Alien vegetation

[Feral_80]

I would like to add some alien-looking plants to some of my model bases. Any suggestions on how to make them??

 

Both a tutorial or cheap alternatives (there might be something suitable e.g. among cheap plastic toys..) would be appreciated.

[Imren]

Check out aquarium stores, they are aswesome for this. They have small plastic plants that look less natural in a landscape, quick googling showed these examples:

 

https://www.amazingamazon.com.au/aquarium-plastic-plants-large.html

 

http://alexnld.com/product/aquarium-artificial-plastic-plant-fish-tank-landscaping-decoration/

 

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/imagitarium-glow-in-the-dark-variety-pack-plastic-aquarium-plants

 

http://fishtank.equipment/product/aquarium-plastic-plant-decoration-w-ceramic-base-6pcs-color/

[Feral_80]

Thank you! That might work indeed. Have you used this stuff already? It is just a bit difficult to tell their real size compared to my small bases.

[Imren]

Yeah, I have used a few that I bought in a physical pet store also selling aquarium supplies. Since it is an alien world, you might aruge size doesn't matter, however, I'd say for battlefield scenery, you want those small ones around 5-15 cm (2"-6")  tall if they look like bushes and undergrowth, if they look like trees (more likely to find model railroad hobby stores) you can have bigger than that.

 

So I bought a few smaller aquarium plastic plants around 10 cm tall and rebased them. They were already painted so I didn't bother repaint them. If you decide to repaint them, keep in mind that since the plant is made of softer plastic than our minis and the leafs are relatively thin, the acryilc paint layers are more likely to chip and flake off the leafs, I suspect a harder more durable paint is necessary to paint them, such as enamels or strong ink dyes.

[Feral_80]

Thanks - the idea was to use them not as stand-alone scenery, but rather to populate these sad barren 60mm bases I have done for my ghillie-suited snipers:

 

I'd probably need to cut some leaves to make small bushes, and try to stick them in the base by drilling small holes.

 

[Imren]

Ok, So if you want those sneaky snipers to blend it more with the plants you plan to add, I suggest you make bushes and smaller trees out of wire an flock, like in this tutorial:

 

 

If you use aquarium plants, those snipers will blend in less with the plants, like those really alien planet looking colourful plants acquarium shops have, will really stand out against the snipers.

this one is pretty cool too, but way fiddlier: