The Atlantic and Southern Build Thread Continued, Part 2

[ACL1504]

I've been discussing palm trees with the Judge for about two years. About three years ago I purchased some of Hart of the South Models palm trees. They are beautiful but require many hours of assembly. Here are a few pictures of Hart's palm trees on a small diorama he built and had on display at the Happy Hobo Hobby Shop in Tampa, Fl.

Sadly, the Happy Hobo is now closed and has been for several years.

I have several of the trees but just don't have the time to make any at this time.







Beautiful palm trees but very time consuming to make.

More in a few.

[ACL1504]

I looked at the Woodland Scenics Palm trees. I decided with some paint and imagination, these trees could be made to look somewhat realistic.

I purchased a few and experimented in painting the palm fronds. Sadly I don't have any pictures of the process but I do have pictures of the finished palms on the layout.

We went to the LHS and found that Humbrol Enamel paint had the best green, frond color, of any paints. After testing a few trees with the frond green, actually a Humbrol Medium Green, we decided to bite the bullet and the Judge purchased a few dozen more of the Woodland Scenics Palms.

Bill, the Judge, did a wonderful job at painting the fronds and trunks. We now have about two dozen WS palms mixed in with the other trees.

Oh yea, I finished the area around the lagoon this afternoon. Here are a few photos of that area. See if you can spot the palms. It isn't hard!








More in a few.

[ACL1504]

[ACL1504]

I forgot to mention I planted an additional four cypress trees around the edge of the lagoon.

[MAP]

Shaping up nicely Tom.  The palms are beautiful.  Ahhh, the Happy Hobo.  I used to go there back when I lived in Tampa.  I forgot the original owners name, but he had a beautiful home layout based on the B&M.

[PRR Modeler]

Very nice Tom. Judge did a great job also.

[sdrees]

Hi Tom,

The visitors from the NMRA convention will be very impressed with your layout as I am.  With the more trees you have place, it is really looking great.

[tct855]

ACL 1504,
           Great swamp pictures!  If I put a hand to my ear like the Grinch, I can hear the mosquitoes choppering in!  Keep swamp building brother. Thanx Thom...  P.S. Better hope Trump doesn't find out about your layout, he might want to drain it also!

[BandOGuy]

ACL 1504,
           Great swamp pictures!  If I put a hand to my ear like the Grinch, I can hear the mosquitoes choppering in!  Keep swamp building brother. Thanx Thom...  P.S. Better hope Trump doesn't find out about your layout, he might want to drain it also!

[jimmillho]

Beautiful looking Scenes.

I knew the Judge was talented, I had forgotten just HOW talented.  Can we give him an Award of some kind ?  Maybe a Tree Limb on a board.

Jim

[jbvb]

I like your palms; perhaps some of you remember an early-70s Model Railroader article by a man modeling Southern California who made realistic palms out of paper. He cut multiple copies of individual fronds with an XActo on a pad of paper and modeled both the dead fronds and the texture of the trunk.  One of those which inspired me to pursue a more photo-realistic kind of modeling.

[PennsyJ1]

Hey Tom the lagoon area is fantastic!! The palms really add to the that area. Did you tell the Judge there are only 500 more for him to do, he did a nice job. I really like the extra cypress trees. Can't wait to get back down there to see it in person. I know the pressure is on this week, so get back at it.

[cuse]

Great work by the Judge. Those look pretty fake in the store. Very nice addition to a great scene.


John

[ReadingBob]

This is shaping up very nicely!      The addition of the palm and cypress trees to the lagoon area makes a huge difference.  The MOW scene looks wonderful too!  Kudos!            

[Erieman]

Tom,


Love the new trees, especially the palm trees. You have to be proud of what you have done in such a short time. Absolutely marvelous. Quick question, are you going to pour water in the basin before the convention? Its a lot of work, but would be over the top awesome. Keep up the marvelous work my friend.


Frank / Erieman