Realistic pine trees

[silentman]

Was hoping for some info on making realistic pine trees. I have some armatures from a kit and wasn't sure what kind of "stuff" to apply. Any advice on making them from stuff laying around outside would be helpful also (if possible). Thanks in advance.

[Steven S]

It's amazing what a quick Google search yields...

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/69465.aspx

http://www.modelarmour.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=1014:making-realistic-pine-trees&Itemid=59

 

[mlehman]

silentman

Any advice on making them from stuff laying around outside would be helpful also (if possible).

Generally, using natural materials is rather iffy unless you are either certain you're not bringing in troubles in the form of insects or you are able to process the material to prevent that. Some folks do use the stems of certain dried plants for tree armatures, but for deciduous trees not conifers. Lichen is familiar, but it's also processed.

Woodland Scenics and others make products useful for evergreen foilage. You might also try searchong under the term "bottle brush trees" for help in twisting some up on the cheap. Basically you make a bench-top rig that allow grabbing of two wires with foilage in between them, then twists the while array into a mass you then shape into a tree.

[cowman]

If you are looking for bottle brush type trees, I made some using foral wire and baling twine.  Most folks don't  have such a ready supply of baler twine.   Micro-Mark had bristles you could use, but I don't see them in the most recent catalog.  Any twine that can be untwisted would probably work. 

I put a cup  hook in my drill and clamped it to my workbench.  Cut the twine into lengths a little longer than I wanted the diameter of the tree.  Cut a piece of floral wire 2"-3" longer than I planned the height.  Double the wire over and place the twine pieces between the two legs of wire.  Hold the two ends of the wire close together in a pair of pliers.  Put the loop end of the wire over the cup hook and run the drill briefly.  Snip off the loop top and cut the trunk to about an inch long, to act as a pin when placing on the layout.  Sprayed the tree with an appropriate green paint and immediately sprinkled ground foam (Bachmann Connifer Green, I think) onto the wet paint.  Probably will add a step and give an additional spray with super hold hairspray, next time I do a batch.  Haven't noticed loss of foliage, but a little extra adhesive shouldn't hurt.

There are also furnace filter trees, which look more like pine trees than spruce and hemlock bottle brush trees, but I haven't found the right kind of filters to cut up for the job.

Good luck,

Richard 

[ARTHILL]

Furnace filter on a stick make great Pine trees. If you have not learned these, several of us can show you. You can make a couple dozen in an evening.

Caspia twigs from Micheals stuck in holes in a tapered dowel make great White Pine.

From our Garden I use Asstilbe for Tall Pine, Queen of the Praire for Birch and Pine cones for decrative trees in an urban yard. Certain Root material make a good dead tree.

Super Trees are Super

Candy Tuft from Micheals make great decrative trees. (Apple)

Certain Weeds from Arizona make great Oak trunks to be wedded to Fiber fill and ground foam or leaf material.

Putting Static Grass on any Pine tree changes its look.

If you would like any more info on any of these, several of us can show you. You can see all these trees in my pics through the tag in my sig. Good luck. Trees are fun. My club is in the process of making several thousand.

[cowman]

Art,

What type of furnace filter should I ask for?  Anytime I have looked/asked, all they have are the pleated ones and don't seem to know what I'm looking for.  I have seen them in my past, but not since I decided to use them for trees.

Very nice photo collection.

Thank you,

Richard

[selector]

At one time WalMart sold a 'natural fiber' cheap furnace filter in a two-pack wrapped in thin cellophane.  It looks like the beginnings of an oriented strandboard before a whole bunch more is added, glued, and baked into a solid sheet.  It isn't chips, but thin shavings glued in a light matrix that would not do a very good job filtering a furnace's intake...IMO.  The filters are, or used to be, a turquoise color.

Here is one of mine at the right foreground:

[silentman]

Thanks for the great ideas, blown away.... 

Absolutely Art, any info you have would be great. I'm looking for anything for a weekend tree project, the more trees on my layout the merrier. Thanks again!

[ARTHILL]

Its Late. I will write more on furnace filter trees tomorrow

Art Hill

[azrail]

There used to be furnace filters made of hogshair, they were a blue color

[Grampys Trains]

Here's a few "bottle brush" trees. DJ.

[glutrain]

I use natural home grown mosses and lichens for a variety of uses in my scenery. There is a way to do this without inviting unwanted, undesireable visitors to your layout. What I do is to air dry ,mosses and lichens in a cool, dry environment-well away from the layout. In my house, the basement crawl space works nicely. I dry a selection for months- but who said model railroading was a race?  If I had a specific need for faster drying, a few weeks in a food dehyrator leaves the materials dry and critter free. I have a preference for stiffer pieces than the commercially available, glycerin soaked lichens that many people use extensively.

Don H.

[Southwest Chief]

These kind of look realistic

[ARTHILL]

 

Furnace filter on a stick trees, first learned from Argojones

 

The brand I can find is called “NaturalAire Cut to Fit with natural fibers” It is marketed by Flanders and I found some at a Walmart. They didn’t know they had it so asking did no good. I just went to the filter department and looked. They used to be blue but the ones I bought last were green. No other kind works at all.

 

1.      Get some pointed sticks. Skewers for the grill work just fine. For a few show off trees you can carve a tapered dowel and carve bark on it, but this takes time and not needed for a forest of trees.

 

2.      Determine the maximum width of the trees. Cut a bunch of squares at least that size.

 

3.      Tear the squares in three or four pieces across its thickness so the new pieces are about 1/8 inch thick. These pieces will be all sorts of shapes but that makes no difference.

 

4.      Put the trunk in a block of foam to hold it.

 

5.      Put a drop of white glue (most everything works) and pick a large piece of filter. Slide it on the truck, passing over the glue and slide it down to the bottom (1 inch of truck is about right to start)

 

6.      Another drop of glue and slide on another piece of filter down to about ¼ inch to ¾ inch depending on how full you want the tree. Many put them too close together at first.

 

7.      Keep going until you get to the top. Another drop of glue and a thicker chunk of filter.

 

8.      Let dry a few hours and give it a haircut to the shape you want. You will probably make dozens of these to get a forest so keep the shapes varied.

 

9.      As you drive around, look at the trees and get an idea of what you want them to look at.

 

10.  Add Static grass to get a more fuzzy look.

 

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If you want more on Astilbe or Caspia, I can do the same. Have fun.

 

[silentman]

Thanks again Art! I will gobble up any info you want to share with me. Off to Walmart tomorrow.

[cowman]

Thanks Art.  Our local Wal Mart is small, may have to wait until I go by one on the way to a train show in a couple of weeks to see if they have any.

Thanks again,

Richard 

[silentman]

Here's the first attempt....

Thanks Art for such a freaking cool technique!

 

 

 

[ARTHILL]

Nice tree. That's the best you have ever made. It may not be the best you ever make. As you drive around you will get used to looking at trees and refine your shapes. In time, try some static grass. you will love the effect.