with a scriber (before the foliage is added) I do find it necessary to squeeze it together quite tightly otherwise the it's just torn apart. I will experiment though with trying to get a more ragged, more open effect to get more of a look of a wild plant rather than some manicured specimen that belongs in the centre of a lawn. Chaz Edited July 16, 2016 by chaz 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 16, 2016 Author Share Posted July 16, 2016 I have started to weather the girder bridge. I mixed a grime colour with Humbrol #33 matte black and #63 matte leather. Some of this was thinned with white spirit and applied as a wash, some was dry-brushed to highlight details such as rivet heads. Here is the bridge tried in place to assess the look. I also used #113 matte rust and #82 matte orange as thin washes to suggest some rusting. As I have often found weathering doesn't photograph as clearly as one might wish - looking more subtle than it does "in the flesh". There are a few hard to reach places that still need attention and I might well add a bit more rust but I need to do this carefully - I don't want the bridge to look like it's in danger of imminent collapse! Chaz 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr2 Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 To my eyes that looks just about spot on Chaz! Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CourthsVeil Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 ... ...seen from the other side. It has a very nice "open" look. Very good, Chaz, so convincing. I prefer this much over the denser ones; which tend to look too easily too clumsy, imho. ImhO unnatural. I am enjoying your thread so keep up the good work. Regards Armin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted July 17, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 17, 2016 It is really coming together with the weathered bridge and the trees around it makes a nice scene. Some useful info as well. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 It's very encouraging to read the positive comments, lads! A few weeks ago I hit a low spot with my modelling, I had a lot of unfinished trees, little more than wire armatures, and no real idea how the finished items would look. It felt like a mountain to climb. I bit the bullet and had some success with the trees and after I started planting them I began to see a scene I liked. While I sit here typing this on the bureaux top in front of me is FVRR #25 a Bachmann ten-wheeler. I have more or less decided that this should be the first loco' to cross the bridge so I had better get on and weather it! This evening's project? Chaz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 Very good, Chaz, so convincing. I prefer this much over the denser ones; which tend to look too easily too clumsy, imho. ImhO unnatural. I am enjoying your thread so keep up the good work. Regards Armin Whilst I agree that the lighter, more open tree looks convincing and very attractive there are a couple of points that I would make. More distant trees do look denser... The other reason is the need to get the trees to help disguise how narrow the baseboard is. if they are dense enough they hide their own shadows - always a give-away when you have a flat backscene. Chaz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 When I made some for my model I added a dark coating of leaves to the underside. Gives it a bit of a shading effect. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CourthsVeil Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 (edited) Full agreement on both points, Chaz. Armin PS: I needed a second look at the picture in post 505 to realize that is shows not part of your layout. Think about this... Edited July 17, 2016 by CourthsVeil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 Full agreement on both points, Chaz. Armin PS: I needed a second look at the picture in post 505 to realize that is shows not part of your layout. Think about this... That's very flattering Armin. In fact if I stand in front of the girder bridge and then turn and look out of the window those trees are what I see... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 (edited) When I made some for my model I added a dark coating of leaves to the underside. Gives it a bit of a shading effect. post-3744-0-48267500-1428261327.jpg Those are excellent trees. I also like the low shrubs in the front. Something you often see on the edge of a copse or a wood. I note that your layout is 4mm - 1:76 (?) mine is American On30 - 1:48 I don't know what difference the scale makes to trees - I just need them to be nearly twice as big I suppose. None of my trees are as tall as they ought to but that's a compromise I accepted. I am considering making one or two pines to go in amongst the deciduous - they will require a different approach.... Chaz Edited July 17, 2016 by chaz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 27, 2016 Author Share Posted July 27, 2016 (edited) It's been over a week since I last posted on this thread. I have been making progress but my laptop had to go to the menders - a build-up of dust around the fan was causing low operating speeds and frequent overheating shutdowns. I've now got it back (hoorah) and it works like it used to when it was new. So, on with the music.... On a recent walk into some local woods I took a poly' bag and collected a quantity of dead leaves and some fallen twigs. The red box is full of the dry, dead leaves which I "scrunched up" by grabbing a handfull at a time and squeezing it, over and over until it was reduced to small flakes. To the right of the box are the twigs, which I soaked in Dettol and then dried by spreading them out in the sunshine in the garden. The next photo' shows the twigs and leaf fragments put to use. I cut some of the twigs and used them to make some tree stumps. It's likely that the MoW gang would cut down any large trees that grow too close to the line. I have left the ends of the two on the left so that they look like recently felled trees, the three on the right look as if they were cut some time ago. I applied moss to another of the twigs to make it into a fallen trunk - it's lying towards the back of this scene. Some of the leaf fragments were scattered onto diluted PVA as a forest floor effect. I didn't bring this right down to the front as I am going to put in some static grass - the tricky bit will be blending the leaves and the grass. Chaz Edited July 27, 2016 by chaz 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 Next time you're down in the woods look out for dead bits of moss. Quite often see this at the side of the paths. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 28, 2016 Author Share Posted July 28, 2016 (edited) A backscene problem (caused by my original intention to make the section of scenery to the right in the picture removeable) I cut a piece of card from a cereal box, as a pattern - using two of the folds from the box which were just nicely spaced.... and trying this in place to check the fit... I then cut a copy of the pattern in green card. Not very convincing is it? Still with some foam scatter applied and a large tree positioned in front I think it deals with that odd gap reasonably well. The gap to the left of the new tree will be filled with one or two trees as soon as I have made them! They need to be tailored to fit the site and need to be as tall as the new tree to create a descending line to match the sloping ground - down to the river, which at this point is not visible and is in fact not there! Chaz edit - I think the LH end of the crib wall is looking better now that I have blended in the ground levels - a shrub or two added later will help, I think. Edited July 28, 2016 by chaz 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 28, 2016 Author Share Posted July 28, 2016 Next time you're down in the woods look out for dead bits of moss. Quite often see this at the side of the paths. IMG_20160727_210603.jpg Can I ask - what use do you make of this moss? I can see it has possibilities - maybe you could post a picture or two of your results with it? Chaz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 (edited) More progress from the MoW gang. First I added some guard rails to the bridge ties... I superglued these in place - I couldn't face spiking these rails. The absence of spikes is not so obvious when the track is replaced on the bridge. Next the MoW gang got started on spiking the track on the approaches to the girder bridge. From L to R... A tin of spikes a pin chuck with a 0.6mm drill a brass drill jig two gauge setting tools a pair of pliers with its jaw ends thinned And here is the drill jig in use... The I push the jig into the web of the rail, and a hole in the brass locates the drill in the position for a spike. Chaz Edited August 1, 2016 by chaz 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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