I'd be extra cautious of modeling Kudzu. That stuff will take over your model railroad layout overnight, I'm sure. It takes over every thing else.
I agree with an earlier comment about wind playing a factor in the dessert. When our kids were young we lived in Missouri where the Oak grow tall and strong. I still remember when we moved to Colorado and took a trip up into the mountains and found what looked to me like an Oak tree that was only about 4 feet tall, but very old and knarled and twisted grotescally from the effects of the wind. I told my family to "look at that Oak" and my son who was standing right by it, looked upward and said "what Oak?". Trees in the dessert, and specially at higher altitudes, take on a completely different look than what we expect.
Woodlandtoots
UP2CSX wrote:The base scenery already looks great for the Mojave. I really like that Joshua tree but, depending on howmuch you want to botanically prototypical , they only grow at about 4500 feet and above. On the old AT&SF line, that would put them in the area of Goffs and then around Kingman, so they wouldn't really be common. Mesquite are really the prominent plant in the Mojave.
The base scenery already looks great for the Mojave. I really like that Joshua tree but, depending on howmuch you want to botanically prototypical , they only grow at about 4500 feet and above. On the old AT&SF line, that would put them in the area of Goffs and then around Kingman, so they wouldn't really be common. Mesquite are really the prominent plant in the Mojave.
Great news, the backdrop happens to be Goffs I've noticed that my scenery (trees) seem to match the Yucca AZ area the most though.
Thanks for the Crepe Myrtle idea, sounds promising.
Matt from Anaheim, CA and Bayfield, COClick Here for my model train photo website
If you have access to any Crepe Myrtle trees, the blooms after they have dried can be used to make a pretty good representation of a mesquite. Just trim them up some and do the usual coating of gound foam and some foam clumps. The hard part is getting a realistic color since the Mesquite is really not green, I guess it's more of an olive color but I suggest you study some photos and try to mix up a good match with some WS material. My previous layout modled much of the same area when I lived in California. I used the Crepe Myrtle blooms and I'll be darned if I can remember the exact mixture of stuff I used to get the right color. It may have even been sparay paint. I wish I had some pics to show you but the layout and that part of my life is long gone. I'm in the south now and trying to figure out a good way to model Kudzu vine. At least you only need to popoulate washes with Mesquite trees. Kudzu covers pratically anything that isn't moving down here.
Here are some photos of the desert area on the layout. The last two shots show the dry wash where I'd like to add some "greener" desert trees, like the mesquite. And the very bottom photo shows how I used repainted Plastruct Prickly Pears near my depot.
Here is a link to my desert scenery. I live out here in Arizona and I was tryign to duplicate the desert the UP runs between Phoenix and Tucson. Nothing fancy, but I was pretty happy with it. Maybe give you some ideas how to improve.
After I took a hard look at scale, I realised the larger clumps of Woodland Scenic foliage, was pretty close to the big bush size. I still havent figured out a good tree yet other than useing the Woodland Scenic pre-made trees that are in the 2-4 inch size. I cut the trunk down to make look more like the ground hugging type like in your picture.
Best Regards, Big John
Kiva Valley Railway- Freelanced road in central Arizona. Visit the link to see my MR forum thread on The Building of the Whitton Branch on the Kiva Valley Railway
Great suggestions. Thanks all.
I like the idea of cutting a tree trunk, that's what I was thinking of doing. Super Trees is another option I was looking into.
I'll check out those books and see if they have desert info, and I've found that the Dec 1983 Model Railroader supposedly has an article on how to model desert plants. I wonder if it is still relevant with all of the recent offerings in HO scale.
Are there Palo Verde's in the Mojave where the Santa Fe (BNSF) traverses? I always thought the Palo Verde was more of a Sonoran plant, so likely the Southern Pacific (Union Pacific) route. I could be wrong though as there is much diversity in the Mojave. It's really amazing that so much plant life can survive the harsh environment.
I'll take a few photos of the desert section of the layout tomorrow and post it here to show what it currently looks like.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Southwest Chief wrote:Does anyone know of tips or techniques for making these trees or other desert plants?
Does anyone know of tips or techniques for making these trees or other desert plants?
One of these has a chapter on desert plants. I can't recall which one.
Karl
The mind is like a parachute. It works better when it's open. www.stremy.net
Why not take a tree and clip the trunk fairly high, then thin out some of the branches - so it looks sort of like an over sized bush with some sparse growth - think spindly.
Instead of using brown as a base color use a shade of grey then highlight with brown, for the leaves use a med/light green and highlight with light grey, and remember that the leaves of desert plants are not as large and don't grow as thickly as plants in less arid areas.
You may or may not want to try and model it, but, remember that wind in deserts play a larger role in shape of the plants than in woods.
I bet that the prevailing wind in the pic you took, came from the left of where you were standing, notice how the tree appears to be a bit more up-right on the left side and slightly more trailing on the right side - the upright look usualy comes from branches and twigs trying to grow into the wind, while the branches and twigs on the down wind side have an easier time of it, unless a geographic feature is blocking the wind or forcing it to go in another direction, or around the tree altogether.
I am expermenting with, Super Trees, A dried flower called Queen of the Praire (Great for Birch trees) and Sage brush. All seem to work, its the artistry after the armature that makes the difference.
Please share what you learn with some pics. You didn't ask, but I have had good luck making cactii out of plastic clay like Sculptee.
I currently have some nice Joshua Trees and Ocotillos (found at train shows long ago) along with some natural lichen used to simulate small brush. But looking at the real thing, I noticed that in the dry wash areas there are many mesquite trees. I have a dry river bed and would love to replicate these trees.
Does anyone know of tips or techniques for making these trees or other desert plants? Most tips for tree making are on eastern varieties...I don't think I've ever seen tips on desert scenery, especially trees, in Model Railroader.
This is what the tree I'm trying to recreate looks like: