Shhhh...it's FREE 2

quantumzoomer · Feb 4, 2020

I have to post six times before I can post photos; so I will tell the story without the pictures until I make 6 posts. Anyone who models the East/North East is familiar with puff balls and they do an adequate job as back ground mountain side scenery and we have all seen great examples and used them with good results. That said, I live in the region, Maryland, and while puff balls offer a viable solution, to my eye I have rarely seen a hillside that truly resembled a wall of puff balls. There is much more variation and detail, bare spots, fire spots, small under brush, dead growth, etc. This variation in detail is especially important close up. On my layout, streams, cliffs, mountain sides, etc. are so close they demand a high degree of realism and detail and while I love puff balls, they just don't fill the bill. There are many great products that can add detail, but nothing like I am going to show you. I would not be doing this if I thought it would disappoint. Next.

Lee Willis · Feb 4, 2020

Okay. I am a bit confused about where this is going, but the purpose and goals seems good!

Tom_C · Feb 4, 2020

I once thought you needed 5 posts, but then I see people with 1 post who have pics in their post, so.... have you tried to post a pic?

Maybe it's 5 posts before you can upload a pic, but you can link a URL on your 1st post. That's probably it.

ADDED: And, you don't need to start 5 threads, just get 5 posts, so needed spam threads to meet the goal.

Spence · Feb 4, 2020

I'm looking forward to some photos.

prrfan · Feb 4, 2020

What exactly do you mean by ‘puff ball’? Are you referring to the ground foam products called Clump Foliage? You can use it for tree foliage or shrubbery.

The only other thing that could be called that are cotton balls, unless you mean actual puff balls. These are round mushroom like fungi that produce clouds of spores when touched. No, surely not that.

Dennis461 · Feb 4, 2020

"But only God can make a tree."

mesenteria · Feb 4, 2020

prrfan said:
What exactly do you mean by ‘puff ball’? Are you referring to the ground foam products called Clump Foliage? You can use it for tree foliage or shrubbery.

The only other thing that could be called that are cotton balls, unless you mean actual puff balls. These are round mushroom like fungi that produce clouds of spores when touched. No, surely not that.

He means tearing out of a larger bundle of polyfibre upholstery stuffing a bit that can be rolled and sprayed with adhesive, and then have ground foam and flocking sprinkled over it. You then glue them to the sides of hills or whatever, but usually you have some nicer, more realistic trees, even commercial ones, visible closer to the operator and camera.

I agree that there's a way to do this that makes it look truly natural, including planting 'deadfalls', leaves, bushes, and so on the way a real forest looks. Puffball trees by themselves rarely manage to look convincing.

CTValleyRR · Feb 5, 2020

mesenteria said:
He means tearing out of a larger bundle of polyfibre upholstery stuffing a bit that can be rolled and sprayed with adhesive, and then have ground foam and flocking sprinkled over it. You then glue them to the sides of hills or whatever, but usually you have some nicer, more realistic trees, even commercial ones, visible closer to the operator and camera.

I agree that there's a way to do this that makes it look truly natural, including planting 'deadfalls', leaves, bushes, and so on the way a real forest looks. Puffball trees by themselves rarely manage to look convincing.

This is kind of a critical concept when making so-called "puffball" trees. The common misconception is that you cover the hillside with more or less uniform balls of green, brown or black poly fiber, coated with a little leaf foliage.

While this technique does cover large areas of terrain with something that bears a passing resemblance to a forest canopy seen from the top, that's not really what is meant by "puff ball trees". As mesenteria says, techniques to make this appearance much more realistic are fairly common and widely known, and they don't take much more time or any more material.

So I am more than a little skeptical that this is going to make us fall out of our chairs. Combine that with the old urban legend that print editors are beholden to their advertisers and would never run a story that would compete with one of advertisers just makes me that much more skeptical. How many times has the model railroad hobby press published glowing reviews of competitors products in the same issue as, and even right next to, advertisements for a product. And the same advertisers are back issue after issue.

So, the OP gets a fair hearing, but it'll take something really amazing to live up to the hype he's trying to create.

quantumzoomer · Feb 5, 2020

Shhh...

great comments...I have offered to send a pic to someone who can post it. I will be happy to send pics to anyone who can post them. However, I don't want to step on any rules about this stuff. I can continue to talk about this but pictures will make the talk easier to grasp and tell the whole story. The story is about trees.

quantumzoomer · Feb 5, 2020

I am not selling a product. I am not going to try to interest you in cleaning products. I am going to show you something very old rediscovered, so to speak, that you will add to your scenery palette and find a place for it on your layout. It will not knock you off your seats or end world hunger, but it is undeniably neat. Now, this will be my 5th post so in the interest of expedience, someone tell me how to post pictures. Smoochies

Tom_C · Feb 5, 2020

quantumzoomer said:
Now, this will be my 5th post so in the interest of expedience, someone tell me how to post pictures. Smoochies

OK. Ignoring the condescension, here is a thread showing how to post pics. Now, please, show us what you got.

https://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=84953

Dennis461 · Feb 5, 2020

HINT;
Threads in Forum : Forum News, Updates and Help

prrfan · Feb 5, 2020

mesenteria said:
prrfan said:

What exactly do you mean by ‘puff ball’? Are you referring to the ground foam products called Clump Foliage? You can use it for tree foliage or shrubbery.

The only other thing that could be called that are cotton balls, unless you mean actual puff balls. These are round mushroom like fungi that produce clouds of spores when touched. No, surely not that.

Click to expand...

He means tearing out of a larger bundle of polyfibre upholstery stuffing a bit that can be rolled and sprayed with adhesive, and then have ground foam and flocking sprinkled over it. You then glue them to the sides of hills or whatever, but usually you have some nicer, more realistic trees, even commercial ones, visible closer to the operator and camera.

I agree that there's a way to do this that makes it look truly natural, including planting 'deadfalls', leaves, bushes, and so on the way a real forest looks. Puffball trees by themselves rarely manage to look convincing.