Ideas for modeling this blue green brush

[tom mann]

Any ideas on how to model this type of small bush/grass?  It's a very cool green color in the foreground here:

[C855B]

Sagebrush.

And not a clue. Scenic Express has something close, but not that color.

[tom mann]

Sagebrush.

And not a clue. Scenic Express has something close, but not that color.

Exactly.  In fact, after looking at this video, every single scenery product is too bright.

[C855B]

Yeah, that area of the desert is going to be tough. Since that region is "home" for me, I'll keep my eyes peeled, and get my resident vegetation critic thinking about it. I'll be in the same boat shortly since I'm modeling locations only about 30 miles north of there.

[C855B]

I have Robyn thinking about these. I went back and looked at the Scenic Express/Heki "prairie tufts". They're close, but meant to represent grass, so each tuft might need to be trimmed to make it appear more shrub-like. Then it's a matter of finding the right artist's color medium (probably Dr. Ph. Martin's) to dye the tufts the dusty blue-green color.

The Savannah color looks interesting, and may not need the trimming. At least in the photos it looks like a good start color-wise, a touch-up with a blue-green or turquoise dye with a smidge of black might get close. If I can remember to add it to my next train parts order I'll get a sheet of tufts and have her go to town on 'em.

[tom mann]

@hminky has some ideas:

http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/brush/

[coldriver]

Will be watching this thread closely since the Eastern Oregon area I model is prime sagebrush habitat.  I’ve tried several things and the best I’ve come up with is what Mike suggested – tufts.  I use the 2mm silflor autumn tufts, dry brushed with Olympic One “Aqua Smoke” diluted 3 to 1 with matte white (it seems like the Eastern Oregon variety is a bit more blue than SoCal).  I think it looks pretty good but a big problem is that where sage brush is found, it’s found in tremendous abundance which means on larger layouts like mine (25’ x 28’) and Mike’s, huge quantities would be required – I did the math once and I need well over $1,000 worth of tufts to get sufficient coverage. 

IMG_5154 by Dean Ferris, on Flickr

[sirenwerks]

Who said big government has no value? - http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/artemisia_tridentata.shtml

[tom mann]

I'm thinking a combination of supertree branches and painted aquarium filter material.  It's always fascinating to compare the variety of real life with available modeling products. . 

[Chris333]

You could use tufts up close and pieces of ground foam further away. I think the color is the important part.

[robert3985]

I think that what you think is "sagebrush" is "gray rubber rabbitbrush", which has a very similar color, except in the fall when it blooms bright yellow.  Looking closely at the video, the anatomy of the bushes looks more like rabbitbrush to me than sage, which is a noticeably more "woody" plant than rabbitbrush.

Rabbitbrush is one of the very first plants to re-grow after a fire, and fires are pretty prevalent along railroad mainlines.  Although it looks to be "small" in the video, it can grow up to 7' tall when not continually burnt down.

As to the prohibitive cost of Silfor tufts.  If you've got a static grass applicator, tufts are easy and very cheap to make.  Just put spots of adhesive on a cheap no-stick aluminum cookie oven plate, attach the grounding clip the the plate...and apply your static grass...whatever length or combination of lengths you prefer for the type of bush you're making.  Then, before the glue spots (or drops) dry, spread the fibers out a bit on each drop and let them dry.  After they're dry, they're easy to remove using a plastic spatula.  You can also spray them with either adhesive or paint and drop on various texturing materials to represent leaves or blooms before the adhesive/paint dries.  Easy, cheap and good lookin'!

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[nkalanaga]

One solution for color, if you have a material that can be painted before installation, is to look at the florist's spray paints.  I found one years ago at Michaels that was a very close match to Montana sagebrush, or rabbitbrush (they have both), and use it to paint some yarn.  Not the greatest, but stick a tuft in the ground, and tease the end, and it looked better than nothing.  I haven't looked lately, as I still have most of the can, but they probably still sell it.  It goes on thin, dead flat, and is designed for painting dead plants, but will work on almost anything.  I'd test it on plastics, though, as it almost certainly isn't designed to be plastic-compatible. and I haven't tried it there.

[coldriver]

To do sage brush absolutely right tufts don't cut it due to a lack of dark woody or silvery stems.  My thought was that since sage typically grows so thick that you could nearly carpet an area with it in which case most of the stems would not show (kind of like eastern puffballs forests).  I first tried some sprays on tufts, but felt the results were better by dry brushing the tops as it left the bottom of the autumn tufts a darker woodier color (albeit the wrong color...).  It's still a compromise which I'm sure could be improved on by the higher Railwire modeling minds.  From studying this photo (from Eastern Oregon) the live stems seem fairly dark, but there are also a fair amount of the remains of dead plants with more silvery stems.  Again the conundrum for me is that the attention to detail required to do it right is not feasible on a large layout being built by a non-retired individual - the challenge is making it quick, easy, believable, and inexpensive... 

artri3438[1] by Dean Ferris, on Flickr

[coldriver]

As to the prohibitive cost of Silfor tufts.  If you've got a static grass applicator, tufts are easy and very cheap to make.  Just put spots of adhesive on a cheap no-stick aluminum cookie oven plate, attach the grounding clip the the plate...and apply your static grass...whatever length or combination of lengths you prefer for the type of bush you're making.  Then, before the glue spots (or drops) dry, spread the fibers out a bit on each drop and let them dry.  After they're dry, they're easy to remove using a plastic spatula.  You can also spray them with either adhesive or paint and drop on various texturing materials to represent leaves or blooms before the adhesive/paint dries.  Easy, cheap and good lookin'!

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

Thanks for that Bob!  I recently built a static grass applicator - I'll have to give it a try!

Dean

[grove den]

May be something like this:
the "tufts/plants were made of grasfibres 12 mm long and some with /from aquariumfibres hold close togehter with a small floristic wire and a drop superglue.
Added all the plants with some 2 mm fibres and a very litlle bit  of fine turf . when ready spraypainted the plants with a green grey colour kind of "jungle green"

Only the landscape was made by me.... the superb(!) weathered engines are from Jürg Ruedi from Switzerland

Jos