Best trees I ever saw were by a master Modeler in the 1950s named Jack Work. He made the trunk out of balsa or some other wood tapered and drilled holes for branches which he made from asparagus fern. Incredibly beautiful. He lived in Vancouver and modeled the tall trees in that area
ndbprrtrunk out of balsa or some other wood tapered and drilled holes for branches which he made from asparagus fern
Sounds similar to Joel Bragdon's Finescale Forest Trees. Built some trees with his fern-like material in the early 90s, think I used balsa for the trunks. Makes for some good looking trees, fun, but time consuming. After a year or so the branch material began drying out and curling, bringing them back to life required misting with a glycerine/denatured alcohol mix.
Trees made by Rodney Frey with Bragdon materials on his 'Little Logging Railroad' HO layout. Photo by Rodney Frey
TF, funny how the model railroad mind works. Seeing cake trees at a retirement luncheon had me suddenly thinking about how to fix them up for use on the layout. After the luncheon a co-worker thought I was nuts when he caught me 'garbage can diving' for the little trees.
Regards, Peter
That's hilarious Peter. Dumpster Diving eh?
Reminds me of when I was at this 4th of July Carnival during the day down from where we live. There was this freaky tree that I could not identify but the bark looked like miniature fine detailed cliff rock. I was picking the bark off with my fingernails and loading up my pockets.
All of a sudden I noticed people were stopping and looking at me with this dumbfounded look. Kind of like when a dog turns his head sideways looking at you in confusion. It was only then I realized how ridiculous and crazy I must have looked. The only thing left at that point was the two guys in their white suits to come and take me away. It got even better as a few hours later my hands broke out into a rash as I was allergic to whatever that tree was.
I've been meaning to put some gloves on and go back down there with my pocket knife sometime when no one is around
Man those trees that Rodney Fry made look like they're actually growing. That sure sparked up my interest and I wonder if he or somebody else has a tutorial on those?
TF
I've always really enjoyed Luke Towan's tutorials. He's this likable Australian guy that keeps his videos moving so you don't get bored.
This is my favorite tree one of his.
https://youtu.be/TGlTTOuTGBc
HO trees. It may be a bit more of a challenge but I think it would be doable with a visor for N.
Actually this is the one I was originally looking for. I hadn't seen the first one I posted yet
https://youtu.be/Hztif1KoJ-g
For N scale I would think you could skip the step of adding the bigger trunk.
More and more great tree examples. Thanks guys. That last video, the bark on that balsa wood trunk is amazing when the guy adds the weathing paint highlights. Honestly it looked exactly like Douglas fir bark. As for the foliage, I really like the look of branches made with the asparagus fern leaves.
I had no idea there were so many good methods out there for making really authentic looking trees.
-Matt
Returning to model railroading after 40 years and taking unconscionable liberties with the SP&S, Northern Pacific and Great Northern roads in the '40s and '50s.
The trouble with real materials is they don't last except for dead fall. Had a great many of them. Even super trees have their issues over time but are fixable as long as they are not glued in.
Make sure you don't fall into the toxicodendron diversilobum!
The furance filter on a stick method is the preferred one at my club. Mine come out terrible, oh well.
Might I suggest that for those 120' trees you will also need to decide how fat a dowel to use. A six foot diameter tree calls for a 3/4 inch dowel. You might be able to step dowels up and then taper using spckeling compound.
No one makes a good Ponderosa Pine..which is the most common conifer in the drier parts of the American West.
I like what I've seen resulting from the furnace filter method, but I haven't screwed up my courage to try it yet. I'm now doing structures, and thinking about the topographical parts of scenery. Trees can wait a bit.
azrailNo one makes a good Ponderosa Pine..which is the most common conifer in the drier parts of the American West.