Well ,I am totaly new overhere but not on in the "mrr forumworld".
I am "addicted" to make modeltreessince I was infected with the mrrvirus since my 6th birthday...and as a matter of fact I am now STILL trying to make some USA kind of firtrees. They look nice but: I think they still look to "European".......Is the foliage to dense ?? or the color to green??. Or is the habitus to regular??
I a open to any comment about the "look of a USA firtree"( I kow there isn't such a thing but I a am not that satisfied with the ones I make right know)
here is a picture of the HO firtree( kind of Abies species)
Thank you in advance!
!
detail:
As you can see I am indeed new overhere..pushed the button twice so 2 times the same post. Sorry about that!
I think the tree looks awesome!!! Maybe shorten the length of trunk below the full branches... Seems really long. Other then that, I'll take a few hundred of those.
Mike
It's too clean under the trees. No deadfall and no needles matted up.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
I think they look GREAT! The bare trunk may be a little bit too long. It would be appreciated if you gave us a "how to" explanation of how you make those.The big thing about trees here in the U.S. is you would see a few different kinds of trees along the railway. Forests aren't usually made up of only one kind of tree. All different sizes too.
Jos, nice to see you posting over here...and welcome!! What you show is a close approximation of a Balsam Fir, except not from the bottom of the branches downward...that is more like a Douglas Fir or a Western Red Cedar, perhaps a Sitka Spruce.
To be perfectly honest, the trees, as others have pointed out, are a bit thin in the trunk, especially near the base (by about 30%, I'd say), and there should be more of a taper to the branches...they should be smaller, but not in all cases, as one climbs up the trunk. Also, the bared trunk, at the bottom, is too long. Between the too-long length that is branchless and the thinness of the whole trunk, it indicates that your image shows a model...to me.
Also, there should be another six or seven dead branches, long ones, that curl downward a bit below the first foliated branches you show in your first picture. That was observed above my post by another reader.
What amazes me is the excellent branches you have managed to produce. If you can taper them toward the top, maybe darken the needles a bit, and add another four to six dead branches below them, you would have it 100%.
Congtratulations on your pursuit of the perfect Douglas Fir. You, of all people, will do it, and we can only hope to benefit when you share your tachnique with us.
-Crandell
Very impressive!! To my eye the foliage and trunk texture are great! I'd be proud to have them on my layout.
Modelling the UK in 00, and New England - MEC, B&M, D&H and Guilford - in H0
Thanks a lot you all folks!
This is info I can and will integrate in making some new better/more realistic trees in the future!
Thanks Selector for your kind words too!
To me it is important to that NOT ONLY the engines and cars and also the buildings are super detailed and exactly on scale ...also the scenery has to be, I think(!) , at/on the same level.
How do you say/ make clear this in english:" I hate it to see a beautiful detailed "Big Boy"loco besides some botllebrush trees or a super made/modelled very detailed trestle and just close to it some clumsy trees..."
I realy do apreciate your input into this matter ,thanks again!This was/is my very first effort to make such a tree. It is more a solitair tree/standing aloneagain HO and almost 7 inches long/tall
PLEASE give us an explanation of how your making these little gems!
A step by step with pictures would be wonderful!
Ok, ok Tom...I will but first I have to make some pictures about "some missing parts" of the 'how to'
But here a small preview how I always, well almost, make/start with modelling each tree:
also this lombardy poplar was made with/in the same way...
Jeffrey: I know the erea under the trees is not like real but( like the small one with the firtrees) this is a "show"diorama made of styrofoam to plant easy and quick , the trees I've made , for making pictures... so now it already seeded with many small/big holes caused by the groundpins of the many trees...
Jos
Excellent trees! What are you using for foliage?
Wow... wish I had about a hundred of those! I think they're pretty darned good, and I too am waiting a 'how-to' make them.
Thanks for posting the photos.
Jarrell
Danny and Jarrel THANKS !
"Excellent trees! What are you using for foliage?" wrote Danny...
well simple: fine filterfibers they use to filter aquaria...cutted in very small parts( about max. 1/2 an inch!)found some weeks ago brown fibers: called : "decotwister" and is a produkt used in the "flowerdecorationworld"...( actualy in many colors available) Do not know if it is common overthere on the other side of the grrreat pond?
