Making Model Railway Bushes Using Tree Lichen

If you’re tired of spending your hard-earned money or your kids’ inheritance on your layout scenery, look no further than Mother Nature for an easy and inexpensive method of making model railway bushes! While they say “money doesn’t grow on trees,” lichen or fungus do—and they can be transformed into very realistic bushes that won’t cost you a thing, according to Model Railroad Academy’s Allen Keller.

In this brief video clip of alternatives to purchasing expensive, manufactured items for your layout, Allen collects tree lichen that—with a little bit of green rattle-can spray paint and white glue—can quickly, easily, and inexpensively be transformed into model railway bushes that will look great on barren spots along your model layout.

Don’t worry about spending a lot of money bringing your railroad fantasy world to life—just look around you in nature for quick and cheap ways to create model railway bushes, trees, or ground cover that look like the real thing.

Related Videos:

How to Make Railroad Trees

Model Railroad Scenery Techniques

3 Responses to “Making Model Railway Bushes Using Tree Lichen”

1. Davie Burgdorf January 8th, 2021

   It is a form of lichen. In some parts of the Southeast, these also grow in large patches on the ground as well, especially where there is dead material for them to feed upon. If they are painted, they can last for decades. I still have some of them from when I was a teenager on my first layout. Untreated, they will dry out! They will also go dormant and can be sprayed with water to revive them for quite a while if can’t paint them immediately.

   Reply

2. mark1 May 30th, 2018

   Do they tend to wrought away?

   Reply

3. Bill George August 4th, 2016

   Great idea…………

   Reply