Hi guys

I have read on this and other sites about the use of tea leaves for everything for moss to a camo. Can someone give me more info on this?

Thanks
Harry.D

for camo? do you mean the parts of the camo netting? if so, i use oregano for that, never tried tea leaves....i'll try that one just to find out

That would be tea leaves, before you make tea with them. After you made tea they might be good to make mud, but not camouflage. :-)

Cheers
Henk

Howdy wolfsix,

Tea leave's?.....well, of course! I've been using tea leave's for (mostly) ground cover for quite a long time. I've got several old plastic parmesan cheese containers along with their 'shaker' lids full of tea leaves.
As an additional tidbit, not only can you get a slightly different look from unused vs. used tea leaves, but you can also pick 'flavoured' teas that will add different colourings to your 'mix'.
But if you want to use the flavoured teas, use the cheapest teas you can find (from a Dollar Store for example). Reason being is that these cheaper teas use artifical flavouring/colouring to acheive their taste enhancement, as opposed to the high priced teas that actually use real bits of the particular flavouring to create their teas. Again, the reason for choosing the cheaper version is because the leaqves themselves are simply 'tinted', and the more expensive teas have bits and pieces in their mix that just don't look right......
hth.

Tread.

Oh, and in fact, there is a flavoured, powered drink mix that when ground up with a pestel is the spittin' image of that red 'dirt' found in the 'Nam....sorry, can't remember the name at the moment....

"...After you made tea they might be good to make mud, but not camouflage...."
sorry Henk, I beg to differ..... ;-)

I use them for a vareity of leaves, from trees, brush and here vines. Dried, glue, and painted.



John

Superb work there John........really nice use of the 'leaves' as well....

Tread.

Fair enough Gordon, I'll try again. Maybe I'll leave the leaves (ho ho) to dry before I use them this time.

Cheers
Henk

Howdy Korporaal Henk,

Hope you understood my joking. As I'm sure you already know (but I'll say it anyway for wolfsix's sake), the unused tea leaves are a lighter brown, and the used tea leaves (once dry) are a darker brown colour.
But. I also want to extend a "Thank You!" to you Henk, for giving me an idea........tell me what you think.
The used (and wet) tea leaves do appear rather 'muddy' looking. So I'm wondering if dampened tea leaves could be used to simulate that dark, rich mud that always seemed to get mixed with both leaves and pine needles in the Ardenne's?
Once in place in a diorama, one could 'seal' the dampened tea leaves and (hopefully?) retain some of that 'wet' look...........
sound plausible?

Tread.

Tread,

my lips are sealed, as I'm in on the Ardennes campaign. . only kidding, but yes you are right. I have just started to experiment with these, as they are the exact copy of the thick pack of wet, soggy leaves in a forrest. I am going to try gloss or medium gloss varnish to retain the result. When I come up with something that is remotely acceptable, I'll post some pic's.
And before the purists start, I know that most of the Ardennes is Pine wood, but not all of it. I know, i've been there a few times.

Cheers
Henk

Thank You. I also use a variety of herb and spices.

John

Hi all

Thanks guys, for getting back to me so fast, and for the ideas. This is going to give raiding the kitchen a completely new meaning. I better do it while my roommate is sleeping or she will think that I've really gone off my rocker.
Neil, are those tea leaves used as vines in your dio ? They look real. The use of herbs and spices, for modelling, even if they look bad the dio should smell good. :-)
Thanks again guys
Harry

I used to use tea leaves to simulate scrim on cammo netting on my micro-armour. Obviously I painted it.

And the advantage of tea leaves is you can make tea before sticking them on the model

Leave it to the 'Limey's of the bunch to come up with another use for tea leaves.....

Tread.

Oh, BTW, as I've said before. I too am a 'Limey'. Transplanted, but still a Limey.

And don't forget to keep us posted on your 'wet' leaves progress Henk. I'm very interested in the results. Possibly mixing the leaves with a slight 'slurry' made of pastels and/or pigments. As to the pine needles...........balsa in a blender?

You wouldn't be talking about Kool-Aid or Tang by any chance, would you? :-)

thanks...

The tea leaves onthat one were Sumatran Tea I got from Cost Plus Import Store.

John

..................errrrrr, no. Uhnuh........


Tread.

I use tea leaves as well, both used and unused. As with any other organic material, be sure they are totally dried and cover them with a flat spray to keep them from turning brown and to keep from attracting ctritters.
Experiment with different cuts of tea and herbal teas, etc. If you want a bunch, go to a seed or tea store and look at their bulk teas. You get a lot of material for a few bucks.

Sealhead

colonel sanders is a modeller!
:-) but he won't tell you what they are

i read about this

take a leenex tissue, wet it with glue[ didn't say what kind ]sprinkle on tea leaves, after it dries roll it up into a tube, apply tiess, then cut to size to fit scale and attack to model as a rolled up camo net......

reb