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HO scale trees

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  • Member since
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  • From: "Steel, Steam and Thunder"Fort Wayne, Indiana
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HO scale trees
Posted by TheK4Kid on Monday, January 19, 2015 1:18 PM

I was looking on Ebay, and there are several outfits( in China) that have trees of various sizes and shapes,

listed at low prices, about what I could make them myself without all the hassle and give me time to work on other aspects of my layout.

Has anyone used any of these and give an opinion?

 Thx

TheK4Kid

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Posted by mlehman on Monday, January 19, 2015 2:10 PM

Like everything on ebay, a wide variety of quality and value. Didn't see much that particularly stood out.

Making trees isn't rocket science, at least for background trees. I do have several hundred foreground trees that are RTR, mostly the Busch 100 count  (189-6499) assortment, as I model the mountains. But my total tree count is somewhere above 7,000, with most beiung small (but powerful! Wink) bumpy chenille trees made from that pipe-cleaner-like item (yields 8 trees each).

 

Mike Lehman

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Posted by wickman on Monday, January 19, 2015 3:00 PM

Mike your trees are absolutely fantastic, perhapps you have a tutorial  on them somewhere?

I also have seen the china trees at a rediculously low too  good to be true prices  and have often thought perhaps if they werent as  they looked they may be good for background trees blended in.

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Posted by mlehman on Monday, January 19, 2015 3:17 PM

Lynn,

You can see the terrain fill up with them on this page of my Cascade Branch thread:

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/219241.aspx?page=2

I have a tutorial here:

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/p/225143/2506390.aspx#2506390

I will tell you the basics here. I primarily use green bumpy chenille, although I've also had some success with using tan and black (they take more paint to cover, though). I have a piece of foam that I stick one package at a time (dozen) in it, then spray paint the whole bumpy chenille. I use a variety of greens and like to intermix the trees of different colors to get a more realiztis, less uniform look.

I se theswe colors.

Krylon: Italian Olive; Hunter Green

Rustoleum: Moss Green; Leafy Green; Spruce Green

Let the paint dry.

Using a pair of sidecut pliers cut each stick of bumpy chenille into 8 parts. The middle of the thickest part of the bump is the base of the tree, so one cut goes there. The top is the thinnest part, so cut there in the middle also.

Make a bunch of them.

Take the box of trees to the layout and use an icepick or bit to punch holes big enough for the "trunk" to fit. Your scenery determines how best to do that. I then dip each base of the trunk in Aleene's Tacky Glue, pushing in to where they hold.

 

Mike Lehman

Urbana, IL

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Posted by TheK4Kid on Monday, January 19, 2015 3:46 PM

So where do you find this "bumpy chenille?"

I have searched local sewing and materials shops and am told they never heard of it.

I have tried dress material shops, craft shops in my area to no avail.

I have seen other guys that use it, but gave up trying to find it here.

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Posted by BroadwayLion on Monday, January 19, 2015 4:22 PM

TheK4Kid
So where do you find this "bumpy chenille?" I have searched local sewing and materials shops and am told they never heard of it.

 

Hobby Lobby--- Craft Stores

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Here there be cats.                                LIONS with CAMERAS

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Posted by TheK4Kid on Monday, January 19, 2015 5:46 PM

I looked on their website, but the local Hobby Lobby store does not carry it.I'll see if i can special order it

