Woodland Scenics | Fine Leaf Foliage

I decided I wanted to accent the various shades of green on my layout with some Fall colors of reds, orange and yellow.

And as usual, as if to thwart my plan, the local hobby shops only stocked green foliage and turf. Light green, medium green, dark green, olive green. Any color as long as it was green.



Woodland Scenics Fine Leaf Foliage - Fall Mix

High on my e-Hobbyland list was Woodland Scenics Fine Leaf Foliage Fall Mix. The accents that some reds and yellows would provide would be perfect to add some color to my layout!



Woodland Scenics Fall Mix includes three main colors

And no other product on Woodland Scenics range matches their Fine Leaf Foliage for texture and detail for tree-making. And believe me, I've tried a few of 'em:

• Lichen -- Doesn't look natural at all on a layout despite being a natural product. Or maybe I just haven't found a way to use it well


• Clump Foliage -- Good for bushes, and creating large clusters of trees




• Polyfiber -- Good when sprinkled with Fine Turf and/or Coarse Turf to create a 3-dimensional 'raised' effect. I've used this combination to create fir trees




• Underbrush -- A clumpy sponge-material like Clump Foliage; same use

Fine Leaf Foliage is a whole different kettle o' fish. An all-natural product, the foliage is a matrix of little 'leaves' and branches. When attached to a standard tree armature you end up with an extremely detailed tree. Fine Leaf Foliage costs more but the results are well worth it.

As a bonus Woodland Scenics also supplies a very large tree armature in the package. I decided to deck this tree out with the three colors in layers.



Large tree armature included in Woodland Scenic Fine Leaf Foliage Fall Mix



A mix of all three colors from the Fall Mix were glued on in layers with PVA glue

New Model Railroad Model Kits Just Arrived In The Mail!

I placed an order about two weeks ago with e-HOBBYLAND.com.

I paid for my order through PayPal and spent the next couple of days with fingers crossed hoping that e-Hobbyland wouldn't send me an email saying that several items were back-ordered and that they would ship when the items were in stock.



My e-Hobbyland order arrived by US Priority mail.

An earlier experience with a particular (European) mail-order company really left me hanging.

I received an email after placing my order stating, "There are items in your order that are out-of-stock. Your order will ship once we receive the items from our supplier". Thinking that it would take, at the very most, a couple of weeks for them to receive the items from their supplier, I waited.

I let that order ride for a good 3 months before I got tired of waiting. I mean, c'mon, how hard is it to indicate out-of-stock items on your mail-order website? They have a strange way of doing business. And this from one of the most established European model railway specialist dealers, too.

My e-Hobbyland order. The possibilities beckon.

Not so with e-Hobbyland.

e-Hobbyland's website is clearly laid out with accurate descriptions, prices and pictures of their items. And they indicate out-of-stock items matter-of-factly.

They took about 3 days to process my order before shipping it. And it arrived by USPS within 9 days. (Bearing in mind that I live in Singapore!)

Kudos to http://e-hobbyland.com. I'll be back for more.

Stay tuned for more pics!

Model Railroad Hobby Shops | Sign Of The Times

Today, I visited one of less than a handful of hobby shops in my area that stocks model railroad trains. In addition to its bread-and-butter RC planes and slot cars, this was the only recently set up store that dedicated a modicum of shelf space to the model railroad hobby, specializing in the Fleischmann and Kato model lines.

Or at least they used to.

Whole shelves formerly devoted to model trains and track were now exclusively displaying slot cars, tracks and accessories. RC model planes loomed, suspended overhead. The store's train display, an N-scale Fleischmann layout sitting on top of a Noch mountain landscape had been packed up and according to the boss, "Moved to the warehouse." In its place was an RC helicopter display.

A single 12inch glass shelf displayed the solitary N-scale Fleischmann starter set and an HO scale Special Edition steam engine.

But I can't really blame them for this decision to reprioritize. The model railroad hobby has never been big where I live. Real estate is at a premium, and few households have room for a permanent railroad layout.

And in an age of fast-paced lives, faster-paced hobbies and instant gratification, few folks have the time, patience or inclination to plan and build a model railroad.

Sign of the times, indeed.

But it is precisely the slow pace of planning, building, landscaping and tweaking a model railroad that drew me to the hobby in the first place.

For that hour a day when I run my trains --while looking for new things to add on or modify that do not require drastically ripping up track -- I'm engrossed in an imaginary miniature scene of my own creation. And dreaming of soon moving to larger premises where I can really let my handiwork and imagination fly.