[SCENERY]Lichen(sp?) moss(picked fresh)

[Tim Culberson]

Hi there....

I live in NB, Canada, so I've had the opportunity to acquire some "hand
picked-fresh" lichen moss. What I'm wondering is what do I do about
preserving/dying/painting the stuff. If anyone else has had experience with
this I'd appreciate some help. (I also have to look at the MR index as I've
heard there is at least one article froma few years back on the subject).

Thanks,
Tim Culberson

[roger traviss]

Tim Culberson (ti...@geocities.com) wrote:

: Hi there....

IIRC, to preserve lichen, you have to soak it in glycerin(e).

MR had an article many years ago (10+?) on preserving the stuff. They
used, IIRC, an old metal bath tub on top of a BBQ or Colmann stove to heat
the glycerine and lichen and dried it on sheets of paper. Definately a
summer's day job.

Personally, I'd rather use the Woodlands Scenicks "cottonball" trees
myself as I think they are much more realistic.

Cheers,

Roger Traviss
From rainy Victoria, BC Canada

[S Sillato]

Dave frary's scenery book has instructions on preserving lichen.

Tim Culberson (ti...@geocities.com) wrote:

: Hi there....

: I live in NB, Canada, so I've had the opportunity to acquire some "hand
: picked-fresh" lichen moss. What I'm wondering is what do I do about
: preserving/dying/painting the stuff. If anyone else has had experience with
: this I'd appreciate some help. (I also have to look at the MR index as I've
: heard there is at least one article froma few years back on the subject).

: Thanks,
: Tim Culberson

--
Steve Sillato NYC, LV, GBW & ALCo fan
Forty is the old age of youth, fifty the youth of old age.

[Roy]

Tim Culberson wrote:
>
> Hi there....
>
> I live in NB, Canada, so I've had the opportunity to acquire some "hand
> picked-fresh" lichen moss. What I'm wondering is what do I do about
> preserving/dying/painting the stuff. If anyone else has had experience with
> this I'd appreciate some help. (I also have to look at the MR index as I've
> heard there is at least one article froma few years back on the subject).
>
> Thanks,
> Tim Culberson

Hello Tim...

This brings back memories of me and some other modelrailroaders raiding
Life Like's trash container back in the 60's, hehehe. Used to get all
kinds of litchen there, mostly stuff that was over-dyed, but lots was in
perfect condition and still serves me well to this day. I only have to
spritze it with glycerine and water every few years to re-soften it. I
remember finding un-dyed, un-preserved lichen as well; and I dyed it in
a vat of rit green dye with glygerine and water. Primitive, but sure
worked for me! Still have the stuff too!

Roy

[John Alaniva]

You mean people are still using this stuff?? It dries out worse than
anything I've ever used for scenery. IMHO the only thing it's good for
is treats for reindeer!

[Clay Dulaney]

Roy wrote in message <3642FF...@erols.com>...
>Tim Culberson wrote:
>>
snip
Lichen grows wild all around me in the national Forrest here in the sunny
south. I collect a sack full and pick out the trash. Dunk it in a 5 gal
bucket with about 1 pint of laundry bleach to 2 gallons of water (gloves &
glasses required). This whitens the lichen, kills the multitude of critters
that live in it, and softens it up so that I can clean out more trash. I
put it on a screen frame that I built and hose it off to get rid of the
excess bleach. Let it dry, then dye it with rit fabric dye. This is a good
outside project. I use the side burner on my gas grill and an old pot, as
sweetie would kill me otherwise. The dyes can be mixed and matched and
reused if kept warm. as each batch is dyed, the dye gets weaker, and the
shade will lighten up. This gives a nice variety of colors. Finally, it is
preserved with a misting of glycerin and water when it has once again dried.
I save this for the last step so that I can cull the lichen and not waste
expensive glycerin. I use the culls by letting them dry, and rubbing them
up or grinding in the blender. This makes a nice weed/grass mix.

BTW, take an old foam rubber pillow and grind it up in a blender. Dye it
with rit dye and you have ground foam. You can easily segregate the foam
chunks to whatever sizes you want. A pillow will cover a LOT of railroad.

Clay from the soon to be reborn Boondoggle 'N Offschedule RR

[Rusty Keeney]

So what do you use? Bonsai bushes?

[Robert Hoag]

Exactly what is Glycerine?
Why would it dry out?
Would a spray of mat acrylic medium after the glycerine seal it?

rob

Tim Culberson wrote:

> Hi there....
>
> I live in NB, Canada, so I've had the opportunity to acquire some "hand
> picked-fresh" lichen moss. What I'm wondering is what do I do about
> preserving/dying/painting the stuff. If anyone else has had experience with
> this I'd appreciate some help. (I also have to look at the MR index as I've
> heard there is at least one article froma few years back on the subject).
>
> Thanks,
> Tim Culberson

--

{|8~' rabu

Rob & Sara Hoag .. Hot Springs, Arkansas
Antonio Flealeanie (Tony) .. Crazy Raul .. Crystal Gyrl .. Sister Consuela

[Fred Dabney]

Robert Hoag wrote in message <3649DB16...@fptoday.com>...

>Exactly what is Glycerine?
>Why would it dry out?
>Would a spray of mat acrylic medium after the glycerine seal it?

Lichen is a living plant of sorts, and when it is harvested, it starts to
lose water which part of its makeup. Over time, it loses so much water that
it becomes brittle enough that it will turn to dust, even if undisturbed.

Glycerine is a chemical substance, rather like a liquid sugar, which will
keep the lichen soft, but it too dries out, it just takes longer.

The conventional way of preserving lichen is to soak it in a mixture of
alcohol and glycerine. The alcohol helps the glycerine to soak into the
lichen, then it evaporates quickly, leaving the glycerine to "do its thing".

The most common form of "maintenance" is a spray bottle full of the alcohol/
glycerine mix that one sprays on the shrubbery from time to time. This also
helps to restore colors if they've faded.

Fred Dabney, watching the action from BNSF MP 1112, El Paso sub.