Toy Show Report "2005 Brandon’s Toy Show"
Featured display from Nate Sawyer
By: Nate Sawyer

This is the third year for the show with every of staying alive. Each year we get more support from all kinds of people. There are lots of door prizes to go around. There are just as many vendors as displays. This year there were lots more displays than vendors. There were a total of 10 displays. We all know each very well so there are no trophies involved yet.

This display I am about to show you is made by Nate Sawyer of Western PA. I’ve always wanted to make a corn field just to have one and to see how hard it is. Well its takes a lot of time and patients if you got it. The first thing you should do is plan out your display. What you’re going to build? How are you going to build it? Where you’re going to put the hay, corn, and wheat fields. Now I built my display on a sheet of plywood with contoured layers out of Styrofoam. Then I put newspaper on the corners and rounded out the hills. Then I covered the top with green railroad paper.

For the ground cover and scenery is a long search. Around my area I had to go to several different stores to find what I wanted. Just like buying farm toys. You can’t get John Deeres at a Case IH dealership. But in the end I got most of the supplies I needed for that called www.towerhobbies.com.

For my corn field I had a box of tooth picks I ordered from www.instawares.com/Assorted-Colored-Frill-Toothpicks-3.R811W.0.7.htm has a box of 10,000 toothpicks with frills (cellophane) on he top. I then decided which planter and combine to use. I decided to use my custom 6 row JD planter and the new John Deere 7720 combine. Make sure your planter and combine are compatible as far as rows go (4, 6, 8, and 12). You can double your combine rows from the planter but you can’t have a 4 row planter and a 6 row corn head. You know real quick out in the field. From then I started making my corn field. I started backwards if you will. I took the 6-row corn head and used that as my row spacing tool. I set up each row about a ¼ of an inch from the next. It’s best to work the toothpicks from the center (or farthest from your reach) out to the edge of your table. Almost like reading a book.

No I didn’t have to drill all those holes for each toothpick. Remember I placed Styrofoam underneath the green paper. When placing your field remember to place a head width on the end of your rows. That’s where the combine will start shelling or combining. If you’re harvesting the corn field you need to push the toothpicks all the way down to the frill (cellophane) on the outside end rows. Most fields are combined one pass around and split down the center. If the field is too small for this they just go from the outside in. If you don’t understand try and watch a farmer combine his fields or ask him how he does his. It’s almost like mowing the lawn.

When you’re done you’re going to have a multicolored field which doesn’t look pretty. You need to paint it. I high and only recommend you paint this outside. You will use at least one full can of spray paint depending on the size of your field. As far as paint I found that Krylon Fusion is the best paint to use. You don’t need to use primer and it sticks right to the cellophane and wood. I first painted it green, yellow, and last beige. I sprayed the top again real lightly with yellow to add contrast. But you can paint it growing up or at its peek growing with all green.

When you place your combine and any other equipment on the field you need to take out some toothpicks so they sit flat on the display. Then you can add your combine and carts. To add more depth to your field you can place ground cover right next to your field. Some fields have trees and scrub right in the middle too. There are lots of variations you can make. I hope you try to make a display with a corn field. I had fun making this display and I think I’ll keep it for sometime.