Nice job Jim. I'm filing this one in the "I'll be sure to use that one when the time comes" bin. Thanks for sharing.
Oh, I am SO going to need this technique when I model my Appalachian layout. (cool! spell-check noticed that Appalachian should be capitalized!) Would you be so kind as to point to a tutorial on how to make the puffballs themselves? Yours truly, "Google is too impersonal! I prefer to ask!"
Hey, Jim. Great job on the forest. I'm not familiar with the material. Can the puff balls be made in the conical shape of an evergreen? ....Tom
Gee, Twindad, I never looked for a tutorial on puffballs. What you do is get some Poly-Fil - the stuff that stuffs pillows. You pull out tufts, form them into a tree-sized ball, dip them in matte medium and cover them with coarse turf. That's the short version. Poly-Fil usually comes in white, although if you net search you may find some in black - Micro-Mark has it that way, and I believe Woodland Scenics has it in green. Anyway, if you use the white, you will need to spraybomb it with black before you dip. So now you dip. I use diluted matte medium - you can get Mod Podge at Wally World or Hobby Lobby - and dilute it four parts water to one part MP. Or use WS Scenic Cement, it's the same stuff only lots more expensive. I take a one gallon zip lock bag and fill it maybe half full of WS coarse turf. You can also add fine turn to the mix, and of course vary the color also. I dip some puffballs, put 'em in the bag, shake, and fish 'em out, putting them on a sheet of cardboard to dry overnight. That's how I do puffballs. There are probably as many variations on this as there are people doing it. Did I mention this can be messy? Rubber gloves are nice. I don't see how, Tom. If you read the description above, you'll see why, I think. And again, thanks to all for the thanks! Makes me feel really good!
Thanks for the puffball info, Jim. Some of this stuff can be surprisingly hard to "grok" for folks who've never, ever done it before. This sounds like just the sort of super-messy fun that my kids will LOVE to help me with.
You definitely need a pair of latex gloves when you're dipping the poly fill fiber in the cement medium.
Says the guy who has obviously been there :we2-jimlad::we2-jimlad:. If you paint the white poly-fil use the cheapest paint you can get - the 98 cent stuff works fine, I use flat black. it will take more paint than you think - I usually put the balls in a shallow box, spray from all four directions, let dry, turn the balls and hit them again, and when dry do it one more time to get rid of the last of the white. The "flash" in the title assumes you already have the puffballs made:mbiggrin::mbiggrin:. This is NOT fast preparation.
Not to change the subject but how about a forest fire in a flash? I had a friend that used branches from various brush and shrubs. He would paint them, add extra foliage and then spray them with hair spray. It worked nicely until one of his smoking friends happened in. He had just finished spraying down a bunch of the trees and when the cig., came close enough to ignite the fumes.... That stuff lit up and burned to the ground faster then a cut Christmas Tree. Lucky he used a type of plaster for his base...instead of foam. "Keeping fire prevention in mind", is perhaps an appropriate thing to add here. He was heard to say, "Darn weed burner". Your ideas expressed and illustrated here...sounds and looks good.
I'm confused,Is puffball the same stuff as Woodland Scenics clump foliage ? http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/category/Clump-Foliage Jacques
No, puffballs are either tufts of Poly fill meant for stuffing pillows. Available at craft stores, or Joanne Fabrics or the like. Another example of similar material is makeup puffs which are available at any drug store. They are designed to put on or remove makeup or use with nail polish remover. Just a little ball of fluff. Those are easier to find, but are more universal in size and shape. As for fir and pines, I'd say the next cheapest solution would be to use cheap trees from those Department 56 style christmas villages and place them in the screen. They need a bit more work to make them look good, but Walmart has them cheap.
The "puff ball" isn't Woodland Scenics clump foliage. The "puff ball" Is made from Poly-Fil. Micro-Mark has the Poly-Fil in black, Woodland Scenics sells the Poly-fil in green and you can buy white Poly-Fil which is used to stuff pillows.
Thanks for covering, Bob! He has it right, folks. Puffballs (or tufts) come from Poly-Fil. I'm not sure cotton balls from the drug store would work - not large enough (although you might be able to tease them larger - and too uniform. The Poly-Fil advantage is they look random...
Wow, looks like it should work on my HCD layout as well! And the area I model needs lotsa trees. Last time I mass-produced trees, I was using lichen, ground foam, a coffee can, and hairspray. Using poly-fill balls should be much easier. Thanks for sharing!
For those of you contemplating puffball creation, here are some statistics - A bag of white Poly-Fil will yield around 300 good size trees. You might be able to pull it out even more but the whole point of this is fast and cheap. It will likely take four cans of black spray to make it black enough. At this point you have an investment of under $10. The turf and matte medium will inflate that a bit, but I don't think it would be more than another $20. So for $30 you're gonna have at least 300 trees. Not all bad IMO!
