Dyed Lychen

[Anonymous]

Soo does anyone use this stuff anymore? In the older 'how to' books, lychen is the bush and tree making key. I haven't seen this stuff mentioned at all on these forums. Is the dyed foam replacing lychen? I can see all of the advantages, over lychen, that foam has. Anyway just wandering.

[Seamonster]

I used both, but I'm sticking with foam and fibre netting. I found that the lichen dried out after a few years and some actually crumbled when I touched it. Yes, there are ways to rejuvinate it, but why go to the trouble when foam stays soft and pliable? I also found that for N scale most of the contents of the bag were too coarse to be useable. And that's my [2c].

[cheese3]

I do, I got a whole box of it 2 years ago and i found a bag of it in MIchael's this weekend that i picked up.

[ukguy]

Yep I use it, along with foam and other stuff.



have fun & be safe
Karl.

[dknelson]

There are certain visual effects possible with lichen that are hard to duplicate with foam.

Years ago Jim Kelly of Model Railroader had advise for buying and using lichen. When you get a bag, go through and pick out the usable pieces -- the ones that really look like leafy branches -- and throw the rest out immedicately. Otherwise he said you keep picking through the bag and lowering your standards again and again and end up with bad looking trees and shrubs. My experience is that any given bag of lichen was about 60% usable.
Lichen does tend to dry out. Both dyed lichen AND dyed foam tend to fade due to dust and fluorescent lighting.
Dave Nelson

[orsonroy]

I try to stay away from natural plant materials on my model railroad. Drying, crumbling, mold accumulation and the occasional mouse eating incident convinced me to only use various plastic-based materials. Besides, lichen USED to be the default plant material, but it's been superceded by poly fiber, ground foam and Noch "lindenblatter" material (and Silfor).

Once lichen dries out, there's no getting it back in shape without immersing it in a warm glycerine solution and letting it soak. You really want to pull your trees and bushes off your layout every 2-3 years just to boil 'em?

[n2mopac]

I use lichen quite a bit in the background treen for my N scale layout. I coat it somewhat with fine ground foam to give leaf texture, as it appears that Karl did above. I have lichen trees that have been on my first layout for 6 years that show no sign of drying out or crumbling. I'm not saying that this will never happen, but I am sure that climate of your region and your train room have some bearing. Overall I like working with lichen. I don't use it exclusively, but I do use it.

Ron

[jwar]

Using lichen is up to the modeler and what he wants to simulate. I have two boxes of Lichen that was in a trunk for over twenty years. Returned to the hobbie two years ago and whats on the layout is good as ever. I think its great for certain things...John

[cacole]

To preserve lichen, dip it in glycerine. You should be able to find glycerine in quart bottles at the better drug stores.