Weekend Update 12/18/11

[pwnj]

It's a tree that possesses supernatural powers, including the ability to install itself on your railroad.  Thankfully, it has learned to use its power for good.

Or, in simpler terms, it's some sort of Scandinavian bush with a small branch structure that looks a lot like realistic scale model trees.

[Philip H]

Ok..I surrender.....what the hell is a "Super Tree"........? Clearly this life altering invention has not yet made it on the 5:15 dog sled north..................

http://www.sceneryexpress.com/departments.asp?dept=1006

[Scottl]

Ok..I surrender.....what the hell is a "Super Tree"........? Clearly this life altering invention has not yet made it on the 5:15 dog sled north..................

You need come out of the wilds and cross the 401 once and a while.  Railfan the CN too... 

[davidgray1974]

Would a 50/50 mix of water and white glue work just as well as the matte medium?

[MichaelWinicki]

Would a 50/50 mix of water and white glue work just as well as the matte medium?

Good question...

I think matte medium has two things going for it that a glue mixture can't provide.

First is that matte medium will give the tree a certain amount of flexibility that a glue mixture wouldn't.  And secondly matte medium dries flat.  I've had several instances where glue mixtures have dried with much more of a gloss to them.

[MichaelWinicki]

Puffball haters are missing the point.  They work extremely well in forcing perspective as a background material.


Next to the engine, supertrees.  Behind the train, use clump foliage.  On the distant slope, puffballs work just fine.

Save your money for things that have wheels, that's my philosophy.

Lee

Lee I think your point about forced perspective is a good one.

And it's not the fiber matting that's the issue, but the resulting shape, i.e. balls, that's the challenge.

I think you're better off NOT using SuperTrees from front to back, because the back trees should have a different level of detail or texture to them.

I like what Ian did towards the front of the scene in his post, the surface is much more "craggly" than the surface towards the rear of the image, where everything is "rounded".  You put SuperTrees along the tracks, and that craggly look behind, and I think you've got a winner. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Puffball haters are missing the point.  They work extremely well in forcing perspective as a background material.

Next to the engine, supertrees.  Behind the train, use clump foliage.  On the distant slope, puffballs work just fine.

Lee

That approach works ok, but ONLY when there is enough physical separation so that the background trees truly start in the background, instead of right next to the tracks like I've often seen them.

[sizemore]

Ok..I surrender.....what the hell is a "Super Tree"........? Clearly this life altering invention has not yet made it on the 5:15 dog sled north..................

You're mind is about to be blown.

The S.

[pwnj]

I wonder if you could stiffen the polyfill by using something like starch, before painting and adding ground foam.  Maybe this would allow for a more moldable puffball that could look a bit more realistic...

[Puddington]

You need come out of the wilds and cross the 401 once and a while.  Railfan the CN too... 

.....and that just ain't goin happen.................. LOL

I railfan the CN... everytime I go to Cobourg VIA station I watch the CN lift yet another car off the ground from the daily derailment there....(bwhahahahahah - seen two in a month, so that's my story and I'm stickin to it)

Signed; The recording secretary of the "Crash Naturally" (CN)  fan club

[Puddington]

You're mind is about to be blown.

The S.

...that would require the purchase or lease of a mind now wouldn't it......?

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I wonder if you could stiffen the polyfill by using something like starch, before painting and adding ground foam.  Maybe this would allow for a more moldable puffball that could look a bit more realistic...

I may play with that a bit. I've actually got some black and brown poly fibre that Lance Mindheim used to sell. It wasn't great for what I was initially trying to use it for, but it might work out ok with some additional work.

Also, you summer guys have it really easy. There IS no clump foliage equivalent for bare trees and bushes.

[Puddington]

http://www.sceneryexpress.com/departments.asp?dept=1006

Ok; they look nice but the price might juts be a wee bit too dear for the average model railroader..... I've used the Woodland Scenic's foliage and it looks great but is expensive too; for a small area or a diarama maybe but for a full sized layout it would be price prohibitive to use more than a few in key locations .....

The foreground trees are Woodland Scenic's folliage....

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Honestly Pud, I think the super trees go much further than the woodland scenics stuff for the same price. It's $25 for a box that does a decent amount. $25 doesn't get you much WS stuff these days.

[Scottl]

Puffballs are kind of like chenille for conifers.  They look great until you get something better.  The money argument is pretty thin in my view:  I get more modelling time and value from scenery materials than any jewel box gem.  Each to their own, but I am puff-ball free!  What is a puff ball, anyway?