Resins: With all the recent posts about scenic water, I thought I'd let you all in on a little secret....don't like it, don't use it. Just pitch it in the trash an move on before you start screaming! ;o) I used to use Everlasting Elegance....you find it in the floral department of Michael's. Much better than SW. Hardens to completely solid, doesn't bubble, and is just generally easier to use. Only drawback is the $13 a pint. So, I recently went to my auto supply store.....found a product call Everfix Epoxy (2 part) Resin (used for auto body work).....love it. It isn't perfectly clear until after it's mixed and poured. The price is much better.....I'm saving $6 a quart. And instead of waiting 7 days for it to cure completely, it only takes 24 hours......and I pour it close to an inch deep in most of my ponds. It gels in just 30 minutes.....which means that I can do a waterfall (some are almost 6" high) in less than an hour. It used to mean fussing and fussing over a single waterfall for 10 - 14 hours waiting for the resin to firm up enough to stick to well. The label even states that it is the only resin that can be poured over Styrofoam....haven't tried that yet, I'm sure that eventually I will. LOL Also has about a 10 year shelf life. The only drawback I've found with this product over Everlasting Elegance is that is does bubble more.....but the good far outweighs the bad. And while it smells, it isn't any stronger than Everlasting Elegance, and less than other resins. I use ALOT of this stuff, so I feel like I have enough experience with it to know a *really* good product when I find one.

Sloan

Faux Wrought Iron: I made faux wrought iron from square profile brass tube stock, bent with pliers over a pattern and then soldered in place in a brass frame. I then painted it with a black patina finish and sponged copper colored paint on it to simulate rust. Worked really well. You need a big soldering iron - mine is 80watts - I use it for everything even dollhouse wiring (I'm very quick!) but if it's much smaller you won't get the brass tubing warm enough to take the solder properly.

Trace

Faux Wrought Iron: They can be made using the twist ties that come in packages of garbage bags. If you want to repeat a shape (like a heart) use something to bend the pieces around and glue the hearts between straight pieces of twist ties, perhaps twirling some. Glue them together and spray with flat black paint!

Alice Zinn

Glycerin: "What is glycerin and where does one get it? … Linda in Leroy, OH " Glycerin is (you will be sorry you asked) a clear (colorless) liquid obtained from rendering of animal fats or can be made synthetically. Formula is C3H5(OH). It is Hygroscopic (attracts water) It is used in the manufacture of soaps and medications, Also some plastics. For practical purposes in your area in the winter if you get sheet ice on your car windshield; before the rain comes and freezes, spread glycerin on the windshield and when the rain hits it and freezes it is a simple matter to "push"it off. (old cab driver trick) Where to buy it? any store that sells toothpaste "vbg" personal health items or drug stores. If you rub it on your hands and face prior to painting a human sized room, any paint that splatters on your hands or face is simply wiped off. Less expensive than cold cream and less smelly than Vaseline Which I used to keep paint from sticking to my skin. Now aren't you sorry you asked?

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL.

Glycerin: Glycerin is a humectant--it equalizes moisture, basically. (Do NOT use it as a moisturizer on your skin if you live in a dry climate as it will pull the moisture out of your skin and disperse it to the drier air.) You can buy it at a drugstore, both plain and mixed with rosewater.

Molly/StormBorn

Styrofoam packing; The kind that cushions expensive equipment. Not the "peanuts." This is what I use to make bricks, slabs of rock etc. This stuff can be cut very nicely with a razor saw. I was able to cut the slabs of "rock" into thinner slabs with a sharp, single edged razor going very gently. This Styrofoam is great stuff. The resultant mini project is as light as a feather. I imagine the Styrofoam can be cut to make "rocks" for a stone fence as it does not matter if the edges of the Styrofoam "rock" are uneven. Paint accordingly and glue together to make the fence.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL.

