We tested the "model hedges, dark green" made by NOCH (art.no. 21524)
Have you ever swept the pavement along accurately cut green hedges? Then you’ll probably know how tiny their leaves usually are. Even nowadays, a perfect reproduction of these common plants in 1/87 scale seems to be impossible. We decided to scrutinise the dark green model hedges made by the German manufacturer NOCH. According to them, their product is suitable for H0, TT and N gauges - so they should fit in an 00 scale scenery as well.
To be honest, the leaves of this NOCH product are not at all tiny and look
rather like miniature lettuce leaves. Our photo gives you quite a good
impression of their size. Just imagine the hedges on an N gauge layout…
But
let’s stick to our systematic way of testing modelling accessories and start
with having a look at the blister package. It provides all the information you
need and allows you a first glimpse at the hedges. And it protects the product
quite well, although some green crumbs roll around the hedges. (Don’t discard
them; you might need them on your model pavement…).
After unpacking the hedges, we realized a strange smell similar to what you sense through your nose being in a carpet store. But this
first smell vanished soon and, of course, we will not sniff at our model railway
layout or diorama all day long anyway.
The two green hedge strips are each about 50 cm (approx. 19.7 inches) long and
very flexible, so you should be able to 'plant' them in almost any shape you
want. But putting them in a straight line just for trial purposes is quite difficult
because they’ll always attempt to get back to their ‘embryo-like’ position they
had had in their package for a more or less long time. If you are sure, of
course, some drops of glue will force the model hedges to remain in any shape
you want them to.
Referring to H0 gauge, the product allows you to ‘plant’ a hedge that would be almost 90 meters / 295 ft long in our real world, its height is 10 mm (87 cm / 34.3 inches in 1:1 scale) and its width is 6 mm (52 cm / 20.5 in).
So,
apart from their oversized leaves, the hedges are true to scale. And the first
impression you will get from the model hedges ‘planted’ on a diorama or a model
railway layout is not unnatural because of the mixture of unstructured,
differently coloured leave scraps.
But advanced modellers might give them an even more realistic look by imitating
a branch base under the green leaf material (e.g. by sticking the hedges onto a
narrow, brownish polystyrene strip) and putting some soil-like material around
the hedges.
All in all, NOCH offers an adequate product for reproducing green hedges on your
diorama or layout. But, as usual, realistic appearance finally depends on the
‘landscape gardener’s’ practical skills.
| synopsis* | |
|---|---|
| Packaging (15) | 12 |
| 'First impression' (15) | 9 |
| Originality (15) | 9 |
| Closeness to reality (15) | 9 |
| Wealth of detail (15) | 9 |
| Fineness of detail(15) | 9 |
| Closeness to scale (15) | 9 |
| Condition of all parts (15) | 15 |
| Quality of colours, prints or painting (15) | 14 |
 |
95 (max. 135) |
*Find out more about the test criteria for modelling
accessories
here.
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