Real wood for scenery

[Grampy]

Can you use real wood (branches, twigs, etc.) as well as real dirt for scenery.......? If so, what do you have to do to prepare it so that it will last.......? Are there any downsides to using natural scenery......?

Thanks.......

 

[Trucula]

Yes. Anything that looks real can be used and can save you money. Dirt can be sifted and dryed. Stones and gravels can be sifted. Leaves can be ground sifted and used for ground cover. (can't say your colors arent right if your using the real thing!)
Here is an area on our clubs layout. The trees that are close are bought pines, WS Real Trees and the rest are dryed "Golden Rod" (dryed weeds)spray painted and flocked. Real stones and gravel and base. Sand plant has real sand from actual plant. Cut trees (twigs)..The East Broad Top has real coal from the actual location. This has lasted over 5 years now. Anything that saves a $$$ use!

 

[Larry]

I use real wood all the time & real dirt, real sawdust, real rocks, real pinebark & real other stuff.
I treat my twigs w/a mixture of water & matte Medium. 40% water to a 60% liquid matte. I then dip them for about 30 to 60 seconds & hang them up to dry.
Dirt; I sift w/a flour strainer in a small container & check to see if any of it is magnetic.
Some of the guys on here put it in the oven to clear it of pests, I don't.
I use small rocks that I buy at Dollar Tree & sometimes I smash them into smaller pieces.
I also buy Pinebark in 40# bags at Home Depot to use for all kinds of scenery(rocks & boulders). I buy a lot of flower arranging stuff at Dollar Tree & Play sand in diff. colors at Joann's Craft stores. I mix all the diff. colors of sand together in a bucket & use it for track ballast. I also buy course sand blasting sand at my local paint store for ballast mix.
There's all kinds of plants in your yard for scenery material. A friend of mine has a big O scale layout & he gets his scenery materials from a brick mfging. plant here in town.
This hobby is a lot of hit & miss & trial & error w/nature items for scenery, tree's, etc.
You learn a lot from others & doing things yourself. I've been practicing for 53 years in HO scale.

 

[alcoman]

I live in coal mine country. I just discovered a small exposed coal seam in the hill behind my house. My coal mine is going to get some real coal.

 

[RW&C]

The downside is that real twigs, etc often get brittle. A little thinned Elmer's (and not messing with them too much) will take care of that. Also, if you have mice, they may try to eat your scenery.

Sagebrush twigs make excellent trees. I figure, the more different types of sticks I use to make trees, the better they'll look.

 

[Rico]

I use small maple tree roots that spring up in the garden.
Just clean them and spray them with a glue mixture as mentioned.
They do get somewhat brittle over time but no real problems otherwise.

 

[kenw]

The common way to preserve wood twigs, etc is to boil them in glycol. They get real tough and flexible and will last for eons.

 

[ianacole]

I used a branch from my wife's favorite tree for this:

 

[Grampy]

Thank you everyone for your great suggestions.....! Now I can clean up the limbs, twigs, and leaves from my backyard and put them to productive use in my layout. Cleaning the backyard won't be just a chore anymore......it'll be a treasure hunt....!!

 

[Selector]

I would think the key step is to keep it from getting wet. However, I have heard that soaking twigs in warm gloss medium for a few days is a great way to keep them pliable and strong. But only if they are also kept dry thereafter.

 

[flh80]

Like RICO says, you can use a tree root as a tree itself, cover them with foam foliage. If you can find a bunch of little saplings, dig don't pull them out and carefully remove the dirt, there are more branches (feeder roots) to make it look more like a scale tree
Black dirt makes excellent gound cover or roads when glued down, I've seen where guys will roll a vehicle over the road to imprint tire marks, then spray with hairspray to hold the top in place.