Hedges for Toy Farm / Model Farm

Inexpensive model hedging for toy farm / model farm in 1/32 scale. When playing with a toy farm it is often useful to be able to mark out a field or two with some sort of model hedging. Field edging, hedging, fencing etc tends to be expensive. In the past I had made hedging using stained 1/4 inch plywood, but these proved to be a bit bulky to store and expensive to make. This instructable recycles plastic from plastic milk bottles and so is very low cost.

I'm sure there are many ways to improve this project and look forward to your suggestions

Empty 4 pint plastic milk bottles (two bottles per 15 inch section of finished hedge)

Scissors

Craft knife and steel ruler

two pieces of scrap timber around 3/4 x 3/4 x 16 inches

Craft heat gun

2 small g clamps

small piece of sandpaper

Awl, embroidery silk and needle to fit

Cheap acrylic art paints in greens / browns and paintbrush to suit.

Small piece parcel tape

Design stage

At 1/32 scale an 8 ft high hedge needs to be 3 inches tall. It also needs to have a base about 1 1/2 inches wide to stand unsupported.

Remove the labels from two four-pint plastic milk bottles. With a pair of scissors cut the top and bottom from the two bottles. Cut the remaining middle bands of the bottles vertically. This leaves you with two flat pieces of thin plastic, each approximately 5 inches by 15 inches, Trim these down with a craft knife and metal ruler to two rectangles 3.75 inches x 15 inches, With a pair of scissors cut a wavy edge along one long side of each piece of plastic. These wavy edges will become the top of the finished hedge.

The plastic used in these milk bottles is HDPE (high density polyethylene) with a number 2 in the recycling triangle. This plastic melts at 125 degrees and with the application of a little heat below that temperature can, to some extent, be reshaped. Read up on this online and satisfy youtrself that this process can be tackled without safety risks. Essentially what we are going to do next is to put a right angled fold along the long edge of each piece of plastic. As a heat source I have used an inexpensive crafting heat gun.

To hold each piece of plastic while putting in the folds, clamp the plastic between a couple of pieces of scrap wood around 3/4 inches square and 16 inches long with 3/4 inch strip protruding. It would help to hold the whole arrangement in a vice. Apply a little heat to the protruding strip while pressing it down to make a right angled fold. This needs a little experimentation gradually adding more heat until the fold is right. You are not trying to actually melt the plastic, just to warm it enough to enable it to be re-shaped. Be careful not to burn yourself with the heat gun.

Once you have put the folds in each piece of plastic use a small piece of sandpaper to rough up the surface of the plastic to enable paint to stick to it later. The two pieces of plastic now need sticking together back to back. The two 3/4 inch folds make the base of the model hedge. I thought that a glue gun would be the easiest way of sticking the pieces together. Unfortunately hot glue will not adhere to the plastic. Packaging tape might work but I have no idea how long it would last. Some sort of physical joining would be best. Staples or eyelets will work, but might leave sharp edges, not ideal for little fingers. Sewing works. Here I have used an awl and some embroidery silk. The curved needle was used because it was the only one I had with a large enough eye for the thread. Carefully done this sewing could outline wavy edges of the bushes or trees in the hedge. My sewing is rubbish. The pieces of parcel tape in the illustration temporarily hold the two pieces of plastic together during the sewing.

The final stage is to paint the plastic hedge. Cheap artists acrylic paint works OK and a mottling effect of greens and browns adds some realism.