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A Little Bit Of Gardening


Ember

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Some time ago I bought a few of the Kamizukuri laser cut paper plant kits. Until today I'd only had a chance to try the daisies, which are great for a little bit of variation here and there among the grass.

 

Today I got some work done and made up some ferns and a full kit of roses. They'll be used to add some garden colour to the backyard of my shed diorama.

 

This is what you get for the roses, and a few bits of wire.

A-2-35.jpg

 

So with some paint, patience and a tiny bit of glue you get.

01_firstandlast.jpg

The one at the top is the very first one that I put together. Looks a bit flat. The one at the bottom is one of the last ones. I developed a few tools to help emboss the paper and give the finished plants a bit more 'life'.

 

The are few pictorial instructions for those who don't read Japanese but it's fairly easy to work out.

 

03_cluster.jpg

02_orange.jpg

 

 

And the ferns

06_ferns.jpg

 

04_cluster.jpg

05_garden.jpg

 

Not sure they come up really well in the photos, largely cos I don't have a decent macro lens. But hopefully you get an idea.

 

Embs

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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beyond belief . .

 

I'll just nip straight out to the grage and toss my latest MDF scratching into the rubbish bin and retire

 

you have the bar set waaaaaaaaaaaaay too high for me m'lady

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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Phoeno, tiny dobs of glue. Plus the 'branches and leaves' are done in sets of 3 with a hole in the middle. They thread over the wire and are held in place with a pin drop of PVA.

 

Mark, other than the paint and the patience, most of what you need is provided. The 'tools' that I developed were really just a couple of different gauge nails that I filed the points off. I started off using wooden bbq skewers, but got sick of breaking them.

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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Faark embs! Spectacular. I'd love to add this kind of quality to my scenery, even if my result was half of what you've achieved. One problem you can't help me with is my 4yo scenery adjuster named Eric, the other you can help with. Can you share with us the price and where to find?

My mum says I'm an excellent driver

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Mani, those ones came from HobbyLink Japan in days when I had a little more money. They sell for around JPY 760 per pack.

 

They are available here through modelling suppliers like BNA Model World in Moorabbin. Price at BNA is around $16 per pack. Rather pricey.

 

I've also seen them on eBay on occasion.

 

Also available are photo etched plant kits done with brass shim. Haven't tried them at all, but wonder if painting them would be more difficult.

 

I'd love to be able to find the Kamizuruki packs cheaper or in bulk lots. The effect is just brilliant and I can see me wanting sh'loads of ferns if I ever get a chance to do the hill climb or a rally track. Even wondering if it's possible to build a small light laser cutter suitable for card stock.

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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you say they're lazer cut,,,,, do they pull from the sheet easily,, I can see white parts especialy on the red ,,is this where they seperate from sheet??,,,,,On the pink it looks as though you have opted for leaving the centres white??? do you paint on the sheet or on the wire??,,what are the scale,,I mean do they look well amongst 1/32??

 

I'll admit when first seeing pic,, they looked absalutely real,,, till my eyes focused some more.....still bloody pretty though.

 

hey SlotNZ....... your right,,,,,the best I coud think of for flower gardens is,,,, a cut bit or green scourer with colour spekled over it(sounds lame now).

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So many questions. I really thought this would be of very limited interest. But there you go. Ok. Let's see if I can cover them all.

 

you say they're lazer cut,,,,, do they pull from the sheet easily,, I can see white parts especialy on the red ,,is this where they seperate from sheet??,,,,,On the pink it looks as though you have opted for leaving the centres white??? do you paint on the sheet or on the wire??,,what are the scale,,I mean do they look well amongst 1/32??

Yes, they are laser cut. In the top (borrowed) photo of the sheet if you look closely you will note tiny tabs. The paper stock for the roses is fairly heavy. I'd estimate around 180 gsm. The tabs need to be cut rather than torn. Sharp pointed scalpel (no. 5 blade) will do this easily.

 

I painted the parts prior to separation. They really need painting prior to assembly. I have enough trouble with dropping and losing things without trying to paint tiny bits of paper. :)

 

Yes, the little splashes of white at the edges are mainly where the tabs were cut, although there may be a few instances where I missed with the paint too. I wasn't exactly careful in some instances. If I was being ultra careful, and I may yet do so, I'd probably touch the spots up with a smear of paint on a fine brush (00).

