That's very thoughtful, SmittyTV! I kind of feel like Bob (JJJ&E) does - I go by the reactions of the viewers, not star ratings...
Forest In A Flash! I'm working in the south room and the scenery there requires lots of trees, including some dense forest areas. There's no way I'm gonna use individual trees for these areas, I'm going broke buying trees now - so it's puffball time. The main issue I have with the puffball technique is in order to look right, the puffballs need to be elevated off the ground surface in order to match height correctly with the individual trees around it. I used fiberglass screen wire elevated on wire "trunks" in one section, but it was pretty unstable, and also a PITA to strip all that wire. So I got to thinking - what if I cut up some cardboard and hot glued it in to corners and glued that to the screen... And then spray bombed it with some black - yeah, it's nice and flexible, will follow contours with no problems. Here it is on the hillside Then I drilled holes for the surrounding individual trees And eventually surrounded the screen (Continued next post)
Forest In A Flash II Then I placed the puffballs Not too shabby, IMO! And a lot less work than using wire to hold up the screen. Here's a shot of several "forests" in place Note you simply can't see inside - exactly the effect I wanted. Here's an overview of the section I've been working on Just in this corner area I blew through 150 individual trees and 250 puffballs - and now I'm out of both!
Cool! That's the way to do it. I know what you mean about numbers. It took about 300 trees to cover about 12-15 feet of ridge line on my layout. However I make my trees out of Nandina armatures so the only cost is foam.
Jim, That came out looking great! What are you using for the individual trees around the screen ? Craig
Thanks, All! And for the stars, too Those are the WS economy pack - 23 trees in mixed green. And then I modify them - cut off the cheesy plastic pin, drill out and insert a cut off #3 finishing nail and ACC it. This gives a very stable mount, especially in my thin shell scenery. I keep cleaning woo woo woo's out fairly regularly...I suppose there are other methods that might be less expensive, but these match what I used from the old Sub and get the job done.
Very well done Jim!:thumbs_up::thumbs_up: This is a great technique! If I can't learn something from this thread, I better take up knitting. Jerry
Jim, this thread has taught me so much. I built my roadbed from masonite splines (it works perfectly) and if I only learned that, I owe a debt. But there is so much more here to learn! Thank you so much for all the great ideas!
Thank YOU all for reading and responding. If I can make someone's life a bit easier while I'm having fun, it makes it all the sweeter! You may have noticed I'm not afraid to make a mistake - if I think there's a better or cheaper or faster way to do something, I'll try it. Usually it doesn't cost all that much, and if it DOESN'T work, I'm not out much. The rag covering for the cardboard strips is a case in point. So since I now use masking tape instead, I have some leftover rags - and I'll guarantee they'll get used somewhere in the house. The masking tape is simply faster and seems to add a bit of strength and lets you get by with less joint compound - which means faster drying time - all plusses in my book. I guess the point I'm trying to make is there are many ways to reach a goal, and we shouldn't hesitate to try something just because it's never been done.
Super! Thanks for sharing. I'm definitely going to use that technique next week (if I can finish the wiring in the new section this weekend ;-)
WOW Jim. that looks realistic. Sweet idea and a heck of a lot of work but it's worth it. Great scene.
Here's a pair of GEVOs working a stack train (from a view which will not be possible in a few weeks - well, maybe if I use the mirror trick): And a rack train in the other direction, same location: Both scenes were enhanced with trees using the "Forest In A Flash" method - which lives in a separate post.
