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Little Logging Railroad
Trees
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Conifers of Bragdon Enterprises foliage |
I had fun playing "Johnny Conifer Seed!" The conifers, representing something akin to Lodgepole Pines, were made from filed and stained basswood and balsawood, using Bragdon Enterprises FineScale Forest foliage as the "branches," a nature fern product. I had better luck working with the basswood than the softer balsawood, and of course the basswood is going to be much more durable. I built forty-two of these conifers, ranging in size from approximately 12 HO-scale-feet (just under 2") to around 85 feet (about 11.5"), with most in the 65 to 80 foot range. Remember, a foot equals 87 HO-scale feet. Pines around here can easily grow to a height of 90 to 100 feet. When observing a mountainous scene on your diorama, it certainly provides a great perspective to see one of these giants along side one of your little loggers! As I fashioned the tree trunk, I kept the filling rough to imitate a bark-like texture. I used a grayish wash to stain these trunks, adding an occasional patch of darker black wash here and there. A small hole was drilled in the trunk and the appropriate sized "branch" glued into the tree trunk. I'd start from the top down, rotating the placement of the branches to radiate out in all directions. I integrated a few "dead" branches at the lower sections and in fact throughout the height of the tree (some more than others), all made using some fine twigs from local bushes around the house. As you can see, I've noticed in our region some conifers with considerable dead branches going up much of the trunk of the tree.
Upkeep: After a year or so under a plastic sheet to keep the dust off the layout, upon removing the sheet I discovered some of the ferns had begun to wilt and lose their sharp. I remember Bragdon recommend using glycerin to maintain the sharp of the ferns. So I mixed about equal portions of glycerin with isopropyl alcohol in a small spray bottle, and sprayed the trees. I tried to go heavier on the glycerin, but my sprayer just wouldn't produce a fine mist. The next day I noticed some of the ferns had revived their sharp. But in my eagerness to try out this technique, I also notices that I had gotten some small glycerin droplets on the black roofs of some buildings, on the brown road bed, on the shinning surface of the pond, and on some sections of track. It took some manicuring, and a number of swipes with a pad soaked with denatured alcohol, but all is running fine now. Glycerin is not an easy substance to clean off. In my next tree spraying, I'll place a piece of cardboard behind each tree as it gets dosed.
The deciduous trees are made from Scenic Express Super Trees and pieces of Wyoming sage, with Woodland Scenic's light green and burnt grass course turf and with burnt clump foliage added to them. For the sage-based trees, I am trying out some colored wood putty to create "roots." I've been placing some Arizona Rock Gray Wood/Bark Debris, along with broken twigs, underneath the pine trees.
I have integrated among the conifers a few Aspens and Ponderosas from Sterling Models, and these tress are simply magical. Once I placed the Ponderosas next to my Bragdon-foliaged conifers, I realized how light in color the conifers were, So I've been tinting the central parts of the foliage with some of the black Bragdon Weathering power, thus darkening up the trees a little. It also gives the impression of newer, lighter growth on the ends of the branches. As forests are always in various stages of growth and decay, I also added standing and fallen "dead" trees. I also sprinkled in a little yellow and/or burnt course turf on some of the brush and deciduous trees, to give it some "dying" branches. To give a sense of moss hanging from the dead branches of trees, I placed a little white glue underneath the limb and with a small spoon full of dark green Fine Turf, touched the "moss" in place.