1/16 Diorama - Backyard Hospital Supply Railway (inspired by Lainz)

[mad gerald]

G'day all,

Falling leafs ... everywhere! Autumn - hopefully bringing some sparetime which I could spend modeling ... I thought, stumbling accidentally into a kinda "craft punch", producing 1/16 scale maple leafs. I used real Autumn foliage (maple, oak, beech and lime) punching leafs in 1/16 scale. Even they are true to scale and made from genuine foliage, they don't appear convincing yet. May be, it would make a difference to take care regarding the directions of the leaf veins while punching ... or gonna use coloured cigarette paper instead ...

[detail_stymied]

they look pretty real to me!

[michael mott]

Those look very good, and will look even better in larger numbers.

Michael

[lab-dad]

Great idea!
Sadly no fall colors this close to the equator....

[Allan G]

They really look great. They're starting to fall here in Chicago.....Allan

[Ray Dunakin]

They look great to me!

[Chuck Doan]

They will certainly work in piles with a few of your "best" leaves on top. Don't waste time super detailing the lower levels of leaves.

[Hydrostat]

Keep in mind that those autumn colors will disappear soon ...

Cheers,
Volker

[finescalerr]

Why not model Southern California? You'll only need two colors: brown and gray! -- Russ

[mad gerald]

Thanks for the kind comments, guys - although it was not so much craftmanship required ... more dabbling ...

They will certainly work in piles with a few of your "best" leaves on top. Don't waste time super detailing the lower levels of leaves.

... good point!

Keep in mind that those autumn colors will disappear soon ...

I do, but I'll just wait and see how a pile of autumn leafs will develop colourwize ... (may be, some Fixative would help preserve the colours) ... and/or keep at least the brown ones or replace the faded ones by artifical ones made from thin cigarette paper ...

Why not model Southern California? You'll only need two colors: brown and gray! -- Russ

I'm afraid you forgot to mention grime ...  

Cheers

[mad gerald]

As I had time left I punched some more leafs, arranged them with the paving slabs and the test-buildung for bricks from cardboard for a pic. The well-disposed viewer might quickly spot a difference, as I tried to align the leaf vein in the middle while punching ... alas the leaf vein has to be pretty delicate  (and not so solid) - otherwise the leaves (again) tend to look too artificial ... but it's not really modelling yet, only dabbling as a start ... 

[finescalerr]

It is easy to spot the difference and they look a little better. -- Russ

[michael mott]

Very interesting, the ones with the main vein and stem look much better to me, that said have you tried cutting them from a part that has no major veins and then add them on with some acrylic paint? that way you could thin them out toward the outer edges, as chuck pointed out a few super detailed on the top would be really sharp, ones eye would then fill in the rest.

Michael

[Bill Gill]

I think you'll ultimately like whole leaves stamped out of cigarette paper better than actual leaves, but some dried, crumbled leaves can make a good base layer.

[Carlo]

I need some large-scale (1/16 or 1/12) leaves for a diorama. Can anyone point me a source for
those "craft punches" in a suitable range of sizes? I'd appreciate a link or more.
Carlo