Pegasus produces four types of palms most suitable for 1/72 and 1/87 (model railroad OO and HO scales), the first two titled Style A and B. These appear to be Pacific Island and Caribbean types, respectively.
The other two I have sampled are Palm Trees Fan Style, and banana trees.
The Fan Style box contains five trunks of approximately 5-6 inch tall trees. Fan palms can be found in Europe, China, California (the only palm native to America) and Mexico. I am not a palm expert but am disappointed that only one trunk has the “beard” of dead fronds at the top. The bark texture is well done. The brown plastic is not soft nor hard styrene. You are able to bend it a bid.
The trees have four layers of fronds for the crown; each layer is a different size and slightly different arrangement. Some of the individual evergreen leaves are fused with thin flash. They slide easily onto the mounting pin at the top of the trunk. The pieces are molded of soft green plastic. The Tamiya paint I used to detail the fronds adheres but will not stand up to a lot of handling.
Pegasus Hobbies is filling a void for affordable authentic appearing palms for modelers. Their expanding line also includes two types of prickly pear cactus, barbed wire, 1/72 Soviet cottages and other German buildings, AFVs, military vehicles, SS figures, USMC Viet Nam figures, and 1/48 Native Americans themes. These seem geared towards the gaming community.
Modelers of the Pacific Theater, Africa or Central and South America should be happy with this growing line of foliage.
Diorama modelers of tropical themes usually need palm trees. Palm leaves and trunks are difficult to model convincingly. Many Model companies have produced model palms but they tend to be expensive. California’s Pegasus Hobbies has issued a series of plants to fill the void of tropical and desert growth.
About Frederick Boucher (JPTRR) FROM: TENNESSEE, UNITED STATES
I'm a professional pilot with a degree in art.
My first model was an AMT semi dump truck. Then Monogram's Lunar Lander right after the lunar landing. Next, Revell's 1/32 Bf-109G...cried havoc and released the dogs of modeling!
My interests--if built before 1900, or after 1955, then I proba...