Scenic Water: Yes Scenic water is a yuckie yellow colour, I don't know if I should say this as the instruction state to use hot water to make the resin melt, but between you and me I put mine in the oven on the lowest temperature, (AND CHECK IT FREQUENTLY!! ) this helps it melt much quicker and it turn to liquid without any bubbles!

Elaine

Scenic Water: I have been using the microwave to dissolve my scenic water. Only takes 5 seconds on full power. Not sure if I should be doing it this way but it doesn't say not to on the tub.

Karon

Scenic Water: just thought I would fill you in on the Scenic Water info I found out at the Melbourne Show today. I spoke to the very nice man from the suppliers and he tells me I should just try melting small amount of scenic water otherwise it takes a long time to melt it. He checked out my scenic water which I took along and he says it's fine. So, I take it home again, measure out one teaspoon full of the wretched stuff and place it in a separate container in a pot full of water at 60 degrees for 15 minutes. Nothing happens. It softens to a warm but fairly firm gooey jell but goes no further to being liquid-ish!!! It is destined for the rubbish unless someone can convince me that I am doing something wrong. I went to the Australian suppliers website, found directions and followed them to the letter. Basically all I got from heating it was something resembling the gravy my mother in law makes at Christmas. Urrghh!!!! That alone is enough to make me want to chuck the tub in the bin. All helpful hints will be gratefully accepted. The URL for directions if anyone's interested is: http://www.cardstone.com/Deluxe/Scenic_Water_How_To.htm

Trace

Small Landscape with park bench: Make a small base using the odd 5" x 7" frame that has been lying in the drawer for 100 years. Paint it to match the bench. Place a small piece of 1/4" foam core inside the frame. Cover it with groundcover or brick.

Pierce the foam core in one corner with a corsage pin and insert clumps of the paper flowers you're making following Sonia's directions. By using foam core, you do not have to glue the flowers in place. This stores them where you can enjoy them but allows you to "transplant" them when their permanent home is ready.

Take a cotton ball, dye it green, add texture of your choice. I like tiny punched leaves. Apply texture with a spray adhesive. While this dries, pick a twig from any bush or shrub. Be sure the trunk makes a "Y". Insert the twig into the underside of the decorated cotton ball. Pull the cotton into a shape that satisfies you. Plant this in one of the small wood planters on the auction site or add it to the foam core. Used coffee grounds that have been placed in the microwave to dry and sterilize them will make a good mulch around the base of the shrub.

Use a household sponge from the dollar store as a hedge. Dip it in a solution of diluted green paint or Rit dye. While wet, pull small pieces from the body to roughen the texture. When dry, dry brush a different color of green on the high spots. You may add texture from Woodland Scenics or make your own with dyed pieces of foam. Pop the hedge to the back of the "set". You may glue or pin it in place.

This is a quick, easy way to build a neat home for the odd items all of us collect. Set it on a bookshelf and enjoy the items you've been hiding. You will be surprised how much you enjoy a fast, easy project. Great stress release or a good project to share with children. Easy enough for them to enjoy but complex enough to look professional.

Becky Holliday

Landscape Scene Board: I am making a 1:9 "scene board." This is to show a second in time for a model horse competition. I am planning a slight hill down to a "stream" and then back out of the dip up a slightly steeper hill with a trail. This will be on a one fourth of a sheet of plywood. I have bought foam board for insulating houses and have just started trying to plan this out. It needs to be sturdy enough to be able to pick it up and move it but doesn't have to support a lot of weight as far as the model is concerned. Has anyone done anything like this? I know this sounds model railroadish but... I know some of you are really into the landscaping part too and I think you guys are just the greatest when it comes to imagination and figuring out how to realistically create things in miniature!

Does anyone have an idea of sites on the web that deal with this sort of thing or of books I could get my hands on quickly? I am thinking that I need to kind of cut and glue the foam together to be the base and was planning on using papier-mâché to make it smooth over the foam, then do the model railroad landscaping products to flesh it in with grass and trees and such.

