Hello all. I am trying to find out what is being used in several dioramas I have seen for fallen leaves. I remember reading a post a while back either on this site or missing-lynx describing what was used. I think it was a seed of some sort. When used, It makes for a very convincing oak/maple leaf. The seed looks to be flat and has 3 points. Just wondering if anyone knows what this might be off the top of their head. I will try and locate a pic. Thanks.

Hi,

I tried Birch seed. It has the looks of an 1/35 Oak leaf.
(i mean the femal seed)

yes the birch tree seeds is what you are looking for.overhere thegood season to [harvest] :-) is almost over.you have to take them just when they turn from green to brown in late summer.

Hey, Smokeeater, also don't forget that not all leaves retain their shape when they're on the forest floor. So make sure you've got lots of broken bits. Coarse tealeaves and petercillie (?) work well

Why not using the real thing? Real leaves, dried and then crushed/ crumbled? I have done this before and it works quite wel. On the other hand, you could also use painted kitchen herbs. In stead of those seeds.

If you can find them, Hudson and Allen makes these:
But, it seems that they are hard to find right now. I did find these
They are produced by Clarkson Designs and appear to be available. Good luck.

Patrick

I use dried oregano , the cheaper the brand the better ,seems the cheaper is not as good quality so theres lots of the oregano leaf stems left in, it make great scale leafs/twigs

Hey gentlemen, thanks for all your help. Some great ideas. I have been working on a small vignette set in the fall/early winter with a tree by the roadside. I like the dried oregano idea but how does one go about painting the stuff. Should you glue it down first and then just try and drybrush?

Use a mix fo pva (white glue) and water brushing this mix onto the areas you want the oregano to stick.Then sprinkle a small amount of the oregano over the glue , leave 24 hours to dry then turn the dio over and gently shake/tap/blow the excess oregano off.

If you get the cheap dried stuff there isnt much need to paint it , however you can pick out one or two leaves and paint them different shades of green/brown to represent freshly fallen leaves in different states of decay.

Ian

Next time you're in the dollar store, take a look through the food section, there's lots of spices there, and quite a bit of them can be used for leaves and forest ground clutter, and the bottles are quite big so you'll get pretty good value for a buck, plus you'll have the best smelling dio around! :-)