Messed around with the Ferns after a trip outside to collect some tree debris, its baking at 350 deg. F. right now. Below is pictured the material I am trying to use for Ferns. Brittle as $%# and have a lot to cut off the get the size I want. And on the layout. These Ferns tend to get big in the later part of the year but I am not completely happy with them. The Ferns are a bit darker green than the danged camera shows but for me not dark enough. So tomorrow while out on an expedition to get some gardening supplies I think I will check with the nursery to see what they might have.
Got lucky at the big nursery I was at today picking up some plants for my garden. They have a large selection of indoor dried arrangements plus some are plastic. Was going to try Asparagus Fern but just too big for N scale. And better yet the gal who helped me guessed I was into model railroading so either other folks have been in there or she is married to one. Anyway I returned home with both the live plants for the garden and two sprues of plastic Ferns. She also suggested that I try a pet store with aquarium supplies. Anyway I finally got home and took some time to tear out the unsuitable stuff and then cut and trim the plastic Fern tips. Much better in my opinion. And some of the other real products are toxic to both canine and feline. I should add these are the big species of Ferns that can get about 4 to 5 foot across when full grown and that is what I am modeling. Some hardwoods and some small pine go in the area with them. Old stuff that I tore out is on the track to the left and one can compare this to the previous post above. And another bit of happiness is my order from Mr. Fifer and company will arrive today at just a tad over 48 hours since I ordered the stuff. Fantastic service and now I can get back to laying track on the lower level.
I have been trying to recall how we used to treat moss and lichen to keep it from becoming brittle. Memory is blank so far. Glycerine? Anyhow, the changed plants do look good.
Glycerine was part of the soaking process in several steps. But the plastic was a good find for me and very flexible and no worries about fading or toxicity. When I got home with them and laid them on the table I instantly had four cats, led by Wesa. AKA the Big Guy, sampling them for taste. And Blackie, the Punk, tried to steal the whole bunch. I think these will look good under a tree canopy and surrounded by some low shrubs here and there. If you notice the rocks have appeared here and there as a take another page from one of the prior photos of the forest floor. Internet can sometimes be a great tool for the modeler especially sifting through Google's image gallery.
Seeing yours, this is what immediately came into my mind. When I was last to the Olympic Peninsula, I tried taking a few photos of forest floor. Sadly my camera just isn't good enough in morning low angle light. I probably need to be there mid-day, middle summer. Sword and deer ferns, mosses, sallal, red huckleberries, red elderberries, Oregon grape, salmonberries and so on. I need to take more photos in the Cascades as well.
Back on page 17 of this thread post #170 there are three pictures that represent what I am trying to achieve. I am only doing a small patch of Ferns at the front of the meadow and a few across the tracks. I have a small depression there also that rather than try and fill in I will most likely make a small spring fed pond. That might just turn out to be my hog wallow if I can pull it off. Some more grass and shrubs and finally the trees. Definitely will have the Sheep herd and Herder in the meadow with one of the camp wagons. Also may add one of my log structures up there if there is room to tuck it into the trees. It will be a seasonal hunting lodge. Next order of trees have shipped so should be here this weekend. That should give me some hardwoods and much bigger pines. Big pines will go in first then some various sizes around them. Think old mother hen and chicks. Early responsible logging practices known as sustained yield logging often left some old trees as reseeding sources for new forest growth and that I will try and capture the look of. I had a fairly decent idea of where I was heading with this and now I have developed a clear picture in my mind. Same level of detail as was on my ranch modules done back awhile ago and posted here. Heck if I can find a small Eagle I will probably put an Eagle tree in somewhere. Meanwhile at some point I have to finish the construction on the mine and either find a very small train station or build one for Hog Wallow Junction. Also debating about what to call the meadow. Either Wesa Meadow or Big Guy Meadow. Wesa is the Big Guys name which means Cat in Cherokee. Time off tomorrow as I need to get out early and do some garden work before the rains set in again so not much work will get done on the layout tomorrow.
