Corn Fields

[snitcythedog]

I finally finished my O scale JTT corn fields.  Based on plastic card shapes textured to look like plowed fields.   Please let me know what you think. Just have to attach felt to the bottom and do a few touch ups.



Hope you like.
Snitchy sends.

[Too Bo Coo]

I think they are inspired and I will kick off the petition right now.

"Show us how you did this Master"

Ditto!

[Captain Blood]

They look great. Much better than the usual slabs of chopped up doormat 

[pacarat]

Excellent effect en masse.  I hadn't thought I'd do my corn like this but it looks great.

I have a bunch of these packs, but looks like I'm going to need some more....off to Hobby Lobby with my 40% coupons.

[WitchfinderGeneral]

Lookin' good! How many plants did you need for the 3 pieces? Is there an European distributor for JTT products?

[Dr Mathias]

Best I've seen so far.

I will jump on board with the 'more info please' bandwagon!

[snitcythedog]

Thanks for the compliments all.  Answering a couple of questions:

I think they are inspired and I will kick off the petition right now.
"Show us how you did this Master"

The base it just a cut piece of styrene.  I glued coffee stirrers onto it to simulate the plowed rows.  I bulked this out using commercial paper mache.  Once set I PVA'ed dirt from the garden onto the base.  (be sure to bake it first to kill any fungus in it).  Then another layer of PVA I primed and painted the base.  Added some static grass and then drilled each and every dam hole for each and every dam one of those corn stalks.  I have not purchased a power converter yet so I could not use my Dremal.  I had to hand crank drill every hole.  

Lookin' good! How many plants did you need for the 3 pieces? Is there an European distributor for JTT products?

The corn stalks are from a model train scenic company called JTT and Partners.  URL  http://www.jttmicroscale.com/
In the US I purchased them at Hobby Lobby.  They list no European distributors.  I have talked to folks on this forum that have ordered them through Ebay and such from within the EU.  On JTT's website they do list several other companies that sell their products online so you might find a good price there.  
For these three bases I needed over 400 stalks to get the crop density that you see.  Just around 20-24 stalks per row on the long rows. This is where it can get a bit expensive.  There are 32 stalks per pack at $8.95 US per pack.   I purchased mine when Hobby Lobby thought they were getting rid of the line.  I did a bulk order of fifteen pack at $3.00 us per pack.  
If you are thinking about doing this be sure to get them on sale or on a day when the dollar takes a big hit.  

A side note:
I did take one apart to try to reverse engineer it to see if I could make them on my own.  It would be possible but incredibly fiddly.  The stalks have a wire core with small threads glued to the top to simulate the corn silk.  It looks like the leaves are laser cut in one long strip.  That strip is glued at the top, wound around the stalk to the bottom and glued at the bottom.  I could not get a handle on the spacing for the leaves on the strip since I was destroying the paper by taking it apart.  Someone else might figure it out but they will have to be willing to spend more time on the problem than I did.  

Thanks again all for the compliments.  
Snitchy sends.