Cheap DIY Scenery Foam for Model Trees and Bushes!

#modeltrains #modelrailroad #modelrailroading #modeltrainscenery #modelrailroadscenery #DIY #budget
Welcome back everybody! Today we are making some ground foam using cellulose sponges! This is a great way to make custom ground foam for your model railroad scenery! We then use this to make our own trees!
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[@Horse2021]

Before painting the wire trunks I would suggest using air dry clay to cover all the exposed wire. After that dries, use a small wire brush to lightly, very lightly scribe 'bark' lines into the clay. Then paint and continue as with the video

[@anthonyshannon7559]

'First, grab your spare blender' is the 'first grab your airbrush/3d printer' of scenic tutorials. this is a good tutorial though.

[@tomfrederick6083]

Awesome! I read a piece in MR a bazillion years ago that talked about making a heavily wooded area by just putting the foam directly on the ground instead of making individual trees. That technique worked especially well on a hillside where trunks wouldn't easily discerned by the viewer. Thanks for the great tip, Jimmy!

[@JDsHouseofHobbies]

I was watching a video of a British modeler using a green pot scrubber (like scotchbrite) and cutting it to make hedgerows.

[@donaldlewis1836]

Great ideas, like the use of sponges to make scenic materials

[@juanlopez3624]

Thank you for the technique. You are pleasing to watch. You are near and clear talking.

[@edwardaudet8367]

My layout could use a refresh on the trees. I used natural materials back then and all but falling apart. This seems to be a good cheap idea. I like it I'm going to put this on my list of things to do.

[@melkitson]

Nice one Jimmy. Also perfectly timed for me as I am getting to that stage. Might also mention green pot scouring pads make great N gauge hedges.

[@steveb3229]

Love the out takes Jimmy, great job on the content as we have come to expect

[@brianpagemodeltrains]

Sweet results, Jimmy, thanks for the how-to!

[@archanakondra279]

Thank you for these trees I was really searching for these type of trees for my project.

[@AircooledAl]

Absolutely love the outtakes

[@amaurythewarrior]

it looked better than i expect, a lot more texture

[@Waterkloofmr]

Hello Jimmy, very nice video. There is also a dry method for "crumbling" the foam. I use a manual meat grinder to grind up the foam. For a very fine foam I send it trough the grinder 2 or three times. Coloring can not be done dry, unless you airbrush once scenery is in place. Regards Henry van Wyk, South Africa

[@georgemorris8766]

If you paint the trunk with caulk before the color you can get a smoother but still rough texture and cover the twisted look.

[@Patrick_RBX]

i never knew that making trees can be so easy and cheap

[@si12volt1]

sweet thanks Jim

[@michaelamoroso4561]

Nice tutorial. Thanks.

[@4everdc302]

Seen ya cut the wire&thought"thats alittle short?"forgot your Nscale lol would make good ground cover.

[@ajknaup3530]

Cool & very useful, TYSM!

[@gerlandkent6377]

thank, you for sharing you're helpful video.👍

[@FloridaManVal]

Great idea

[@williamwatson9166]

Thank you, liked it.

[@Ken-km8qu]

Thanks !

[@lynnmccurdythehdmmrc2561]

As the saying goes, "There's more than one way to skin a cat". Us out here on the West Coast have the luxury (if you want to call it that) of having "Sagebrush". Also for glue, Cheap Dollar store "Hairspray" for glue.

[@hondachopper6978]

With a manual pump spray bottle the bottle can be reused whereas the can style is just landfill material.

[@dominicwroblewski5832]

My buddy and I used a blender to mix our Hydrocal plaster for the scenery base and for rock molds. Using a blender gave us more working time with the Hydrocal as is sets up super fast.

[@diecast_MikeEspo]

Very cool , building a junkyard in HO scale .

[@davidf9630]

Thanks for the tips Jimmy. I have a retaining wall on my n scale layout that I wanted to dress up with something like ivy. I think I’m gonna try your method. 👍🏼

[@TheyMakeItLikeThat]

Jimmy, you are very wise. I was just about to say “don’t you dare use your wife’s blender!!!” Great video as always, brother.

