West slope with trees
Lately I have been building new trees and modifying old ones. Now the trees are planted on the side of a mountain I've been working on since late December. The mountain is constructed of 1" sheet styrofoam, paper "biscuits" wadded up from brown paper bags used to protect wine bottles, and plaster cloth. My mountain was designed to be removable for the ease of construction, maintenance of scenery, access to the tracks for cleaning and re-railing trains, and eventual moving.
On the lower slopes are Ponderosa Pines, then Quaking Aspens, Douglas Fir, and Engelmann Spruce. The latter trees are bottle-brush type trees from Heki that I've had for decades. All the others are from Woodland Scenics kits and components that I've modified to resemble the trees of northern New Mexico I'm not 100% satisfied with my attempt with aspens, but Woodland Scenics doesn't really have a tree armature shape or foliage color that suits me. My version of Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir is closer than most modelers' work. Bottle brush type trees are OK for certain firs and spruces with an overall conical shape but not for "pine" trees that too many modelers try to pass off.
On the right hand side of this view, you can see the cutout for my track, and the left side will butt up against the photo mural background. The pink styrofoam visible on the bottom is where the mountain drops into its slot. On the left front, part of the mountain overlaps onto the adjacent section, and a wide creek goes around the bend and disappears from view.
West slope with trees
Lately I have been building new trees and modifying old ones. Now the trees are planted on the side of a mountain I've been working on since late December. The mountain is constructed of 1" sheet styrofoam, paper "biscuits" wadded up from brown paper bags used to protect wine bottles, and plaster cloth. My mountain was designed to be removable for the ease of construction, maintenance of scenery, access to the tracks for cleaning and re-railing trains, and eventual moving.
On the lower slopes are Ponderosa Pines, then Quaking Aspens, Douglas Fir, and Engelmann Spruce. The latter trees are bottle-brush type trees from Heki that I've had for decades. All the others are from Woodland Scenics kits and components that I've modified to resemble the trees of northern New Mexico I'm not 100% satisfied with my attempt with aspens, but Woodland Scenics doesn't really have a tree armature shape or foliage color that suits me. My version of Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir is closer than most modelers' work. Bottle brush type trees are OK for certain firs and spruces with an overall conical shape but not for "pine" trees that too many modelers try to pass off.
On the right hand side of this view, you can see the cutout for my track, and the left side will butt up against the photo mural background. The pink styrofoam visible on the bottom is where the mountain drops into its slot. On the left front, part of the mountain overlaps onto the adjacent section, and a wide creek goes around the bend and disappears from view.