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Make a ruined farmhouse scene in “00”.

Javis make a range of ruined house pieces for wargamers . These are meant for 28mm or 1/56 scale . However, the scale discrepancy is not very noticeable with buildings. They are made of cast resin and need painting.

First give the casting a coat of grey primer. This will help to “key” the next coat of paint.

Stonework

Select a stone colour and paint the stonework. All paints used were Humbrol enamels. Next, with a mortar colour, paint the remaining rendering on the outside walls. The inside walls had the surviving plaster painted green. Dark earth was used for the floor of the ruin.

Detail painting

There is quite a lot of moulded detail on the casting. Wood splinters and an old door were highlighted with colour. The inside of the fireplace was painted red to simulate old brick.

The base

The base was cut from a piece of 2 mm card. Javis foliage material was used to disguise the edge of the casting. Finally Javis scatter was used for the grass.

Detailing

To add interest some Knightwing barells and crates were added. the tyres are spares from a kit.

This was a fun project using a bit of lateral thinking.

Buy this diorama now on eBay.

Who Makes the Best Value Model Railway Trees? – Review.

There are many model railway trees on the market, from mediocre, to high end bespoke models. Bespoke models are expensive but look like the real thing. This article looks at model trees in order of cost.

So what is available?

Make your own trees

Sea foam is still the best for cheapness and realism, when modelling rough forested areas. Gaugemaster do a kit that contains sea foam and various scatters.(out of stock at the time of writing) You can also get sea foam in various sized boxes on Ebay. It is good value at £10.99 for a 2 litre box. All you need then is various scatters and some spray glue. I will write a separate post on how to use sea foam soon. Don’t forget to subscribe to get an email when new posts are released.

Javis ready made trees

Javis make a selection of ready made trees that are good value but a little too manicured. They are best for parks and gardens. Mix a few different types together to make them less regular. You could also give one or two a “hair cut”. Javis trees are in the £2- £3 range.

Ready Made trees by JTT

JTT make trees primarily for war gaming, but there are some larger ones available, at 4″ high. They are quite expensive but more realistic than Javis. The two below are about £14. JTT also make twisted wire armatures for trees. These will save time and allow you to customise the look.

Garden Craft tree kits

Garden crafts (JTT) make a couple of landscaping tree kits. The “build your own Garden” set is great for making small dioramas. It contains trees, bushes and various scatters. It also comes with mat that has the ground cover attached. It costs £14, Approx.

Faller tree kits

Faller make a range of tree kits. you get a couple of plastic armatures, foliage and some scatter material.They are good value at £4 to £5 and are available from Gaugemaster.

The premium range from Faller is nicely detailed but expensive at £10 – £17 each. The structure is made of plastic with a join at the base, that needs filling. They would also benefit from some weathering on the trunk.

Gaugemaster tree packs

You can save money by getting a mutipack, Gaugemaster have a useful range, made by themselves.

Noch profi trees

Another German manufacturer with a large range of trees is Noch. Their profi trees range of large native species are up to 20cm high. At £14 approx they are good value and make a good centre piece feature.

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