I want to create a jungle with weeds and undergrowth similar to Vietnam. So far I can only see PE leaves. Is there another option such a paper or plastic leaves? Thanks.

Check out the aquarium section of any pet shop.

John

You can always make them
Feature here

No. I really discourage this. They are almost always out of scale and toy-like in appearance.

Here is a great thread on the subject:
Jungle plants

Here is basically everything I know about Jungle scenery:

I love to use natural material to produce foliage. I've never touched a piece of Photo-etched foliage or fish tank plants (too large and thick) in my life and don't plan to. It just doesn't give the same realism and quality that nature can. Basically any plant, moss, lichen, leaf etc. that you take from nature will die unless it is preserved. I use two main ways of preservation:

1. The Glycerine method. Glycerine or Glycerol is readily available at the pharmacy of at some supermarkets. Take your plant (moss, fern, leaf etc.) and put it on a piece of tissue paper. In a jar, mix 1 part Glycerine with 10 parts water (1:10 ratio). Put this mixture into a spray bottle and mist your plant. I don't fully understand the scientific jargon, but I believe the Glycerine/water mixture will be absorbed into the plant, the water will evaporate but the glycerine will stay in the plant, therefore preserving it.

2. Pressing. With smaller plants, putting it inside a notebook for a day or two will sometimes preserve them. Make sure as soon as you take the plant out of the book, you paint it.

If you're making tree trunks or tree stumps, I really encourage you to go natural and use a real twig or tree roots, I mean something off a small bush that you might dig up. It will pretty much remain preserved as long as the wood is dry and dead before you put it into your diorama. You can also make pretty realistic tree trunks and root structures (prominent on most tropical trees) with putty.

Here are a bunch of links involved with making palm trees and other foliage which you may want to include in your diorama:

This one is by far the best result I've seen using the foil method for making palm fronds: CK Tang's Method

A popular article by Eric Sikkema: Silk Leaves

Here is my effort using natural leaves found on Ficus Benjamina plants: My Effort

A method by Santiago Tre which inspired me: Santiago's Method

And finally one of my feature articles: Making Small Palms pt. 2

How I make bamboo, a common sight in most tropical areas: Bamboo

I am yet to make a banana palm but I really like the look of Santiago's:Banana Palm

An interesting way of making plants using aluminium foil, by Algu. I have had a try and can say I am almost as happy with this technique as I am with using natural options: Aluminium Foil plants

Making scale tropical grass (called kunai in Malaysia and PNG) is quite difficult, especially getting the right look. It is often a lot thicker and longer than Western grass species, therefore, I use REAL grass picked fresh from the lawn. Once picked, I leave it to dry out for a few days before gluing it to the diorama. Once glued, it receives an airbrushing of enamel green paint. I then add a final spray of hairspray to hold the grass in place on the diorama. Here is a picture I saw somewhere of a field in former Indochina, note thick bladed grass.

Feel free to ask me anything else I haven’t covered, otherwise, I wish you best of luck with your diorama,

Regards,
Chas

Wow Chas what a quality answer, almost a feature in itself I'm bookmarking this for future reference.

To add slightly Kamizukuri and Jadar make laser cut paper foliage
http://armorama.kitmaker.net/news/2695&mode=&order=0

These, and plenty of other groundwork supplies, are available from Military Miniatures Warehouse

Wow, thanks for the replies!

I had a fish aquarium once so I know of the aquarium plants. I too don't really like them.

I have a couple of frets of PE plants and while they look good, they're also sharp as razors and don't really bend well using pliers. They're still very good though and a viable (although expensive) option.

I have to try the natural foilage method again. The florists I went to years ago mainly sold flowers and moss, not the leaves, twigs, or roots I'm seeing in the "Jungle Thread" on this thread.

I'll also try to make them too. Thanks again so much for the answers and please feel free to post more!

Using them as a base to modify I have never had a problem.