I want to add fallen leaves to my dio in 1/35. Any idea of what to use?

Maybe I could get the kids to get tiny scissors and cut out little patterns of leaves - that'd keep them busy for a few days! (ha ha)

Try some types of spices that are of the proper color and are made up of dried pieces of leaves. Or go to an arts and crafts store and look at their potporri section, there might be something suitable there.

Both options will leave your diorama smelling nicer too.

Well the most authentic would be leaves from a maple bonsai tree... but they may be hard to find.

Rob has some good suggestions though I would try those. You might also look for some small leaved plants at a nursery (or even Walmart), there might be something there that if dried out would mimic a tree leaf.

Jim

Hudson & Allen has or had different colors of leaves. They had a fall and spring time color in a small zip lock bag. They last for ever. They also had some punch out ones too.
I work part time in hobby store and i know we still have some of the punch out leaves in different colors. I'll check today and let you know. Drop me an e-mail if you enterested.

Try using dried tea leaves from your next teabag! Work great if you want to simulate fallen leaves, and with spraymount can be sprinlked onto lichen at the end of your tree limbs to give a great effect!

KFMagee
Seal Team 2 (RET)
Norfolk, VA

I use dried real leaves, that are crushed in a mortar. The seed (?) of a birch tree can be used for simulating chestnuttree-leaves.

Hello!
I used to use a spice called Oregano (I don't know the name you use to it in States, it's very commom with pizzas You can use them out of the bag or you can paint them with airbrush. I also use it to make camouflage nets glue it and paint, the effect is terrific.
HTH
Cheers!
BETO/br

I also do 1/35 dio's and i have use the plastic holders that hte model pices come attatched to, i melt them down to thin them and give them a shape after they dry i paint them the colors that are approprite and then spray a glue mix of white glue, and liquid "epoxy strong bond" and water on the area and sprinkle the leaves on that area coating them with the mixture after they dry

We also call it Oregano here in the states. Sounds like a good idea and it's pretty inexpensive for a good size jar.

Oregano was my first thought having played with it before. Was hoping no one else had mentioned it yet. LOL

Anyway, sprayed red or orange or a mix of colors. Looks pretty close to leaves on the ground. And your diorama will smell real nice too.

Lucas Freeman
Brunswick, Maine

Lucas,
not only it smells good : when you're tired of the diorama you can still eat it !

Hobby shops sell these small punch-out toys that allow you to clip all kinds of figures from paper. A tool like that would seem practical if it could help you reproduce small leaves. They even might market different leaf shapes (Oak, maple,...) Buy once, have leaves for a lifetime ! Or is this idea a bit too simple ? Or does it even exist ?

Jan

Try the dinosaur people they make leaves that can be use for dioramas plus I think VDL sells some leaves but alas all brass and cost $.
Ps what I did one time was to copy leaves from a site shrink them ferns for dino model and cut them out painted and made stems from wire killer for my dino dioramas

I have tried a few things for leaves.

Junk out of the backyard ground up well works OK.
Bits of decorative plants from a craft store will work.
I find tea leaves work, as mentioned by above. Try herb teas! You get quite a mess of different shapes in bags of "sleepy time" or any of those other types. You can get orange spice tea, and there are lots of goodies in there.

I blend the protoleaves with the dirt mix (white glue, acrylic medium, kitty litter, celluclay, some cheapo craft paint, and dirt). Whatever ends up on the surface gets painted a slightly different color to pick out the details. Bob Tavis gave us a demo of how to use this dirt mix at a recent meeting of the DFW Historical Miniatures Society. It works great!!

Andy

I found that the best thing is to decide on your season for your dio and then just take a walk to the local supermarket and look through all the different spices! Just remember that they can all be crushed down to your scale!
Keep modellin!
Marek

On Sunday, we went to the local zoo. I couldn't help noticing how several sorts of vegetation are all dried up after the winter. Some of them look like miniature trees/shrubs/grasses, and can find their way to a diorama almost as they are !
Maybe the answer to our tree questions is not in the hobby store, but along our way towards the hobby store !