Kudzu -- the Plant

OK, what would be more natural than a hillside covered with Kudzu -- the plant, not the comic strip -- along a blacktop road out in the country of South Carolina in 1956?  Well, we have just the hillside although it's along the railway right of way, not the highway.

A couple of modelers had suggested using Woodland Scenics poly fiber for the Kudzu vine.  I was in Hobby Lobby this weekend and decided to check on their poly fiber supply.  They had some, so the next step was trying it out.  I vaguely recalled suggestions for leaves and had Lipton tea bags (oops, I had the cheap stuff, Harris Teeter) and parsley flakes on hand.  First, I spread out the poly fiber, then wet the fiber with hair spray.  Following that, I dusted the fiber with tea followed by parsley flakes and sprayed more hairspray.

The tea, on the far left, was pretty dark while the parsley flakes were basically green.  Tea seemed too small for leaves, flakes too large!  With the darkness of the tea, spraying with green paint looked to be needed.  I used some Krylon Italian Olive Satin, not because I thought that was the color of Kudzu, but because that was what I had on hand.  While the paint was still sticky, I added some more flakes for coverage.  Then I used some Design Masters Prairie Grass spray paint for highlights -- didn't I remember somebody somewhere recommending highlights to make it look more realistic?  Don't know that I agree.  Maybe my problem was that the paint started sticking the individual flakes together, and they were already too big. . . .

So, the shop was beginning to smell like someone was cooking in a beauty salon with all the products I was using:

To glue to the hillside, I painted and dribbled (dribbling worked better) Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement over the area of interest.  The web of poly fiber stuck well to the hillside, but I took the opportunity to add a little more Scenic Cement to the edges and flatten them down a bit.  One of the Kudzu modelers had commented that he could have done a better job of blending the Kudzu into the rest of the scene.  I think sticking the edges down will help.  From a distance, you can get the idea of the vine covering the hillside over the summer.

I may go back when it all dries and try to separate some of the parsley flakes or even break some flakes up a bit and shake over the existing vine.  I did add a little bush for contrast, but I'm afraid it might look a little alien -- by the time Kudzu covered the hill, it would have swallowed the little bush, too.  

Looks like I should add a little more growth to the hillside to give it more of a 3D look.  That's for another day.

"Vintage" Tank Car

So, this Staley tank car has been in my "collection" since the late 1950's.  Nice car, but with a hook and loop sort of coupler.  So, it wasn't used then and it hasn't been used lately.  Why not swap out the hook and loop for a Kadee coupler?

First problem, the coupler is attached to the trucks and the local hobby shop doesn't carry a direct replacement.  OK, let's just work with it and come up with a solution.  Looks like a little grinding on the coupler "box" would allow the Kadee box to be glued with coupler inside.  Pulled out the Dremel tool and played like a dentist for a few minutes, and the Kadee box would almost fit.  Some CA glue and the box, coupler, and then trucks were on the car.  Not too sure about the structural strength of this set-up, but it connected easily and had no problems being pulled by the box car with the "manual locomotive."

While the layout doesn't really need too many more cars, the era of this tank car (says 1928 on the side!) and it's unique type made it a good candidate.  Besides, there's the nostalgia factor, right?