Finally got back to the layout this afternoon and installed another layer of forest floor debris and some shrubbery. Also placed a couple of fallen, long dead, tree trunks here and there and way in the back I mounted the small hunting lodge. Order of trees came in and I am okay with the pines but not so much with the other tree species in the bag. Look like well pruned trees in a botanical garden rather than the woods variety. Already tried trimming some gaps in them to make them look more suitable but probably will end up using them way in the back as fillers. And now that I have my turnouts I have started on the lower main again. Have to come up with a one lane highway bridge next.
Spent most of the nice day in some 1 to 1 gardening. After coming in and cleaning up and taking a nice senior citizen nap with the Big Guy I started in on planting some N and HO scale trees. Think that this is about it for the Pines, hardwoods come next with some saplings and bigger shrubs. That tree back by the hunt lodge has a taller trunk grafted on it from one of the HO hardwood trees. Some older Pines will have a bare trunk for a number of feet off the ground plus I am going to place the hunt lodge outhouses there so that little gap will have something in it eventually. Still not happy with the hardwoods I have so I will most likely be making some trees tomorrow, my most favorite thing (not) with modeling.
I believe the size variation helps a lot. The next additions in that small area should make yet another difference. When this area is done that will be about 1/8th of the layout area.
A very nice blend of sizes and colors! I spose the Big Guy is a little put out that his supervision spot is now completely uncomfortable?
After some more 1 to 1 outside gardening I tried my hand at doing some hardwoods, one on a metal armature the other two on Woodland plastic armatures. Trying to use ground foam was a total disaster in my opinion. So I wet it back down and stripped all the foliage off to do it again, this time using Woodland Scenic's fine foliage that comes from whatever, but is a natural plant with the foliage in small stems. Following Woodlands directions I applied Hobby Tac and then applied the foliage. Afterwards I sprinkled on some mixed fine turf very lightly because I wasn't completely happy with them. So they are just sitting on the layout, close to where they will eventually go while they dry. I think the fine foliage is probably the way to go but I just haven't refined my skill yet and got back in the groove of making trees. So opinions? And a 2nd shot with a little more light. Gotta get a better camera! While the bigger armature was drying from having the first batch of foliage being removed, prior to applying the 2nd batch, the Big Guy decided he wanted that for his layout and the pursuit was on.
Well the Wife was happy with them so I guess if the CFO is happy then the chief cook, bottle washer, and domestic diva, plus bridge and building gang foreman better go along with Her. And it was quite a chase considering that I don't move worth a dang, and he for all his size has the speed of a Cheetah. Only Deekus is faster.
Today I slide the layout out away from the wall to start ballasting and doing scenic work on the very back upper main line. You will note how the back is open for maintenance and loco rescue. The ballast being used on the main is Arizona NP light Granite and GN Basalt mixed. The whole back area gets trees once I have the scenic material in. The mine track and incline up has received some Arizona Red Rock and Woodland Scenic Iron Ore in a 50/50 mix to duplicate a Scoria type ballast. Taking a page from one of Mike Fifers's how to articles I will go back later and apply the ground cover up to where I want the line between the ballast and ground cover. Right now I have two fans going to speed the drying time up some and then I will vac. up the loose material and see if any areas need additional ballast before applying the ground cover.
The thought is running around in my mind and if I do most likely I will try a chemical treatment rather than paint. If I had been thinking about this earlier I would have treated the rails prior to installation and it would have been much easier. Generally I am adverse to long tunnels and stretches of hidden track but this was the simplest solution for this module or component which gave me the most space to work in for the mine and also for the upper level main. Crawling under a layout is pretty much out of the question at this point in my life so as long as this remains a separate little layout it is easy just to slide out and reach in. However once this becomes attached to other sections the tunnel line becomes history and I remove the track to use elsewhere. I did install foliage along the upper level main yesterday so it is ready for trees. I mixed several types of foliage together including some clump foliage and some flower foliage and some fine grass in several colors. Late season early fall. And I notice after running the vac. over it some remains in between the tracks. An old tooth brush will take care of any excess, but I am okay with some remaining. Last night as the lightning flashed and hail beat on the roof I was gleefully at my workbench cutting apart another bridge for a one lane highway bridge. Only thing missing was Night on a Bald Mountain playing.
