Hi, Just wondering if anyone has had a go with any paper punch leaf shape cutters. I'm looking at a few that may be suitable but wondered if anyone has tried them out already. I know they won't be as good as laser cut leaves or etched leaves but the price is a bit more managable.
Here's an example:
http://hankodesigns.com/Accessories/Punches/Punches.htm
The ones at the bottom look as though they may have potential.

Depends on what scale you are trying to use them with. They are way too big for 1/35 scale. They might work for 120 - 200 mm figures though.

Jesse

ive seen some online that MIGHT be small enough. ive been wanting to do this as well. but, i was worried that the scale was too big. ill post a link if i find them again

Some of the smaller ferns look okay but the rest are too big I think

ive used the smaller ones a fern and a generick type leaf and a special rough paper and i have to say they look fine in my ambulance dio.
cheep and added to other stuff works fine...
my ambulance is over on military modeling

I don't understand buying leaves. Oregano and celery work great, at least for 1/35.

Yes, but then you have everybody sniffing your dio

Hey..........I'm Italian, I like oregano !!!!!!! Too bad you can't use garlic for anything.

I said oregano and celery, not cocaine and marijuana. And, yes I do qualify to get prescription marijuana.

The problem with crushed spices is that's what they look like. Trees have deffinite leave paterns and grow specific to the type of tree from the stem out on the branch. Spices are a quick do but indivedual leaves placed right ,always look more realistic. True, it takes a long long time to leaf a tree, but the end result is so much better. If you spend alot of time doing a model or a figure, why not go the distance and finish your tree correctly also. In my vignett, through the vally of death, it took many night sessions to do the tree leaves but the finished result was great. Personaly, to do a good job on a model and then skimp on the trees, takes away from the over all beauty of the dio/vign. But then again, to each his own. Back o the original question. I think that most of those punch sizes are too large for 1/35th scale.

I don't understand either.There are tons of spices that can work why spend the money and the aggravaition of cutting them out?

Tom

I've used a small heart shaped punch for Lily pads in my "Serenade". I think this and an even larger heart could work for tropic ferns if sliced nice. I have a very small 'teardrop' punch from Martha Stewert Collections that even though I haven't used yet, will be perfect for that shaped foliage in 1/35. Parts of larger punches could also work if cut away after the punch out? Spin the ideas as you're geeking the aisle in Michael's.
Cheers!

This is my first post, I have been reading the forum for quite a while before I decided to join but I do make dioramas of nature.

I have used many different materials for my plants, right now I am working one an Indian river with a large forested area, the whole diorama is in 1:22 scale and is just over 35 square feet. I have used paper punches, laser cut paper (which I have custom made for my scale and species of plant I am making) and natural foliage which I buy preserved or preserve myself with glycerine and airbursh the colors I need. The stems are clay with wire supports and I usually hand paint or airbrush the colors I need. Here are a couple of photos with examples of all of the different materials combined. The diorama is only about 1/2 done, and I keep making changes so it seems the more I work on it the less gets done.

This first photo shows some of the custom palm fronds along with hand cut paper fronds. The fan palm is laser cut and the other more typical fronds are hand cut. There are at least 5 species of palms in the photo, and a yellow sorrowless tree, the flowers for that tree are hand cut paper, and in the back is a pandanus tree also with hand cut paper.


This photo is of a king protea, the foliage is preserved sesamee flowers dyed to be a dark green, and the flowers are a mix of paper punched daisy flower and paper clay painted pink and navy blue.


Here are two banyon trees also with sesamee bloom as the foliage.


And finally I also use custom made animals, some I do myself or I also have a very good friend who sculpts for me, she is amazing, in this photo she did the wild dogs and I did the wart hog in the background, the bird was done by a Japanese sculptor who does scale models of birds. The landscaping is all done by hand, the grass is Woodland Scenics field grass, the rocks were done with clay and painted.

WOW ! I am speechless with the amazing Foliage detailing done - not to mention the subject of the Wild animals. Truly dedicated workmanship, I now understand when you say why skimp on the trees with PARSLEY & Organo.
Being from South Africa the Scene is true to my heart. Well done.
Herman Moore Cape Town South Africa.

I also use dried herbs/tea for generic leaves but for ferns and palms another approach is needed. So far I've relied on cutting pre-coloured paper but this is slow and tedious and the results don't always justify the time spent.
I've contacted several craft companies describing the market potential for leaf cutters in 1/35 scale. I even looked at starting up my own business just to make decent leaf cutters but the time and money required made it impossible for me. I just hope someone spots the gap in the market and does something about it.
@ philter4 Great looking bush scene -particularly the banyon trees. Welcome to the forums.

Model scenes makes paper leaves of different trees in summer and autum colors that come with veins and stems. I will be ordering a few sets in the near future and will let you know how they are. Catkin seeds work well for leaves also, but if you buy them already colored you will need to paint them as the dye fades bad to a dull washed out look. Also for busy type plants, queens ann lace works good. Just dried some out and cut the very small white sections apaprt, glued them down and painted. If you saok them in glycerin they will stay flexable and not be fragile. I didn't bother with the last ones as it was only a few on the edge of a river. By the way Phil , nicely done foiliage on your large dio there. Very much looks the part.

Using lace is a good idea - I'll have a look at that.

it might not always work for what your trying to make
but if you go to thrift stores or garage sales you can usually find fish aquarium plastic plants for cheap
cut them up to whatever shape you need, paint more realistic