Hello,
Before we start, we would like to remind you that all images in this newsletter are links that you can click on, sending you to pages with more details on each item including full description and sometimes videos. If anything is still unclear, please do contact us.
We are open as usual during the bank holiday weekend: open Saturday from 10am till 4.30pm and Sunday from 1pm till 4pm. This is to help you make the most of the long weekend: no excuse not to do any modelling!
Vegetation and trees are everywhere around us. Even in the middle of towns and cities, you can always find a small park or a tree in a back garden. And industrial yards are usually surrounded by trees. Now that we have established your layout could probably benefits from having trees or bushes, we need to cover a couple more subjects.
First, there are more trees than you think. Even in towns and cities, you will find trees in parks, gardens and on pavements. In the countryside, you will find them alongside roads and in fields. And trees are usually accompanied by some other vegetation: bushes, grass, ...
Second, trees are bigger than you think. Next time you see a tree, compare its size to the building next to it. You will realise that the tree is usually taller than a 2 storey house. How does it translate to your layout? Say a house is about 8m tall (24ft), this is 10 cm (4") in OO gauge, and 5cm (2") in N gauge. And we are just talking about a small tree...
Beeches can reach 150ft (50m) and firs and spruces can be more than
200ft (65m) tall! Oaks, poplars, ashes, elms can usually be 130ft (40m)
tall, that is five times the size of our two storey house.
Trees are available ready made and are really nice, however as a nice side project, have you thought about making your own?
You can do it the traditional way using electric wire that you twist and cover with plaster or similar. However, there are now better (and safer!) ways to do them. First you get some armatures. They come in various types to simulate several shapes of trees. They are wire coated in plastic that simulates the bark (and protects your fingers!). Packs containing everything needed to make trees is also available. Click on the pictures below for more details and to see videos on how to make trees.
You then apply a coat of glue and put the foliage of your choice. They come in several grades of coarseness and numerous colours. The colour you chose will depend on the season you are trying to portray. While nothing replaces looking at pictures to get the right shades, as a rule of thumb you can go for : bright green for spring, darker green for summer (getting even darker towards autumn), yellow for early autumn and browns for late autumn.
And the floor can be grass or most of the time, earth with small vegetation. Once again, the choice is yours and the options are numerous.
Techniques on how to build trees and a lot more aspects of the scenery is covered in the excellent Woodland Scenics scenery manual that we mentioned in the past.
Send us an email or give us a call to check availability or to reserve anything, whatever scale you model in. As usual, if we do not have in stock what you are looking for, we will order it for you and you will get it fast (usually within a week if the manufacturer has it in stock). We place weekly orders with most suppliers.
Remember, you can park for free for one hour on the High Street and for as long as want on the Esplanade. So no excuse not to come and visit us!
Upstairs Downstairs is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am till 4.30pm and Sunday 1pm till 4pm. We are closed only on Monday.
Carole & Max
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Upstairs Downstairs
3 Pier Street
Sandown, PO36 8JR
Isle of Wight
Tel: 01983 406 616
http://www.trainshop.co.uk or find us on Facebook
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