Making a tree for Sweethome

[Jon Grant 4472]

A few folks have asked about how I make my trees for sweethome Alabama, so I thought I'd show the process in photographs. I use the method shown here for adding foliake to trees made from either plastic, metal, or twisted-wire 'skeletons', but the process could be used with actual vegetation, such as the WS 'Forest Canopy'.

I started this tree with a moulded plastic trunk and branches, twisted and shaped from a flat moulding. The first job was to drill out the base of the trunk and fit a length of thick wire, to aid handling and eventually planting into the scenery.




I usually make my trees away from the layout, so I push the tree skeleton into a foam or polystyrene block, so it stands upright while I work on it.




The finer branches are made from WS poly-fibre, teased out as finely as possible (mucky fingers go with the territory).




The Poly-fibre is then fixed to the tree, branch by branch. Sometimes I glue it in place, but if the branches have pointed ends, I often just attach the poly-fibre without gluing - the paint and lacquer will hold it in place.




Continued......


Jon

[P5se Camelback]

hock: hock: ...

... I'm all eyes! This looks decent right out of the blocks!

I can't wait for installment #2!

[Jon Grant 4472]

You didn't have to wait too long

Once the poly-fibre branches are on the tree, I lightly spray them with brown spray paint, in this instance track colour, which was close by, although sleeper grime works just as well. Remember to spray from the top and from the bottom as well as the sides to get coverage.




Once done, I assemble my collection of ground flock, which I keep in old ice cream tubs to lift out handfulls easily. I also sprinkle the flock onto the tree, holding it over the tub so that any excess falls straight back into the tub.

I find that 'fine' ground flock works best on poly-fibre, the medium flock tends to clump a bit. I hope to get some of the Noch 'leaves' in future to see how well they work.




My fixative is currently a tin of hairspray - the cheaper the better as it has a higher content of lacquer than the posh stuff. The best though, is what the youngsters use to spike their hair up, so get raiding your teenagers' toiletry cabinets for modelling stuff. (Try to find the fragrance free stuff and work in a well-ventilated area, cos the stuff stinks)




I spray the tree with the hairspray and sprinkle on different colours. I am aiming for a late summer - early Autumn look, so use different shades of green, brown and straw/red/gold.

Remember that all the leaves on a tree don't all change colour at exactly the same time, so you will have 2 or more different colours of leaves on the same tree for several weeks.




One tree ready for planting

Jon

[P5se Camelback]

BEAU-TEE-OUS!!

I've both subscribed to & bookmarked this example of excellent modeling technique!!

[Jon Grant 4472]

Thanks BiL

Finally, I took a couple of photos showing the tree on Sweethome Alabama before CSX ships it off to Chicago - I didn't specify which Sweethome I was making a tree for. 8-)








Hope this shows how easy it is to make a half-decent-looking tree and inspire a few folks to have a go.

Next project will be to make a twisted-wire tree or two.

Regards,

Jon

[Gary S]

Very very nice looking tree!

[Sumpter250]

Yes sir, that's how it's done! Thank You John.
I haven't yet found a better way of making deciduous trees.

[Ralph]

Very effective!

[ocalicreek]

Jon - kudos for not overloading the polyfoam with ground foam. IMO, keeping it airy is key to realism. Spraying the foam brown is another great tip.

Here's one I did using the Woodland Scenics metal armature and pre-flocked stretchy sheet:

[albumimg]1572[/albumimg]

If I recall from that thread it was our very own Sumpter who suggested 'sifting' the foliage. I mentioned I'd have to try it next time. Looks like the foam you are using is pretty finely ground. I suppose you could use sawdust, foam, leaf material, etc. to create various textures to represent a variety of trees.

Let us know how it goes when you use the 'leaf' material.

Galen