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Posted by wickman on Monday, January 19, 2015 5:53 PM

mlehman
Home » Model Railroader » Forums » Layouts and layout building New Reply Fill out the form below to create a new reply. mlehman wrote the following post 2 hours ago: Lynn, You can see the terrain fill up with them on this page of my Cascade Branch thread: http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/219241.aspx?page=2 I have a tutorial here: http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/p/225143/2506390.aspx#2506390 I will tell you the basics here. I primarily use green bumpy chenille, although I've also had some success with using tan and black (they take more paint to cover, though). I have a piece of foam that I stick one package at a time (dozen) in it, then spray paint the whole bumpy chenille. I use a variety of greens and like to intermix the trees of different colors to get a more realiztis, less uniform look. I se theswe colors. Krylon: Italian Olive; Hunter Green Rustoleum: Moss Green; Leafy Green; Spruce Green Let the paint dry. Using a pair of sidecut pliers cut each stick of bumpy chenille into 8 parts. The middle of the thickest part of the bump is the base of the tree, so one cut goes there. The top is the thinnest part, so cut there in the middle also. Make a bunch of them. Take the box of trees to the layout and use an icepick or bit to punch holes big enough for the "trunk" to fit. Your scenery determines how best to do that. I then dip each base of the trunk in Aleene's Tacky Glue, pushing in to where they hold.

Thanks Mike I'll take a look a the topic.

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Posted by mlehman on Monday, January 19, 2015 7:17 PM

It may not show on their website, but I suspect your local HL has it anyway. There's a substantial part of one aisle given over to the various forms of this stuff in our HL. On the other hand, the local Michael's doesn't have any.

Mike Lehman

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Posted by Santa Fe all the way! on Tuesday, January 20, 2015 12:12 AM
I've purchased several batches of trees at great prices from China. If your careful, read the description and look at the pictures carefully you can get great trees for a incredible price. I've also ordered just the trees without foliage and then added my own. Trees and streetlights are two items that you can really save big on.
Come on CMW, make a '41-'46 Chevy school bus!
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Posted by jhoff310 on Tuesday, January 20, 2015 8:24 AM

Santa Fe all the way!
I've purchased several batches of trees at great prices from China. If your careful, read the description and look at the pictures carefully you can get great trees for a incredible price. I've also ordered just the trees without foliage and then added my own. Trees and streetlights are two items that you can really save big on.
 

 

I'm glad to see someone has ordered some of that stuff. I was looking at some of the lighting for my layout and was a little curious. The trees they offer look pretty good. I do make ALOT of my own trees, but they have some that look pretty good, and I have thought about ordering a few

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Posted by Santa Fe all the way! on Wednesday, January 21, 2015 12:48 AM
You need to read the description and make sure the tree is actually ho scale. Also alot of the tress have twisted wire trunks. I prefer the ones with plastic trunks as they look more realistic. Also check the color, some have unrealistically bright green foliage. As for streetlights, again IMHO, alot of them look hastily/sloppily assembled. Make sure the ones your ordering are the correct height. I found one style I liked and ordered it, they look great! They were approx. $1.50 each. :-)
Come on CMW, make a '41-'46 Chevy school bus!
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Posted by hon30critter on Wednesday, January 21, 2015 4:16 AM

This is a bit off the original topic, but the subject of street lights was raised so I thought I would chime in.

Sorry to be a contrary SOB (Sort Of Being) but I have yet to see a Chinese mfrd street light that actually looked like a North American lamp post. Too bad. They are missing a huge opportunity.

You can make your own for peanuts in a couple of hours. These cost me less than $2.00 each:

You need some brass or copper tube, some 1/32" x 1/64" brass stock, some 30 ga. wire, a 3mm warm white LED and an 8mm plastic bead. The washer for the base is optional. Don't forget the resistor to protect the LED.

If anyone would like some more details please post or send me a PM.

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

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Posted by NP2626 on Wednesday, January 21, 2015 6:01 AM

I have built many Woodland Scenics trees with their bendable armatures.  They build into beautiful trees and use them in locations that sort of "Show Case" them. However as far as building a forest of them, that might be a bit expensive and time consuming.  

Somehow; or, another I ended up with about 20 feet of some of the old multi-conducter telephone wire.  I strip off a length of the outer sheath and bend the 4 wires into branches and paint the trunks to look like Aspen trees (Popple trees, locally) and use woodland Scenics foilage to simulate leaves.  These turn out fairly nicely.  

