Model Hedges

The inspiration for this diorama came from walks and bike rides along the green lanes surrounding Totnes. I have spent many hours on lanes like these that are bordered on either side by hedges on top of a Devon bank. I love the way I am always rewarded by a stunning view of the River Dart or surrounding countryside when I reach a gateway or the end of the lane. I tried to capture this in the final photographs which were taken near Dittisham, looking across the River Dart to Stoke Gabriel on the other side.
This diorama gave me the opportunity to work with a dead thyme plant from my garden, rubberised horsehair, seafoam and, of course, a range of static grass and scatters from WWS, Woodland Scenics and Gaugemaster to create the scene. I also included some bluebells and daffodils to give a sense of the season.
I hope my video is of interest to anyone who enjoys making dioramas, model railways or war gaming layouts.
I hope you agree that the final photographs demonstrate how easy it is to create something that looks realistic. Why not have a go yourself?
Dartside Scenics social media links:
/ dartsidescenics
/ dartsidesce. .
/ dartsidescenics
#hedge #diorama #modelrailway #realistic

[@melkitson]

Utterly phenomenal. Your attention to detail and being able to visualise the end result is a delight. I am really blown away.

[@DartsideScenics]

Thank you very much Melville! 😁

[@kymvalleygardensdesign5350]

That is incredible it really does look like you can walk down the track!

[@DartsideScenics]

Thank you 😊

[@shawnpowell5876]

Great video and tutorial abt doing a diorama of hedges! Everything is just in its place like it belongs to be! I like the idea of using that item to drape over those branches to make the hedgerow. The finished product looks so lifelike that I was expecting a car to drive through there! Thanks again for sharing this video with us along with your time and effort!

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks Shawn!

[@jeffrigden4790]

Absoiutely Fantastic!!!!!

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks Jeff! 👍🏻

[@3DComputing]

Errrrrm Wow, , , , I am blown over. I dont know enough big words to express just how blown over I am.

[@DartsideScenics]

Thank you!

[@ufcgod6258]

Just Found ya Channel m8 Fantastic Work Keep Bringing the Knowledge

[@DartsideScenics]

Thank you! 👍🏻

[@rupertgodfrey267]

Quite simply the best landscape I've yet seen, and the not-solid hedges look so much more realistic than most I've seen. I shall try and emulate....

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks very much Rupert 😊

[@trainfanattic]

Fantastic! Great photography as well! Really awesome job!

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks very much! 😊

[@markcolston7043]

wow great skill,looks so real

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks Mark 👍🏻

[@colwichjunction3366]

I’ve only got one word - superb! Thanks 🙏 for sharing Cheers John b

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks John! 👍🏻

[@HighEyeWorkshop]

Excellent video. Great narration and very nice scenery. I love your clear passion for your home scenery.

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks Merrick, I’m very happy to get a compliment from someone of your talents.

[@BarnabasJunction]

Absolutely amazing, looks so real. Thank you for sharing your techniques.

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks Jason 👍🏻

[@martinhinsley6198]

Quite magical to see. Extremely good techniques used there. Spotted the barn in the background

[@DartsideScenics]

Thank you Martin, much appreciated.

[@MrWizardtrains]

Really great to see this before starting my landscape, stunning work and thank you so much for the clear demonstration, just need to go and buy that rubber horse!

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks Clive! Have fun! 😁

[@plixplop]

Amazingly realistic

[@DartsideScenics]

Thank you 😊

[@AlexScheidmann]

Very nice. Amazing. I love landscape modelling.. I have subscribe your Chanel. Sorry my Englisch I am from Switzerland. Greetings from Switzerland Alex 😊😊👍👍

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks Alex. I have subscribed to your channel and look forward to seeing your videos 👍🏻😁

[@AlexScheidmann]

You are welcome.. Thank you 😊😊👍👍

[@deansburytownmodelrailway5056]

Wonderful modelling, I'm definatel going to have to do my hedges again! Thanks for sharing!

