More scenery

tanker · Post by **tanker** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 6:22 pm

Hi Gang,

I've been looking around for other sources for 285th scale scenery for when I start building my terrain just to mix it up and get some nice variety. I came across this site in Germany for trees in Z scale (1/220) which is close enough to 285 for gov't work.

http://www.busch-model.com/katalog/e/index.htm

Does anyone know of an American distributor for this company? I really like their trees and other ground covers.

Thanks.

Tanker

Cav Dog · Post by **Cav Dog** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 7:54 pm

It isn't the same manufacturer, but check out their offerings...

http://www.jttmicroscale.com/viewcategory.asp?DirID=140

tanker · Post by **tanker** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 8:53 pm

It isn't the same manufacturer, but check out their offerings...

http://www.jttmicroscale.com/viewcategory.asp?DirID=140

Thanks Cav Dog, they're nice but they look a little too big. They appear to only go as small as N scale. The German stuff appears to come as small as 35mm. But I may get one of their kits to see what I can kitbash out them. Thanks again.

Tanker

Cav Dog · Post by **Cav Dog** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 10:06 pm

tanker wrote:
It isn't the same manufacturer, but check out their offerings...

http://www.jttmicroscale.com/viewcategory.asp?DirID=140
Thanks Cav Dog, they're nice but they look a little too big. They appear to only go as small as N scale. The German stuff appears to come as small as 35mm. But I may get one of their kits to see what I can kitbash out them. Thanks again.

Tanker

They have Z scale at 1" to 2" high, ie 25.4 to 50mm in almost all of their trees, you have to click on the detail for the product to see the scale offerings, and $30 for 55 pre-made trees is a pretty good price IMHO. As soon as I get the kitchen pass, I'll be ordering a box or two, especially the snow covered ones.

tanker · Post by **tanker** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 10:19 pm

They have Z scale at 1" to 2" high, ie 25.4 to 50mm in almost all of their trees, you have to click on the detail for the product to see the scale offerings, and $30 for 55 pre-made trees is a pretty good price IMHO. As soon as I get the kitchen pass, I'll be ordering a box or two, especially the snow covered ones.

I musta missed that. Thanks, I'll take another look.

Tanker

tstockton · Post by **tstockton** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 1:29 am

Tanker,

You might try Walthers -- not sure off the top of my head, but it's probably www.walthers.com -- and see if you can find Busch scenic materials there. Walthers is one of the largest (if not the largest) distributor of model railroading "supplies" going, and I know they carry Busch's offerings in HO (1:87) scale. I would imagine they also carry the Z (1:220) scale stuff, too. The only problem I've ever had with Walthers is that they list so much stuff that they can't possibly have it all in stock, all the time. There have been other items I've ordered from them that I was never able to obtain... (sigh)

Another scenery source you might check is Scenic Express -- again, they primarily cater to model railroaders... but, hey! Scenery is scenery!! I think they are www.scenicexpress.com -- again, I might be "slightly off" on the URL. Just "google" Scenic Express (or Walthers) to find the exact link (if I am off).

Hope this helps!

Regards,
Tom Stockton

mlcolbert · Post by **mlcolbert** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 3:54 am

Tanker,

another possibility is Heki, another German company, I'm sure you've heard of. They make, amongst other things trees which you can cut to your own size and they still look lifelike to scale..

I've just finished a diorama for the monoliths I make and I've used the trees for bushes and other undergrowth. I've also just checked again and yes you could make 'realistic' trees for 1/285 th.

I haven't figured out yet how to post images so I'll attempt to send a PM with the photo from this am.

michael [/i]

tanker · Post by **tanker** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 4:37 am

Thanks Tom, I'll check them out.

Thanks Michael, I got your PM. Look forward to the pics.

Tanker

tstockton · Post by **tstockton** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 11:28 am

Tanker,

Have you tried the "GHQ way" of making trees, using bump chenille? I have to admit I was VERY skeptical at first, but I've turned out some pretty good trees -- and at a significant fraction of the cost of "purchased" trees. Although, in all fairness -- when you factor in the time and labor of doing it yourself, the savings might not be as large. But the "thrift factor", coupled with the "I did it myself" factor will most likely keep my making my own, rather than buying.

Anyway, the "GHQ way" of making evergreen trees works very well. I did vary things a wee bit, though... If you follow this link to my "Terrain Maker" page on my website:

http://tomstockton.us/tanks/1-285/ghq/terrain_maker.htm

and either use the "quick links" near the top, or scroll down to near the bottom of the (lengthy) page -- you'll see my notes on trees. I also make (deciduous) trees using Woodland Scenic's "Foilage Clusters" and toothpicks for the trunks -- and that works well, too.

Regards,
Tom Stockton

p.s. Also, a bit of "in my opinion" advice -- if you're going to purchase the "tree kits" from GHQ -- stick with the "Dark Green" tree pack. The "Light Green" is a very "Chrismas-y" green -- which I've been told works very well for Southern Pacific palm trees -- but to me, looks way too "gaudy" for trees I've seen first-hand...

tanker · Post by **tanker** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 4:50 pm

Have you tried the "GHQ way" of making trees, using bump chenille? I have to admit I was VERY skeptical at first, but I've turned out some pretty good trees -- and at a significant fraction of the cost of "purchased" trees. Although, in all fairness -- when you factor in the time and labor of doing it yourself, the savings might not be as large. But the "thrift factor", coupled with the "I did it myself" factor will most likely keep my making my own, rather than buying.