Awsome trees. Truly works of art.
One thing I've noticed about fir trees around here is that even pines have foliage down almost to the ground if they stand alone and get plenty of sun.
Once more, awsome awsome awsome.
Thanks for sharing and inspiring.
Magnus
Thank you too Magnus,
About the tree I showed in the first posts..
It is "designed" as,a tree , one of the few left , that was NOT cut down in a forrest...so all the other ones around this one are gone/cut down... for some years ago...that is why it has a long trunk with almost no branches. ( but indeed not enough dead branches! )
So overhere they grow too with the branches full with foliage 'till the ground .
grove denwell simple: fine filterfibers they use to filter aquaria...cutted in very small parts( about max. 1/2 an inch!)found some weeks ago brown fibers: called : "decotwister" and is a produkt used in the "flowerdecorationworld"...( actualy in many colors available) Do not know if it is common overthere on the other side of the grrreat pond?
I don't know if they are common in US. I am on your side of the great pond :)
Thanks for the answer, I'll try to take a look at a couple of shops here that may have it.
OOps Denny sorry...missed that!! he he lol
Saronno...hmmmm ....sounds one or another way familiar.....yes now I recognize the name:
verrrry famous overhere but I don't drink it that much..he he lol
here some other green stuff:
birchtrees:
What are you using on your armitures to get the bark effect? Are you dipping them in plaster or something like that? The "bark" is the most realistic looking I've ever seen! What colors and type of paint are you using? Sorry for all the questions!
Hi Loathar,
I made the bark ,again ,with sawdust. Just like I wrote in the thread about the firtrees: "If the primer was dry, I added the very fine MDF sawdust, with a theesieve, on the trunk but first "painted it with a small long haired brush with the" mix"( white glue and some drops of dishdetergent and a litlle bit of water) Let it dry and paint the frame with , in my case, latexwallpaint in a color I found/bought cheap during a sale and just had the right color! Also this time I collected the rough sawdust( with a sieve of course!) to use it as immitation of the texture of the lower parts of the birchtree.
The trick about this is: use a layer( sometimes 2) of black latex wallpaint when you've added a litlle bit of the rough ( MDF) sawdust over the already dry layers of fine sawdust!
The latex wallpaint makes the texture of the "sharp"rough sawdust softer. If dry, you have/can drybrush it with a kind of ivory acryl color and with a marker( black) draw some horizontal lines / spots on the trunk
Here an other one made with fine and some rough sawdust covered with one or two layers of latexwall paint and dry brushed...
Now them are some Birch'en trees!!! hehehe little humor there....
Here the same tree but added the colored fibers and the small branches...
i dunno....
I think you're trying to pass off real trees as models...
-Dan
Builder of Bowser steam! Railimages Site
Great trees! I especially like the different armatures you made for the different types of trees. Many modelers in the USA use twigs from natural plants and bushes as a beginning for trees and then sprinkle ground foam on the branches which are covered with glue or wet paint.
Doc
Many modelers in the USA use twigs from natural plants and bushes as a beginning for trees and then sprinkle ground foam on the branches which are covered with glue or wet paint.
well that is exactly what I did with this tree: some big roots and added smaller roots+ some poly fiber and some turf from WS...
wow they look fantastic, i would love to be able to create a tree like that in N scale how do you do it
Thanks Bruce!
If you look carefuly the preiserman is in Ncale...so here is a an example to duplicate!
Great looking trees!
Looks like a poly fiber in those pics of the raw material. They use that to fill pillows and stuff.
pcarrel :
Philip thanks and yes it is a kind of poly fiber but NOT the ones used in pillows!
Those fibers are to thin for this purpose . I did experiment too with those kind of fibers but they were to thin to "carry"the turf ( Woodl. Sc.) or leaves from Noch.. so I still use the gardenpond/aquaria filterfibers as "carier"for the leaves..
Jos,
I am really impressed! The birches (my favorite trees) are simply awesome. And the leafless tree is incredibly close to the real thing. I would have said "real" if it wasn't in this thread :)
And, yes, my town is famous for the Amaretto Di Saronno liquor. Believe it or not, I never tried it!