[@DartsideScenics]

Thank you 😊

[@Cookerylessons]

Wonderful! I want to walk down that lane with my dog for company is the greatest compliment I can pay you.

[@DartsideScenics]

Thank you, that’s very kind 😁🐶

[@w.rustylane5650]

Wow, what realistic looking hedges. What is your substrate? I've got a pine tree blown over by the wind. The root structure is great for hedges and trees, but have to be treated with a preservative like water soluble glycerin and alcohol or by merely painting them until you get ready to use them. I also have a ton of lichen growing on the hill behind my house which makes great hedges. I also make my own ground scatter & leaves out of foam ground up in my electric coffee grinder with some acrylic paint. I also have a Nandena bush growing out in the front yard that I use for tree armatures after the little red berries fall off. I would think that you would need to preserve those little branches before using them for hedges. I think pig hair furnace filters make a good medium for hedges as well. I do like your technique for the hedges, just need to use a preservative for the wood parts. You don't say what the flower parts are but I've found ground up crayons of various colors make good flowers. Love that tire swing in the tree. Everything looks so realistic. Great job! Cheers from eastern Tennessee

[@DartsideScenics]

Thank you! The substrate is a mixture of brown tile grout and Woodland Scenics fine turf. I completely agree with you regarding preservative. I didn’t show it in this video but I covered glycerin in my ‘Model Seafoam Trees’ video. I also have a ‘Model Flowers’ video showing the process I use, including crayons. It sounds like you have a fantastic collection of natural model materials which is something I need to improve on! Thanks for commenting 😁

[@karensmith1915]

Awesome videos, very inspiring. More please.

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks Karen

[@andrewstevenson5449]

Those hedges are brilliant. I'm dead impressed.

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks Andrew

[@northernrails4462]

Absolutely stunning my friend! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Quality!

[@DartsideScenics]

Cheers Craig! 😁

[@johnslade3104]

what an excellent video I also like the items used

[@DartsideScenics]

Thank you John

[@medwaypeninsulaMR]

Great results and well explained. Cheers Kev

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks Kev

[@_RandomPea]

Incredible! I have to commend you on how well organised you are aswell... I'm just starting out and definitely see I need to improve that ☺️

[@DartsideScenics]

Thank you!

[@yellowbird2279]

Love it ! Where do you buy the horse hair ? Is there another product I can use in place of the horse hair?

[@DartsideScenics]

Thank you. You could probably use Seafoam but I think the horsehair is best for hedges. Here's a link to some amzn.to/3n9Ug86

[@robertoitalosangallidepasq6369]

Beautyful

[@DartsideScenics]

Thank you!

[@NicholassTrainChannel]

Brilliant work mate that is a great idea on making hedges. It looks super realistic.- Nicholas.

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks Nicholas

[@FORTworkshop]

Thanks a lot! Nice tutorial! You got +1 suscriber :)

[@DartsideScenics]

Thank you 😊

[@davidcook380]

Fantastic modelling

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks David

[@ewoodrailway]

Certainly very realistic and interesting to watch the construction, I've subscribed to your our channel

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks Ewood, just subbed to yours 👍🏻

[@peaks4719]

I think that’s a masterpiece

[@DartsideScenics]

Thank you Sam! 😀

[@ringnc]

This is one of my very favorites

[@DartsideScenics]

Sounds great. I look forward to seeing the results 👍🏻

[@TKs3DPrints]

what would have made this amazing piece more amazing would have been to have a tractor with a hedge cutting tool cutting the hedges so you could have scruffy hedge and the nice new cut side with bits on the floor. :) thanks for sharing. :)

[@DartsideScenics]

Thank you, if I find a decent looking tractor with a cutting tool I might have to do that!!