Well I just ordered several packs of Terrain Maker hexes in all the thicknesses, and since they all come with tree material I'll be trying my hand at those.

Minor rant to the folks at GHQ. You guys really need to remake that TM How To video and this time get someone who knows how to use lighting. It's way too bright throughout most of it and it's hard to see what you're really doing, which is not good for an instructional video. I'm not trying to bash you guys since you do really good work on the miniatures and all and it's a joy doing business with you. But I work in video a lot (video conferencing and some distance learning) and it's all about the presentation (you don't want to see some of the Powerpoint slides I've seen people try to broadcast over a VTC).

Anyway, the "GHQ way" of making evergreen trees works very well. I did vary things a wee bit, though... If you follow this link to my "Terrain Maker" page on my website:

Thanks for the tips and the link. I'm trying to hit your site this morning but the net is running really slow here and it's not coming up. I'll keep trying though.

Regards,
Tanker

Cav Dog · Post by **Cav Dog** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:50 pm

p.s. Also, a bit of "in my opinion" advice -- if you're going to purchase the "tree kits" from GHQ -- stick with the "Dark Green" tree pack. The "Light Green" is a very "Chrismas-y" green -- which I've been told works very well for Southern Pacific palm trees -- but to me, looks way too "gaudy" for trees I've seen first-hand...[/quote]

You can easily paint the "Christmas Green" chenille trees. I use the cheap craft acrylics you can get at Michaels. I forget the exact name, but it is something like Dark Pine or Evergreen. Mix it about 50-50 with water in a deep vessel. Once the glue has dried on the tree, I simply turn it upside down and dunk it in the paint/water mix and twirl it by the trunk. Take it out and lightly twirl it some more to remove the excess paint and plant it in a piece of scrap foam to let it drain and dry. Depending on how dark you want it to be, repeat as necessary. At this point you can either highlight it or flock it and then seal it with a glue water mix or dullcoat. I have also used this technique on brown and tan bump chenille that you can find at craft stores with good results.

tstockton · Post by **tstockton** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:19 pm

Cav Dog,

You can easily paint the "Christmas Green" chenille trees.

Very true, and I have occasionally done the same. However, I am (pick one)

(a) inherently lazy
(b) striving to be efficient
(c) Both!

And the closer I can get to what I consider a good "base color", the happier I am.

I, too, have done some experementing with different colors of bump chenille. I generally prefer the dark green; it seems to be a "close approximation" of the color of evergreens. In addition, when used as a base for deciduous trees -- when one applies the lighter-green ground foam to "flesh out" the tree... and there are small "gaps" in the coverage -- it looks like "shadows" deeper inside the tree!

But back to the painting... It seems when I make evergreen trees, to my eye, the wire armature which makes up the "trunk" of the tree is too visible -- especially in it's "unpainted metal". Therefore, I almost always (now that I've learned!) paint my evergreens after I do the "white glue" and "mush branches together" step. Then I apply a mix of Durham's Water Putty and dark gray paint to the bottom of the tree trunk -- what is visible below the "bottom layer" of branches. This not only "rounds out" the trunk, eliminating the "twisted wire" of the armature, but also provides a little bit larger base to implant into the styrofoam base of the Terrain Maker hex.

I read somewhere about using brown chenille as a base for trees -- given that generally, the branches closer to the trunk have a "brown" color rather than a "green" color. I tried it with deciduous trees -- and personally, did not like the results. However, I've not tried it with evergreens yet... something on my (rather lengthy) "to do" list!

Regards,
Tom

voltigeur · Post by **voltigeur** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 9:16 am

Wow another project I don't have time for!!!!!

Looking at the JTT stuff I'm thinking the 1 1/2" Street lights woudl look good down the middle of an AutoBaun!

The trees are not bad in price either. My Idea would be to get one of the Econo-Conifer Tree kits. Get "1 to 2" 55 pack for Europe and you will have a forest on a 5x5 table. Then mix one pack of the Oak Willow and Sycamore 1 to 2 " and can go 3" for the Sycamore's they are really tall trees when allowed to grow.

Yeah little price per pack but you woldn't need very many.

For the Econo Pine you can do just as well using GHQ's method.

1ComOpsCtr · Post by **1ComOpsCtr** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 10:55 am

The medium green pine trees in this picture are from Walthers. They usually run sales a couple of times a year where you can get trees like these for $35 per hundred 18 - 35mm tall or so. Use the Z&N scale catalogue.

The dark green trees are made from toothpicks and dark coarse foam from Woodland scenics. The rest of the ground cover in this diorama is also from Woodland Scenics, including the static grass. The road is also available in the Z scale catalogue.

Will

tanker · Post by **tanker** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 9:52 pm

Will,

Nice diorama. I just got done thoroughly exploring the Woodlands Scenery web site and they have some veyr nice stuff in the right scale, including kits of armatures. And not too pricey. Now all I have to do is wait pantiently (yeah, right) for my latest order of Terrain from GHQ.

Oh, and related to my other thread, a friend of mine loaned me a nichrome wire styrofoam cutter to try out as well as a hot knife.

Tanker