I've also bought some small conifers off of Ebay which are very nicely done.  

Model Railroader has had some great articles on building trees from local weeds and I will eventually make use of Mike's Bumpy Chenelle, too.  Building trees is a good place to let your creative juices flow and it's alot of fun, too! 

NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"

Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association:  http://www.nprha.org/

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Posted by wp8thsub on Wednesday, January 21, 2015 10:25 AM

I haven't seen many commercially finished trees that strike me as a good value, and most of the offerings on ebay leave a lot to be desired in terms of appearance once you see them up close.

The above were built from Supertree material, available from Scenic Express http://www.sceneryexpress.com/SuperTree-Material/products/1007/ .  The site claims 30 trees from a $29.98 package, but you can create a lot more than that.  They can be cranked out quickly too.

Rob Spangler

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Posted by riogrande5761 on Wednesday, January 21, 2015 10:44 AM

Around Christmas time the Dollar stores around here sell 2 packs of pine trees for a dollar - they look similr to what Mike has on his layout - I've picked up a few to mix in on my layout.

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Posted by Santa Fe all the way! on Wednesday, January 21, 2015 12:20 PM
Dave, I agree, in the past the Chinese streetlights didn't look very American, but they've been bringing new designs out lately and imho, they look good.
Come on CMW, make a '41-'46 Chevy school bus!
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Posted by rrebell on Wednesday, January 21, 2015 6:59 PM

The stuff from china is garbage for the most part. The most realistic (for pine or fir trees anyway) are ones from e-bay by Architrees and they will ship big batches to you (big batches are shipped from the Philippines (soposidly made by hand by the poor), for the price they look very good!

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Posted by Santa Fe all the way! on Friday, January 23, 2015 4:31 PM
OK, just looked up Architrees on Ebay. The pine trees look OK, there deciduous trees, IMHO look very, bad. rrebell, you need to take another look at the Chinese trees before calling them garbage. Nothing by Architrees looks better or even as good as the Chinese listings. Imho, of course.
Come on CMW, make a '41-'46 Chevy school bus!
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Posted by rrebell on Friday, January 23, 2015 4:56 PM

Santa Fe all the way!
OK, just looked up Architrees on Ebay. The pine trees look OK, there deciduous trees, IMHO look very, bad. rrebell, you need to take another look at the Chinese trees before calling them garbage. Nothing by Architrees looks better or even as good as the Chinese listings. Imho, of course.
 

I said pine or fir trees, not the others, for those I use super trees!

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Posted by Santa Fe all the way! on Friday, January 23, 2015 11:56 PM
I stand corrected, you like their pine/fir trees, which are nice. I'm always looking for good deciduous trees. I shouldn't have sounded so grumpy :-)
Come on CMW, make a '41-'46 Chevy school bus!
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Posted by rrebell on Saturday, January 24, 2015 11:32 AM

Santa Fe all the way!
I stand corrected, you like their pine/fir trees, which are nice. I'm always looking for good deciduous trees. I shouldn't have sounded so grumpy :-)
 

There was a firm from Europe that made realy great ones for cheap but I can't recall the name and my computer had to be reset so I lost the link. It was based in the east like Poland or Romania.

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Posted by eaglescout on Sunday, January 25, 2015 8:35 AM

Making my own trees is one of my favorite parts of the hobby.  In addition to the bump chenille Michaels has a medium chenille in long strands (about 3 or 4 feet) which I cut to the lenght I want.  Then trim a little of one end completely to give you a trunk for "planting."  Trim the other end at an angle to give you a nice shaped pine tree. Then spray with hair spray, roll in fine ground foam, one more spray with hair spray and you have a nice, cheap tree.  For foreground and decidous trees I use weed and shrub cutting for my armatures.  Add a little green or black polyfiber, spray with hairspray and roll in ground foam.  Bottle brush trees also work but take a whole lot more time.

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