Woodland Scenics' Scenery Material Reviewed by Michael Benolkin

Introduction

Woodland Scenics makes a wide range of products for the intermediate and advanced modeler. Whether you model the Union Pacific in 1/87 (HO) scale, the RAF in 1/48, or German WW2 armor in 1/35, Woodland Scenics makes products that you'll need to make your surrounding scenery look natural.

Turf

One of the more common settings for your average WW2 Spitfire is parked on a grass field. Woodland Scenics makes six shades of grass/turf colors to provide you with the ability to represent seasons as well as subtle color variations in order to avoid a monochromatic (un-natural) setting. These turf colors also come in a variety of sizes, from the small packet on the right, to the 32 ounce shaker/dispensers on the left.

To add to the flexibility of these products, in addition to shades and sizes, these products are also available in a variety of coarseness/granularities. The turf in the bag on the right is very fine, whereas the turf colors in the dispensers is a coarse grain, more like scale close-cut grass. An extra coarse turf is also available. Mixing these products together yields some spectacular results.

The Blended Turf, pictured on the left, comes pre-mixed with a variety of colors and is available in a choice of two colored blends.

Trees & Brush

The bag in the center contains pre-molded tree trunks/branches that have an underlying wire frame. These trees can be bent/shaped into just about any type of tree you'd like to represent. Woodland Scenics produces six different size varieties of trees. The sample in this photo, for instance, contains 14 trees ranging in size from 3-5 inches actual height. In 1/48 scale, for instance, these trees would be 12-20 feet high, or 22-36 feet high in 1/72. These Woodland Scenic trees are available in heights ranging from 3/4" to 8" in actual height.

To use these trees, simply bend them into the desired shape, apply Hob-e-Tac adhesive to the branches, and then dip the tree into a bag of Clump Foliage (pictured on left). As with the turf colors above, the clump foliage comes in six different colors. Simply add/remove and shape the foliage on the braches to represent the type of tree you desire.

Each tree has a peg-type base that allows you to 'plant' the tree into a pre-drilled hole in your base/diorama or use one of the plastic bases also provided with the tree kit.

The foliage is also useful for modeling brush as well. As the instructions will walk you through the process of adhering the foliage to your scenery. Use the fine turf colors sprinkled over the foliage to blend the brush into the surrounding scenery.

Glues/Adhesives

Woodland Scenics also produces a variety of glues and adhesives that are essential for the diorama and/or train layout builder alike. The Foam Tack Glue make the job of laminating layers of styrofoam together easy. The resulting foam assemblies can then be easily sculpted/shaped into the desired rough landscape shape.

The Scenic Cement is sprayed over the turf and gravel to adhere the material to your scene. Watching this stuff in action is simply impressive!

The Hob-e-Tac is a more robust (and general purpose) cement, and is used here to glue foliage clumps to tree branches and/or directly to the scenery.

Conclusion

I'd highly recommend adding these products to your workbench. As you look at reference photos of your project and see it in its 'natural environment,' you'll be able to recreate that environment with ease!

If you're still unsure how to get started with the Woodland Scenics line, I'd also recommend looking at the instructional book and video that we also reviewed in this issue.

My sincere thanks to Woodland Scenics for these review copies!