In the past, after painting Woodland Scenics tree armatures in straight while glue, then dipping them in a container of coarse foam. Since then, I've not only changed methods, but material as well.
List of materials:
The armatures come with bases, which I don't use. There is a small peg at the base of the armatures. I drill holes, spaced about 3 1/2" apart in a length of 2x4. Make the holes just big enough that the pegs fit snugly in the holes.
I spray paint the armatures with Krylon dark brown camouflage paint. When dry, I dry brush them with medium or dark gray acrylic paint. When dry, seal with clear matte spray.
When the matte is dry, brush Hob-E-Tac on branches. Let the Hob-E-Tac dry for about 15-20 minutes. Clip pieces of foliage and press on the branches. Depending how you cut the pieces, you can control how thick the leaves are, from light and airy to heavy.
Drill a small hole in scenery (I use a scenic base of plaster of Paris), put some white glue, or Allene's Tacky Glue on the peg and inset into scenery.
Insert trees into length of 2x4
Spray paint with Kyrlon dark brown camouflage paint.
Dry brush with medium/dark acrylic paint.
Brush on Hob-E-Tac
Trees made with coarse ground foam
Trees made with Woodland Scenics foliage
Here's video from Woodland Scenics that shows how to make a tree. http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/video/MakeATree
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Cool, thanks for the quick tutorial. I haven't started on the trees for my layout yet.
Tim Fahey
Musconetcong Branch of the Lehigh Valley RR
Thanks, Marlon. I may just go that route in the future. You can easily modify the looks with different foliage, even add dabs of paint here and there to simulate flowers.
Crandell
Marlon: Great looking trees. Thanks for the info. The drybrushing grey really pops out the trunk. I'm ready to start trees and this is very timely.