[Kellerkind]

Hi all,
all over the year the birchtrees arround our house give away somthing: pollen in spring, exuding resin and semen in summer and in the end thousands of leaves in authum. Untill now I used the semen to imitate 1/32 leaves but now found that pollen can be greatly used for bales of straw in 1/32 scale:

If pressed a little they fall apart. Seperating the brown core from the yellow semen you can reach any color (more yellow or brownish) you want.

little wood of about 1 x 1.2 x 3cm, glue, the pollen and little copperwire will give a scale standard german bale of straw (100 x 50 x 40cm in 1:1)

Caution: This scenery-item might be problematic for allergy-sufferers

Regards Jens

 

[TR7_Driver]

These look really great, at first thought they were carved out of a weet-a-bix biscuit.

 

[Ember]

Ummm... Just to clarify. They'd be the dried catkins (but being the male part of the plant I suppose it's the same thing )

 

[Kellerkind]

Hi Ember, my botanic skills are not worth talking about: Not knowing if male or female part of the tree. They fall down in masses and cover everything...untill now I couldnt find anything positive about them to call them usefull...

Regards Jens

 

[JamieG]

That is fantastic hint, very nice looking bales.
I should be able to find some birch trees around here (Sweden...)

Cheers,
JamieG

 

[JasonVizor]

Hi Jens, I think the word you're looking for is stamen, semen, at least in English conjure up another image entirely, and not something you'd like to find in little piles around your track.

The stamen (plural stamina or stamens, from Latin stamen meaning "thread of the warp") is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower. Stamens typically consist of a stalk called the filament (from Latin filum, meaning "thread"), and an anther (from Ancient Greek anthera, feminine of antheros "flowery," from anthos "flower"), which contains microsporangia. Anthers are most commonly two-lobed and are attached to the filament either at the base or in the middle portion. The sterile tissue between the lobes is called the connective.

As taken from Wikipedia.

Regards Jason

PS the bales look amazing

 

[Kellerkind]

Hahaha; hopefully everything is clear now! I didnt expect this forum to be that informative! I get ideas for my track for free, free lessons in botanics and english language...What else should I wish for? Thank you all. Regards Jens

 

[paulporsche]

Nice use of a free material!

 

[athrlyth]

Well done Jens. I am now going for a walk which I would not normally do. Already I feel fitter, healthier and a better person. Harmed to the teeth with carry bag at the ready a pocket full of hay fever tablets, bottle of water, just in case.

I just hope this is going to be worth it.

Have a good sunny day All.

Athrlyth

 

[Kellerkind]

Yapp! I like springtime!

 

[jmswms]

Nice bales. Thx for this tip. However, having bucked hay in my youth, the wires should go lengthwise, I believe.

 

[martinprice2004]

This morning I told my wife that I had been advised by some guy on the internet to go down the local woods and to collect large quantities of semen.

There were a few other people in the woods and I asked them where the best spots were to collect semen.

On my return home with two black eyes I found the front door bolted from the inside and a police car parked outside.

My wife is now not speaking to me and I am having to write this reply from the local intenet cafe.....so thanks guys... I think I am going to stick with getting my scenery from the local hobby shop in future!

Seriously though....This is a great tip, and the bails look very realistic.

 

[John Cahill]

great idea...just want to echo Bill's comment in case it hasn't fully registered...the "strings" go in the lengthwise direction, also 3 strings are fairly common these days versus 2. I've had occasion to examine a few fairly closely recently *grin*

John

 

[Kellerkind]

Yes freaks you are right: lengthwise, its just logic because of the way they come out of the machine. I will have to change this in the next production-run. I will try other wire, too. Maybe something grey... Thanks, Jens

 

[AAWSCC]

Looks like I will have to wait 'til spring to complete the farm yard. These really do look the part.

 

[Slots-O-Fun]

They look great Jens. how soft is the material? Do they scratch the paint if a car hits them? I've heard of people using dried oregano if you are an allergy sufferer.

 

[Kellerkind]

...no problems with allergy

.Threat is a little bit older and in the meantime, I am experimenting with sisal-rope, cut into little pieces, too. If attempt is successfull I will post it here...
The bales from above have great stability. I covered them with one layer of clear matt spraypaint after glue dryed, thus making them extremely resistent against damage. Regards Jens