N Scale Kudzu

[Anonymous]

Has anyone ever attempted to model this?

Thanks to everyone for their help. I've asked a lot of question in a short time an received some good advice. Construction of my layout benchwork has begun.

[orsonroy]

Your best bet is to just start tearing off strings of Woodland Scenics foliage and gluing it all over the place. IN HO scale, it's pretty hard to accurately model individual types of greenery, so it's easiest to give the impression of kudzu!

[ndbprr]

Aren't you afraid it might take over? [:D]

[Anonymous]

can anyone help me find information
about n scale,I am just comming in to N
I need info on everything.I am switching
from HO to n because of lack of room
and I have ben in ho fore a while.
thanks

[FJ and G]

thin thread
spray w/glue
throw greenish dyed fine sawdust on glued thread

dave vergun

[philnrunt]

And don't forget to drape it over trees, fences, utility poles, slow moving dogs and people and old cars. Well, really, everything.

[MAbruce]

QUOTE: Originally posted by deannbrunnet

can anyone help me find information
about n scale,I am just comming in to N
I need info on everything.I am switching
from HO to n because of lack of room
and I have ben in ho fore a while.
thanks

Welcome Deannbrunnet!

May I suggest that you start a new topic with your questions? It will probably get nuch more attention from others because people think this topic is only about KUDZU in N-scale (which is really is... [;)]).

[FJ and G]

Kudzu is a non-native plant. You might want to check when it invaded the area you are modeling if it is a period prototypical layout.

dav

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by FJ and G

Kudzu is a non-native plant. You might want to check when it invaded the area you are modeling if it is a period prototypical layout.

dav

I'm modeling current trains traveling through NW Georgia. Kudzu is everywhere.

[FJ and G]

As Philnrunt so eliquently mentions, kudzu is fast growing. You might even want to drap it over some of your spurs and have flange cuts going thru it or for an unused spur, it could literally cover it.

I see this sort of thing every day on NS spurs from my VRE commuter train.

[philnrunt]

Dave, you flatter me[^]. I camp and four wheel in Lee Co Va, the westernmost county in your great state, and at times I've felt like if I oversleep the tent will be kudzu kibble. It DO grow fast don't it!
Ya know, if you had a loco or rolling stock that you did'nt care for, parking it on a forgotten siding next to an old kudzu covered factory and letting kudzu cover it would make an interesting little scene.

[Anonymous]

The 10/84 issue of MR had a brief article (pg 138-140) on how to replicate kudzu in HO scale, but the technique should be easily adaptable to N scale. There are many other scenery products available now, and you should take the recommendations of the brands, etc. as but a guide as to what stuff to use.

If you don't have access to that issue, I'll recap what the author, Jim Kelly, wrote describing a diorama he constructed for the MR front cover: "I made the scenic forms by interweaving cardboard strips, then covered them with paper towels dipped in a soupy mixture of plaster. I painted the ground with flat brown latex, then added Bachmann's polyfiber, the foliage material included in their tree kits and sold separately in plastic bags. The wet latex paint turned out to be all the adhesive needed. I did pull out and stretch the material a little, but not nearly as much as for making a tree. With a tree you're going for a see-through effect, whereas kudzu is a much denser plant. I sprayed the fiber with matte medium diluted 5:1 with water and then sprinkled on ground foam, using Woodland Scenics course light green and a little of their Turf blend."

The final look of the kudzu on the front cover was convincing, and looking at the kudzu on my own property (in northwest Georgia), the kudzu as modeled, might actually look better in N scale than it does in HO, because kudzu leaves are quite large. Also, I would suggest that you go a shade darker than Mr. Kelly did, for kudzu is a fairly dark, 'rich' green when in full bloom, with little color variation seen from a distance. {Be advised however, that the colors depicted in my copy of that article aren't quite right in some of the pictures, and because the copy I have is nearly 20 years old, the color photo, and not the author's "formula", may be at fault.}

FYI : kudzu wasn't widespread in the Southeast until the 1930s, although it was introduced into the US in 1876 from the orient (Japan ?).

I'm curious - what railroad and area are you modeling in nw Georgia?
BILL

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to model the look of the rail line running from Marietta to Cartesville GA. Why? My 2 sons enjoy watching the trains that travel along this route, are enthused about seeing them on our layout and it makes it easy for me to take pictures of prototype rolling stock, engines, track and buildings for me to recreate.

Any chance I could get a copy of the article?

[Anonymous]

Thom - I don't have a flat bed printer/copier nor a scanner at the moment, so I am unable to get you a color copy of the article. That issue may be still available from MR, or in your local library, possibly. In my initail post here I directly quoted the portion of that article directly concerned w/ kudzu, as Jim Kelly had authored it, for he went on to describe specific scenic (non vegetation) details for the diorama set along Southern's Murphy Branch.

FYI - I'm modeling portions of the L&N Atlanta to Knoxville Division 'old line' (more commonly called the 'Hook & Eye' Line' that ran from Marietta thru Cherokee County and north to Etowah, TN and onto Knoxville, and also branched off to interchange w/ the Southern in Murphy, NC. Since our railroad settings are but twenty miles or so apart, the vegetation would be essentially the same color, etc., so my comments re: the color of the kudzu on that old cover should apply to your needs as well.

[Anonymous]

Bill,

The L & N will serve as the prototype for the shortline that will be incorporated into my layout (with significant modifications). Basically, I'll use the Marietta to Cartersville section as a prototype for my main line and the Hook & Eye for my short-line "tourist/historic" line.

It my way of incorporating modern equipment with the piles of old rolling stock and steam engines my brother has given me.

As a fellow NW Georgian, I'm sure you've seen the kudzu hills the trains run on hear the Etowah River. That's what I'm trying to recreate.

I'm new to the hobby. I'd love to see pictures of your layout.

[Anonymous]

Thom-
I'm just starting a new layout in my recently acquired basement (with a house upstairs for my wife). I recently moved to Georgia and when I discoverd the "Hook & Eye" line in Cherokee County I had to model it. That it is a functioning short line now (Georgia Northeastern RR and connects w/ the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway, and runs within earshot of my home, made it a 'must do', and has caused me to scrap my plans to model the SP (old South Pacific Coast route) in Northern California. My layput will be a point to point 24x32 walk around plan set in the late '40s. Stay in touch and I'll keep you posted of progress. I'll be doing a couple of 'drop-in' dioramas soon and I'll test out the kudzu technique I referred you to.

I