 

The pink roses do have pink centres. The centres on some are lighter than the outside petals. On others I did it the other way around. Some flowers darken as they age, so the outer petals are darker than the inner. Some colours are the other way around and the petals fade in the sun. The orange ones I actually put some colour variations into the petals themselves, but you can't really see it in the photos. Can see it a little more in reality, but probably not worth the fiddling.

 

The tabs on the ferns are less obvious because the ferns are cut from green paper of a lighter weight. I'd guesstimate the stock for the ferns to be around 60gsm. Note, regular printer paper is 80gsm, so the ferns are really quite delicate. The tabs on the ferns are also better placed at the tip of the frond, but this is possible due mainly to the shape of the fern fronds.

 

Scale is pretty good. They are made with the military modellers in mind, so are 1:35 scale. The military modellers need the detail as all their work is largely for close view. Slot tracks, perhaps don't get quite the same close scrutiny, but it's nice to have a splash of mega detail in the odd vignette. In my case these are aimed at the shed and backyard diorama which is basically intended as a photo set. Close inspection is expected.

 

The kits are also available in 1:48. This is a surprising scale as I'm not aware of it being used for modelling much. But the Japanese are rather into diorama modelling, so maybe this is the scale they use. Anyway, 1:48 isn't too far away from 1:43, so those building in the 'newer' scale might find them useful.

 

The ferns really are fabulous because they offer another texture to the track. And texture is largely what the scenic work is about. I've yet to find something else that can provide that sort of leafy texture, but that doesn't mean I'm not still looking.

 

Another note, which may help you on scale. The 'greenhouse' that these plants are currently being stored in is a blue Scalex car box. The bit of florestry foam that they are stuck in covers half of the base of the box.

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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Wow Embs! That looks like tedious work, but the results are impressive!

The ferns would be great on WBV... will search for them.

Wondering if photocopying the sheets would be a good way of increasing the stock... only to cut out manually (yawn)

Cheers,

Dick

 

SCMR build thread

Woodbrook Valley build thread

 

"A Man's home is his castle, but his garage is his sanctuary!"

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Definitely too fine to cut by hand. At least the ferns are. My hands certainly aren't steady enough any more. Don't think they ever were. Even before the caffeine addiction.

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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Can I put you down for 100 ferns then Kai? They'd go well on the rally track around the river crossing.

 

Every now and then I wonder why I spent a few grand on a DSLR when I look at the photos my damned phone can take.

 

This one should give a slightly better idea of the size.

08_garden.jpg

 

And the ferns...

09_fens.jpg

 

The fern sheet...

10_fern_sheet.jpg

 

And the remnants from the roses

07_rose_sheet.jpg

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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...I still think you a talent waiting to be discovered.

So, what do you think I should do? Build a little wooden church and send it to Oprah? Or a miniature minesite and send it to Gina Rinehart. :) Narh, the vehicles might be a bit much like hard work.

 

But really, any of it anyone can do.

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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These are great.

 

I really like the fine brush work on the leaves.

 

EDIT:

 

1/48 is a popular aircraft modelling scale and increasingly a popular military modelling scale. Aircraft modellers are getting more and more into the airfield dioramas with the support vehicles, pilot figures, AA pits, etc. I guess also a few aircraft modellers are branching out into tanks. Tamiya has been making 1/48 tanks etc for a while now.

 

This is a very popular Tamiya kit:

 

tamiya_48_32501_a.jpg

 

You can obviously see the aircraft diorama possibilities with that one. They would have sold a heap of them. Here's an example of a diorama, but obviously the groundwork could be improved with your flowers!

 

messerschmitt-bf-110-c-eduard.jpg

Edited by Burglar
ff48s6.jpg
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Spectacular as usual Embs - I know you say everything was provided, etc but at the end of the day - it's skill, patience and the ability to give the item character that set's your work apart (imo)

I think you have a couple of aphids on one of those plants though so might need to get some spray out!!

 

haha - lovely lovely job. Would you mind sending about 7000 completed ferns over to NZ for my road track :-) ....please!! (Just need to paint the back of the fronds silver so it works for us East Islanders)

"Don't trust everything you read online" - W. Shakespeare

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Absolutely fabulous Ember! I've got to get some of those ferns, but I've also got to find a permanent place to set up my track first.

 

I think more about slot cars now than I did about sex when I was sixteen.

 

logoforsignatureonSFI.png incorporating the Italian round of logoforWRP_zpsc822e290.jpg

...this is the BIG one!

3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th October 2013

Castello delle Forme, Umbria, Italy

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