Nan Sawyer in Greenville, SC

Landscape Scene Board: Your plans in using the foam board and paper mache are right on the money. If you are planning to move it around much, I would recommend that you use a base of 1/4" plywood or something similar. You don't want to be moving it around and break off a corner or anything.

Depending on how deep you need your water, you can use the two-part resins (you can use plastic wrap to give extra texture in streams) or even clear hot glue.

Sonia

Landscape Scene Board: a couple of years ago I took a class where we covered Styrofoam with caulking (Spackle) and made an adobe house. It dries light weight so would make moving your board around a lot easier. We spread the caulking over the foam with a knife and let it dry. You can smooth it by using a wet paint brush before it dries. Paint the caulking and then you can put your landscaping material on it. Don't forget to glue the foam to the board and use wood screws (dipped in glue before inserting) to insure that the foam doesn't come loose from the board.

Vee on Lake Travis

Landscaping: I did help out on Building of the White House...I was given several tasks. One was to use a Dremel to drill holes, drip in glue and insert colored grasses. They look wonderful when mixed and staggered in height. Be sure to choose a time of year and stick to it so it looks natural. In other words, NO IRIS in FALL Scenes!

Laurie Sisson

Cattails: As to the cattails, if you are doing this in 1" scale, my method is to wrap floral tape around the wire first (with upper edge of tape about 1/8" from tip of wire), keeping edges lined up to make the "fat" part of the cattail - not quite 1/16" in diameter or so, paint brown, then flock. I prefer this as the flocking alone didn't seem quite "fat" enough.

Sonia

Cattails: I used floral wire for the stems. I rolled some self curing clay into small (tapered at both ends) "cat tails') and skewered them onto the bits of florist's wire. For the leaves, those long slender cat tail leaves; I took green ribbon and cut off a length that would correspond to the length of the leaf. I folded this piece of "leaf" in half; lengthwise. With a pair of scissors I cut the leaf shape for half of the leaf so that when I unfolded the length of ribbon I had symmetrical leaves. This was then glue to the base of the florist's wire "stem" of the cat tail . I added sufficient leaves to make the cat tail look like a cat tail. The bottom of the cat tail stem was stuck along the edge of the pond where cattails would be.

DrBob

Pond: The pond (as I made it) was made of clear DAP caulking. This caulking can be smoothed over prior to setting by simply wetting your finger and smoothing the surface of the caulking. I painted the surface under the pond; this was a dark blue/green at the center (deepest part) and made lighter as the "water " got shallow toward the edges. Remember the caulking is clear.. Hope I helped and did not confuse. I chose caulking over resin because the caulking cost about $5.00 a cartridge at Home Depot as against $15-$20. for resin.

DrBob

Cat Tails: Broom straws dipped in brown flocking make beautiful cat tails. Don't forget to dilute your white glue to a 50/50 mix of water and glue. Before the cat tail dries, gently scrape any flocking off the tip. This small touch makes all the difference in authenticity. Preserved Monkey Grass, split with the tool used to split paper ribbon makes wonderful leaves. Remember to avoid the deep green, use the lighter or buff tone for a truly authentic feel.

Becky Holliday

Cattails for competition board: remember that these cattails are going to be bigger than what most miniaturists are dealing with. For 1" scale (Trads are bigger), I use a stiffer, cloth covered floral wire, 4" long & put a ½" Fimo cattail on the wire. Then bake & I use brown flock or brown chalk dust on them to finish. cattails would come up to approximately the horses shoulder so you have to measure for wire length & I would use a cattail head of at least 3/4" length. Plaster cloth might be easier to make your sloping hillsides. Crumple newspaper & glue to board, than use plaster cloth over the top to smooth the valley out a bit. Seal the plaster cloth with a fine spray of shellac, etc.

Mary Lou in Middleburg Hts., OH

Inserting items in Ponds: set items in your pond with a dot of hot glue then pour your resin. The resin will dissolve most of the glue creating a very realistic effect.

Becky Holliday