[@anfieldroadlayoutintheloft5204]

good vid like you vids youy do jimmy stay safe lee

[@1babysag]

I think I will just buy the scenic foam. I can save the blender. Thanks for the tip.

[@williamcasper6215]

Coating the twisted wire with Aleene's tacky glue is a good way to cover the twists before painting.

[@ChrisRiley3D-Everything]

ThreeBond 1521 Synthetic rubber adhesive. works better on every foam i have tried from hard foam to soft foam. i made some trees and flocked them with some homemade foam flock. only glue that would actually hold the foam on to the tree forever and never shake off was this . best glue i have ever seen and very very thick & sticky.

[@soledude]

👌👌👌

[@donaldkormos5529]

Interesting video. I've seen DIY flowers made with static grass and brightly-colored scenic foams such as yellow, red, purple, white, orange. Seems to me that your blender technique can be used also to make the foam for flowers if the foam is ground well enough.

[@edwardaudet8367]

This is a good idea. I like it better than what I did years ago on my layout. The trees on my layout needa refresh

[@mattw9667]

Sure but can you still wash dishes with your trees? Awesome method and thanks for sharing Jimmy. I'm using this one for sure!

[@harrywoodell7008]

Is floral wire hard enough that I would want to use my crappy wire cutters on it instead of my DIY Electronics wire cutters?

[@tsha6125]

I got a Ninja express chop from Walmart for $20. It has a blade that sits lower and one higher and it works great. I first grabbed a few big sponges like this 🧽, one from the auto section and one from the cleaning section. The sponges were nice and big and they seemed to be perfect at first, but it turns out that they had something in them that sparked a little, so it's not really working out. I will now buy some basic sponges like in this video, but I will be sure to watch out for the sparkling sponge. I used t-shirt dye for dye to stain them, but I want to try using the paint. The dye wasn't the best, and I'm wondering if I used paint for the color, maybe it'll hide the sparkles.

[@bigbattleslittleworlds]

Great video, my blender decided to die rather than blend lol.

[@souzalima9193]

Tutorial top. Brasil

[@mgbeck98]

Drill motor!

[@manisha-colorcreativityartwork]

Hi. In a grinder, did you put some water with sponge before grinding coz mixer would burn up if dry?

[@jefferyblair7526]

Have you or has anyone used Spanish Moss from like Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Joanns, etc to put on trees to make them look like a Cypress Tree in Louisiana type look? Just wonder - I thin I'm going to try it using this video's base

[@donaldkormos5529]

Have a quick question: What if you didn't add any paint? Is the sponge coloring not sufficient or did you just want a different green color? Ready to try several colored sponges to make green tree and colored flower foams ... but wondering if I need to get some paints.

[@caseyq594]

Avood spraying withhair spray. You have any fall off.

[@ernestorobledo2248]

Dónde comprar esa picadora de esponja. Alguien podría informarme... Saludos desde Gutiérrez Zamora, Veracruz México

[@Striker-tq4vf]

What exact wire did you use? If you don't mind, would you maybe send me a link to buy that exact wire from Amazon? Please and thank you!

[@GuardianPrepping]

''You're not using the blender for that!'' I wonder how many arguments have started because of this video hahahaha.

[@GuardianPrepping]

p.s. Great video bud :)

[@earlcory]

Tree trunks are really brown. You might consider a brownish gray color.

[@Ferrocarril_Chicago]

What??? I can't believe we're murdering SpongeBob for this!!! LOL. On a serious note this is actually a great tutorial! Another great video as always!

[@stormy7722]

so...the first thing u do...is purchase a blender?? Im thinking the premade trees would be easier and cheaper

[@trinhtrongtai3856]

Here's another great way to make a tree that I found very impressive: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqXFoJZ-ir6eibs

[@rhikdavis]

Oh, and don't put the blender in the dishwasher, that will get you in the doghouse.

[@cjdavis2684]

Sorry but I do not support the making of puffball trees. They look like exactly what they're called, they do not look realistic at all I've seen them on layouts and they look incredibly cheesy, fake, and really ruin the effect.