+- (https://bigbluetrains.com)
+-- Forum: Branchline (https://bigbluetrains.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=45)
+--- Forum: Scenery details (https://bigbluetrains.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=44)
+--- Thread: Scratchbuilt Trees (/showthread.php?tid=6365)
Pages:
1
2
Scratchbuilt Trees - Chet - 10-03-2013
Living in the west, sagebrush is quite common and make excellent tree armatures. These trees take about a half hour to make and probably use 50 cents worth of Woodland Scenics clump foam for the foliage.
Re: Scratchbuilt Trees - Ralph - 10-03-2013
Very nice!
Re: Scratchbuilt Trees - Sumpter250 - 10-03-2013
That Sagebrush does make a good looking tree trunk ! I'm still looking for a "local plant" that would work as well.
I've been using "poly fiber", and ground foam for foliage, I'll have to check out the Woodland Scenics clump foam, it looks pretty good the way you have used it. If for no other reason, it would provide a greater variety of "foliage" if trees made with it are mixed in with trees using the poly fiber.
"Variety is the spice of -
scenery." 
Re: Scratchbuilt Trees - Chet - 10-03-2013
I also use the polyfibre with ground foam to get a bit different looking trees. I usually use the cheapest hair spray (Spray Net) to glue the finer foam to the polyfiber. Inexpensive and works well. I love the way the natural sagebrish looks like tree bark. The stuff is all over the place out here.
Re: Scratchbuilt Trees - nachoman - 10-03-2013
Wow, chet - those look fantastic.
Re: Scratchbuilt Trees - ezdays - 10-03-2013
Hard to beat that....
Gunna give that a try.
Re: Scratchbuilt Trees - Tyson Rayles - 10-03-2013
Very nice!
Re: Scratchbuilt Trees - torikoos - 10-04-2013
Nice looking trees, how about a tutorial on how you build these?
Koos
Re: Scratchbuilt Trees - Chet - 10-04-2013
I guess I could post when I start building my next bunch of trees. It won't be for a while as I am in the progress of trying to get the past yard, engine facility and town built. When I get to that stage, I will post.
Re: Scratchbuilt Trees - Sumpter250 - 10-04-2013
ezdays Wrote:Hard to beat that....
There are two very interesting tree species, there in Arizona......the Paloverde, and the Creosote bush. These, I think, would be as difficult if not more so, to model than Willows.
Where there's a will, there's a greedy rel-------
:oops: :oops: there's a way.
Re: Scratchbuilt Trees - nachoman - 10-04-2013
Sumpter - I'm trying to figure out a good way to model Mesquite and Palo Verde trees. Creosote bush - if it is a rainy season a large clump of olive colored ground foam may work. If a drier season, I've been considering a wire type armature or a coarse furnace filter type material painted gray and sprinkled with olive-colored ground foam.
Re: Scratchbuilt Trees - gbwdude - 10-13-2013
Do you do anything to prep the wood or do you just take it from nature and build your trees? I've heard of people baking their nature finds in the oven at a low temp to drive out any moisture and to kill off any bacteria, insects or other undesirables.
Re: Scratchbuilt Trees - Chet - 10-14-2013
I don't do any special prep work. I usually cut dried sagebrush to begin with.
RE: Scratchbuilt Trees - TMo - 07-01-2022
Here's my tip for armatures - Pyramidal Hydrangea. The dead flower heads can be harvested in the late fall or early spring, broken off at the stem by hand and you have a really nice pyramidal tree armature that's great for simulating fir, pine, spruce, etc. Knock off the top and you have an excellent deciduous tree, plus the top can become a small spruce. All I do is hit them with spray adhesive and run them into a tub of ground foam/leaf flock in a good variety of color combinations. Poke a hole in your layout and add a little glue to the stump. Done.
RE: Scratchbuilt Trees - ezdays - 07-02-2022
Wow, that's fantastic. I'm not sure that Pyramidal Hydrangea will grow in our desert area, but I'm going to look into it. Thanks for posting this.