NagoyaHammer.com

I've been doing a bit of digging, and will continue to do so, but I was wondering if anybody knew of a substance which:

1) is clear
2) can be poured to a depth of 4-6mm
3) is available is largeish quantities (enough to cover about 50% of a 4ft X 4ft board)
4) is not too expensive
5) will dry within a day or so (faster is better)
6) is available in Japan (either buyable locally or shippable from overseas)

also, if anybody has any ingenious ideas for modelling huge numbers of bald cypress, let me know...

I think Tamiya do some clear resin water effect stuff. You can get it in Tokyu Hands. It might not meet criteria 3-5 though.
As for your second question, buy regular cypress and shave it?
Its a model tree fer cryin' out loud. So long as it is green and tree shaped no-one is going to notice but you. Joshin, they have a big selection of model trees on their 4th floor. Or try some railway scenics sites.

If you are going for that marsh/swamp thing, you might want to consider PVA glue for the bulk of it with a little of that clear water stuff on top once it has dried for effect.

PVA is cheap as chips, dries a little misty looking (good for a swamp), and is available everywhere.

PVA is a strong contender, actually. My only concern is that it shrinks significantly when it dries, and pulls up whatever its been stuck to. As a bond between things, this is good. As a top layer, its a problemo. Still, I shall endeavour to overcome this technical issue.

I sorted the tree issue, btw - I'm gonna make em myself.

@prim - aha, but no. it may just be a tree to you, but if one wants to create an atmosphere, or a theme, its all in the details. We all know that apple trees dont grow in swamps. If I made a whole bunch of apple trees, it wouldnt be swamp, would it? itd be a wet orchard.

me_in_japan wrote:I sorted the tree issue, btw - I'm gonna make em myself.

@prim - aha, but no. it may just be a tree to you, but if one wants to create an atmosphere, or a theme, its all in the details. We all know that apple trees dont grow in swamps. If I made a whole bunch of apple trees, it wouldnt be swamp, would it? itd be a wet orchard.

It could be an orchard, that due to magic/climate change/science gone awry has become a swamp. Use your imagination. Sheesh.
Seriously though, there are loads of webstores that stock model trees for railways. Take a gander at a few of them, e.g. http://themodeltreeshop.co.uk/index.html

there are loads of model tree shops, yes, but for a tree that doesnt look like a childs toy youre looking at 7-10 quid per tree.

I need to cover a 4 X 4 ft table with em.

This is not going to be a 40k table, obviously. Im making a cryxian swamp. Handy for malifaux, also, and a bit more transportable than my desert. I reckon I could take the swamp to center palace or similar car-able locations.

i just bought 200m of wire for 500yen from the local hardware store. Even at 3.6m a tree (yes, i measured), thats still a lot of trees, no?