tonydawe
A Fixture
I haven't reviewed a modelling product before, but I recently tried paper plants made by Kamizukuri Paper + Creative of Japan, and was very impressed with the realism and ease of construction.
I purchased my set of Jungle Plants and Weeds & Ivy from Ian Harries at Empire Hobbies (www.empirehobbies.com.au) for my New Guinea vignette.
Each set of plants comes flat in a plastic bag, with several thin sheets of clean white paper. The instructions are all in Japanese
, but there are a few pics that help show you what the plants should look like when finished.
There is an "up" side and a "down" side to each sheet. The "up" side has scored lines on the surface to allow flexing and enabling you to shape each leaf separately.
Step One is to paint the paper plants with acrylics while they are attached to the sheet. Keep your paint very thin and paint like you would with water colours, using a stain rather than a wash. Allow the paper to absorb the colours which will diffuse before drying.
I sprayed most of the leaves with Tamiya Lime Green, to simulate fresh young plants. One in every five or six plants was painted beige to simulate a fallen, dead leaf.
The tops and tips of each leaf were dry brushed with Yellow.
Once the leaves are painted and dried, carefully cut each plant away from its paper sprue, assemble your wire armature for the branches and trunk, and glue the leaves on. Start from the bottom inside of the plant and work your way out to the upper outer edges.
Once the glue dries (I used Superglue) you can bend and shape the plant and its leaves to hang naturally. I wanted to show a jungle where it had recently rained, and the leaves were hanging and dripping with water.
This is my first experience using this product,and I really enjoyed the process of making these plants,and I'm very impressed with how they look when placed on the groundwork.
In terms of realistic scale foliage/ flowers/plants, this range of products really raises the bar to new heights. They are available in 1/48, 1/35 and1/12th scales. After usig these, you'll never be satified with lichen and shredded foam foliage again.
For more pictures (but no English) go to www.kamizukuri.jp
Cheers
I purchased my set of Jungle Plants and Weeds & Ivy from Ian Harries at Empire Hobbies (www.empirehobbies.com.au) for my New Guinea vignette.
Each set of plants comes flat in a plastic bag, with several thin sheets of clean white paper. The instructions are all in Japanese
, but there are a few pics that help show you what the plants should look like when finished.There is an "up" side and a "down" side to each sheet. The "up" side has scored lines on the surface to allow flexing and enabling you to shape each leaf separately.
Step One is to paint the paper plants with acrylics while they are attached to the sheet. Keep your paint very thin and paint like you would with water colours, using a stain rather than a wash. Allow the paper to absorb the colours which will diffuse before drying.
I sprayed most of the leaves with Tamiya Lime Green, to simulate fresh young plants. One in every five or six plants was painted beige to simulate a fallen, dead leaf.
The tops and tips of each leaf were dry brushed with Yellow.
Once the leaves are painted and dried, carefully cut each plant away from its paper sprue, assemble your wire armature for the branches and trunk, and glue the leaves on. Start from the bottom inside of the plant and work your way out to the upper outer edges.
Once the glue dries (I used Superglue) you can bend and shape the plant and its leaves to hang naturally. I wanted to show a jungle where it had recently rained, and the leaves were hanging and dripping with water.
This is my first experience using this product,and I really enjoyed the process of making these plants,and I'm very impressed with how they look when placed on the groundwork.
In terms of realistic scale foliage/ flowers/plants, this range of products really raises the bar to new heights. They are available in 1/48, 1/35 and1/12th scales. After usig these, you'll never be satified with lichen and shredded foam foliage again.
For more pictures (but no English) go to www.kamizukuri.jp
Cheers
