Processing lichen for long-term scenery use
A primer for working with an old standby/Keith Albright
When properly treated, lichen can stay flexible for years, and with a coating ground foam it is a great material for modeling brush and trees. PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
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hy lichen? It seems that the old standby, lichen, has fallen out of favor with many model
railroaders. I wondered why until I asked other modelers why they were not using it. The overwhelming re- sponse was that after a few years it dried out and began to fall apart. This surprised me because I have
lichen on the layout that is thirty years old, and it is as soft and pliable now as it was then. Some of it has been used on three layouts and is as good as ever. Why did the lichen stay so soft? The answer is in my background. Back in the sixties I had a duel major in college, biology and chemistry. One of the first things I had to learn about plants was how to preserve specimens, and one of the first things we learned was how to preserve lichen. Some of my railroad buddies have asked why the lichen on my layout was so soft and theirs was as hard as a rock. I did some research and found
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that almost all the model railroading information on preserving lichen was either wrong or incomplete. What fol- lows are the techniques I use to collect, process and preserve lichen, along with how I use it on the layout.
Gathering Agreed, you can’t harvest lichen from just anywhere, but that is no dif- ferent from many of the other natural materials we use. There are modelers who mail sagebrush and soil home from Colorado or wherever for the same reason. Lichen can be found where there are trees, bushes, and a reasonable amount of rainfall, and that covers a lot of ground. I gather my lichen from the moun- tains of western Maryland. It is usual- ly found in clumps where the soil is poor and in areas having low light. Look along the edges of embankments and rocky areas. I have some on my
property in western Maryland, but a friend has tons of it on his place, which is an old Christmas tree farm. Ask your friends who hike or hunt and you will find out quickly if there is any in your area. Over the years I’ve gotten it from a lot of locations. Always ask permission before you go on a lichen gathering expedition. I’ve never been turned down when asking. I found that most property owners are quite curious when you mention you are going to use it on a model railroad. I’ve even had a few help me collect it. The best time to gather lichen is af- ter a wet spell. I generally pick it from spring until the leaves fall, but I have harvested it into early winter as long as the temperature was above freezing. You want to pick it when the lichen is wet. Dry lichen will fall apart during handling until it is processed. I always put my lichen in a plastic kitchen trash bag. Pick only the higher
MAY 2012
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