1:35 Weedy plants

Weedy plants, weeds for a 1:35 diorama

Where the mowing stops, the weeds move in. The Weedy plants set from the laser-cut plant range by Firma49 brings exactly the kind of unruly vegetation that grows along fences, between paving stones, beside walls and on every abandoned spot. In 1:35 scale it is an inconspicuous but tremendously effective way of making a scene look lived in, because perfectly tended grass looks out of place on a battlefield.

Where weeds do their work

• pavement joints and the ground around curbs
• the feet of walls, fences and ruined buildings
• the edges of field tracks with worn ruts
• corners nobody has set foot in for years

A few proven methods

Shape the plants into irregular tufts and combine different heights; weeds never grow in neat rows. Shading helps with the color: darker green at the roots, lighter toward the leaf tips, or yellowed tips on the dried parts. The contrast between lush vegetation and burnt-out equipment also looks superb and tells a story about the passing of time without a word.

Intended for

• builders of urban and rural 1:35 scenes
• modelers who care about the last detail
• bringing older dioramas back to life with new vegetation
• complementing the ferns and grasses of the same range

Thanks to the laser cutting, the leaves have a fineness that ordinary static grass cannot reach.

How much weed is just right

Use the vegetation sparingly and above all where nobody would have cut it: along the curb, around the corner of a building, between sleepers. The open area in the middle of the scene has to stay clear, otherwise the viewer's eye has nowhere to rest. An overgrown verge beside a rutted track meanwhile tells you how long it has been since anyone drove through.