Desert plants

[tetters]

Fantastic work Kevin!

[nachoman]

Don't move it yet! I still need to figure out Barrel Cactus, Mesquite Trees, Brittle and Creosote bushes, and sage. And no, I'm not modeling Russian Thistle (tumbleweed) as it is an imported noxious weed that was not widespread during my modeling era. Yep, all those westerns you see with tumbleweeds are factually incorrect.

[P5se Camelback]

This is some very fascinating compost!

I'm thoroughly enjoying the lesson in the botanical elements of the High Desert of the American Southwest!

Having grown up in an area of much deciduousness and evergreenness and at this point in my life, living in an area of the country where most of the local "trees" are not even "trees" at all, I applaud your inventiveness and I await the next installment with bated breath! I may never use one of these plants, but watching their development is one of the more fascinating things to look at in the evening. [By this time of night, I’ve had current events up to here and I need some light mental diversion … this is it!]

Keep it comin'!

[nkp_174]

Yep, all those westerns you see with tumbleweeds are factually incorrect.

What'd ya mean? Doesn't the entire West look like Monument Valley and have tumbleweeds blowing past every 5 minutes???

Oh, wait...what you've said jives quite well with my travel experiences.

I love the wire techinque...flexible enough that you could just bend it back into shape if a visitor smashed it with his camera...or a dozen other things which could/do happen

I'm thinking that the Palm trees will be the best indicator that my layout is in Hawaii. The concrete roundhouse and passenger Terminal will be more likely to convince them that it is a narrow gauge railroad than anything else. Half of the main deck of my layout will be required to reasonably depict the heavily industrialized terminal facilities at Honolulu. The rest of that deck will be required to take the track to the main junction (and, as I'll model it, the end of the signal protected double track mainline). Only a hand full of buildings have hints of Asian architecture, so I'll have to rely on a good representation of the tropical flora and pineapple cars coming off the branch to tell people that it is Hawaii. I expect that it will take some effort to convince them that it is Hawaii in On3 rather than Southern California in S standard gauge. Hence, I'll continue following this thread as long as its active...your results are exceptional. I have a Michael's run in my near future...

[Steamtrains]

WoW....Am I glad you thought to share your techniques with us....I'll definitely be using them when the time comes around to "people" my desert with some green...

[nachoman]

Let me preface by saying that I may catch a little flack for this one because it is a little old-school and more modern methods are available.

Believe it or not, grasslands occupy large areas of the southern Arizona desert. Before grazing, much of the ground between the more familiar desert plants was covered by various grasses. The grass grows green after the early spring and summer rainy seasons, and turns dry and yellow during the winter and early summer. The grasses come in many varieties and many lengths, but almost all of them grow in clumps.

I make tall grass out of jute twine. This method was used extensively for decades, but more modern scenery materials have rendered this method obsolete. It's unfortunate, because it's cheap and the materials are readily available.

I start with an ordinary spool of twine. I can't remember how much I paid for this spool, but I'm sure it was only a few dollars and will last me many years.

   

I then cut off a few feet of twine, coil it up, and place it in an old sour cream container filled with 50% water, 50% rubbing alcohol, and a few squirts of green ink from the art supply store. I let it soak for a few hours, and then pull it out and hang it up to dry. The twine should be stained green.

   

The twine I have is really three strands twisted together. I separate the strands, and cut it into lengths about 3/4" long. I then poke or drill a small hole in my scenery, and put a drop of white glue in the hole. I then take the short piece of twine, bend it in half, and insert the bent end into the hole. Sometimes, a small bamboo skewer helps to push in the twine.

   

Once dried, I cut off stray strands and fan out the blades a little. There are other methods that look better, but this one is extremely cheap and easy and for now adequate for my needs.

[ocalicreek]

Great lookin' grasses!

Good ole jute twine and white glue. No need to reinvent the weed!

Galen

[Chuck Geiger]

[faraway]

Your desert scenery looks very realistic to me

[Chuck Geiger]

Thanks R - I never modeled yucca or cactus. I always just modeled what you usually
see, sage, sparse trees, etc. This layout has been sold and the buyers are
continuing to work on it.

[nachoman]

looks great, Chuck. True that on the basin floors, vegetation is pretty boring and homogeneous, with just a few varieties of shrubs and grasses, and hardly any cactus or yucca or agave. But if you head towards the foothills or along the washes, you will find more. There are hills in the area where I model that are so thick in ocotillo or cholla you can't walk between them.

[Dave Harris sctchbld]

Don't move it yet! I still need to figure out Barrel Cactus, Mesquite Trees, Brittle and Creosote bushes, and sage. And no, I'm not modeling Russian Thistle (tumbleweed) as it is an imported noxious weed that was not widespread during my modeling era. Yep, all those westerns you see with tumbleweeds are factually incorrect.

What ?? ----------Tumble weeds don't belong in 1800 America?? Say it isn't so! I remember reading a few years back about a woman in Wyoming or Montana who was making a good living selling tumbleweeds to the Movie industry --- made a ton of money selling them to Sergio Valenti in Italy while he was making all his "Spaghetti Westerns".

Dave