Barchester

If you have aquired some sawdust and have graded and dyed it as advised under 'Projects' and 'Various Scatters' then this is a very easy way to make hedges for your layout for any scale. For 7mm and 4mm it is a good use for your coarser grades of sawdust.

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Another easy one here. You need a medium grade dyed sawdust, and either choose a colour you like or mix two or three of your greens together until the desired result is obtained. The hedges always look best with a mix of greens as they are never just a solid colour in real life. Next you need a small container, a plastic margerine tub will do nicely, and a mixer, I use a stainless steel spoon. Put your green sawdust mixture in the container, about six or seven teaspoons will do fine, don't put too much in as you don't need a lot all at once. Next step is to moisten the sawdust with about three teaspoons of water or enough just to moisten the mix when the water is thoroughly stirred in. An easy way to check if the mix is right is to gently press a small amount together between finger and thumb and if it holds it's shape then that's fine. If not add a little more water. We don't want so much water in the mix that when it is gently pressed water oozes out because this will lengthen the drying time too much.
OK, now comes the artistic bit. Put spoonfulls of the mix along the line that you have drawn on the layout., for about four or five inches, then gently pull and squeeze the mix together, using both fingers and thumbs, until you have your hedge shape with about half an inch width at it's base, that's for 4mm scale. The height can be as you wish, hedges along country lanes can be anything from 4 or 5 feet to 12 feet or more, depends if they have been cut lately and what they are being used for. Don't forget to vary the height unless the hedge is meant to be a formal one where it's height is uniform.
There is no need to squeeze hard to get the mix into your shape, gently does it is the key here, that will give you varying heights and depths as well as a fairly loose texture which looks good.
The final step is to gently apply a 25/75, white PVA glue to water, solution with a little washing up liquid added, the washing up liquid is to make the mixture "wetter" to break down the surface tension, to the hedge. Use an eye dropper or syringe and once again be gentle as the hedge is in a very delicate state at this stage. Start at one end and apply the glue drop by drop along the length of the hedge and continue with this until you are sure the whole hedge is soaked, we are relying on this for it's strength.
At this stage the hedge will be darker in colour than when you started but after a couple of days drying, depending on the ambient temperature of your railway room, it will lighten up. This method works equally as well for formal hedges too, it is only necessary to smooth the top and sides of your hedge before applying the PVA/water glue. The first picture here shows this gunk being applied with an eye dropper. I hadn't realised that the eye dropper had emptied itself by the time I took the photograph.


 
 I hadn't realised that the eye dropper had emptied itself by the time I had taken the photograph.




Click on the image for a larger picture.






This next picture shows you how the finished job will look. Another thing in this methods favour is the fact that it will fit any situation, long lengths, round sharp corners, circles and will also look right following the contours of your landscape. I hope you agree it's worth taking a little trouble and once more it is something you have created yourself.




 Note the varying height and the different shades of the hedges. If you are hedging both sides of a road then make sure you have enough dry mix to finish the job because it will be difficult to get the exact shade again unless you have made exact notes of quantities used.


Click on image for a larger picture.







When you have completed your hedge, and it has had time to dry out, then it is very easy to blend it's base into whatever road surface you are using. A little 'grass' scatter along it's base will go a long way towards this.
If you do try making these hedges for yourself, and have any problems, then please do not hesitate to get in touch with me and I will do all I can to help, especially if you don't think I have given a clear enough explanation for newcomers to the hobby.