[@TKs3DPrints]

@@DartsideScenics i also recently watched a show with prince Charles and his son about taking over his role. prince charles is into preserving the old ways when it comes to farming and hedgerows. and they run a competition each year for hedge cutting the old ways with trim cut and fold or weave as i was watching your video i was thinking now that would take some clever working out how to do that as a diorama as in thinking what materials you could use to look the same.

[@DartsideScenics]

@@TKs3DPrints It's a shame the old ways are becoming so rare now. Fortunately, my Dad did some training in traditional hedge laying so will need his advice if I incorporate this into a future project.

[@wheezypalacemodels7726]

Wow, just found you’re channel and subbed…fantastically real… Chris

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks Chris. Just subscribed to your channel- you’ve done brilliant work in such a small scale 👍🏻

[@philipgriffiths3106]

Perfection Mate. & I can take you to my hedges which have never been laid so your recreation is perfect for my farm. Hedgelaying is way to expensive these days & with the advent of flail hedgecutters there are more open bottomed hedgerows than laid ones these days or certainly round my area. You are a Master Modeller & I can relate to everything you portray. Maybe you can recreate a more spring time hedge with those beautiful bluebells you make in the open hedgerow bottom too?

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks Phil. I have learnt a lot from this but I will be speaking to you if I do it again to improve on the realism. I really appreciate your kind comments and encouragement - I owe you some bluebells!!

[@philipgriffiths3106]

@@DartsideScenics you owe me nothing.. you have already paid with letting me view your outstanding skill. It is both a pleasure & honour to see your work. That is payment enough 😊

[@DartsideScenics]

@@philipgriffiths3106 thank you Phil 😊

[@rl7881]

Please could you advise what the ‘earth weathering powder’ is in this hedges video, it’s exactly what I’m looking for. Great collection of video’s, thank you.

[@DartsideScenics]

Thank you RL. Here are the links to create the earth mixture base layer: Fine turf (earth) amzn.to/3703MGd and Mapei Brown Grout amzn.to/3niAaZN. The weathering powder is WWS light earth amzn.to/41h0aHa

[@rl7881]

Many thanks, and looking forward to seeing your model railway layout evolve.

[@johnrevill1087]

Looks good for old over grown hedges I'm currently trying to devise techniques for making layed hedges from fresh layed through to matured hope this inspires you as well

[@DartsideScenics]

Thanks John, that sounds great 👍🏻

[@Alex-cw3rz]

This is amazing! How much did it cost to build this?

[@DartsideScenics]

Thank you!!😊 I think it was £30-40 in materials

[@Alex-cw3rz]

@@DartsideScenics great thank you, keep up the amazing work!

[@davidorf3921]

Very nice, but if you put the trunks in at about a 45 degree angle you would get a more realistic field hedge, traditionally farmers lay the hedge by cutting the trunks part way through and pushing them over at an angle, then as the hedge grows instead of having solid vertical areas around the trunks with thinner foliage between you get a living stock proof hedge that is all but impossible for cows, horses or sheep to get through (pigs are special, nothing can hold a pig unless its metal or concrete, goats just eat the hedge)

[@DartsideScenics]

Yeah, a bit of an experiment but I always find I can do a better job on the second attempt after learning from the first try.

[@royfearn4345]

So you're suggesting we put a concrete wall around No10... seems like a plan! And a hedge for Westminster; plenty of sheep and goats there!

[@DartsideScenics]

@@royfearn4345 😂

[@jamesfields2916]

What scale was it built to?

[@DartsideScenics]

1:76 👍🏻

[@jamesfields2916]

@@DartsideScenics thanks. Incredible detail.

[@DartsideScenics]

@@jamesfields2916 thanks James 😊

[@_RandomPea]

...now... what if your model is going to be for use by 5yo and his cars? Lol 🤣

[@DartsideScenics]

It could be quite a mess!! 😂

[@_RandomPea]

@@DartsideScenics hahah I'm torn between making it look realistic and making it good enough for play

[@davegillman6296]

The videos are great but the background music is just too repetitive in my humble opinion,

[@DartsideScenics]

Sorry Dave