Trees... again!

[danmerkel]

There have been several discussions of trees in different threads here, but one question that I have I don't think has been answered.

I've made wire armatures with heat shrink tubing for my tree trunks. I plan to cover them with Woodland Scenics Poly Fiber, then cover that with my own ground foam. My question is this... about how many trees can I expect to make from a bag of that fiber? I'm guessing that my trees will end up being in the 4-5" range and should be a bit bigger around than a golf ball.

Also, how is the WS fiber different than the poly fiber that is used for pillow stuffing except for the obvious color?

One final observation... if someone could figure out a way to make a very large quantity of trees at a relatively inexpensive price, it would look like they could become the nex rr baron!

dlm

[jfugate]

How does 100 trees for about 50 cents each, and in less than 5 minutes a piece, and they look like this?



or like this ...



I use a Scenic Express SuperTrees bulk pack, (a very delicate natural weed) which they sell for $20. Then I break the "tumbleweed" bush into separate sprigs and dip them in acrylic matte medium and let them dry.

Once they're dry, I stick 6 or 8 sprigs in some stryofoam, spray paint the trunks various shades of tan / grey with cheap spray paint, then put spray adhesive on the foliage area and sprinkle on coarse ground foam. Then I hit the foam with some green spray paint to get the exact tree color I want, and voila!

In one evening, I can get 50-100 fantastic looking decidious trees, ready to plant on the layout.

BTW, You will want to spray the paint outside, or you will be overcome by all the spray painting fumes. If you buy ground foam in bulk 5 lb bags, you can get enough foam to do thousands of trees. I bought a couple of bulk bags back in 2000 (cost me over $100) and I'm *still* using them to make trees, and I've probably made close to 700 trees now.

[rexhea]

Joe,
Very nice looking trees. I need something like that in my foreground. Where can I find Scenic Express? I would have to order through my LHS or the net.

Also, where did you buy ground foam in bulk. The little bags are about to break me and the foam I've made is far from being fine enough.

REX

[jfugate]

Rex:

You can find Scenic Express's online site here: http://www.scenicexpress.com/firstpage.html

However, their web site is pretty wimpy. Not so their catalog! Order some small amount of something from them and get their catalog ... it's a scenic materials gold mine! I keep one of their catalogs in the "reading room" (bathroom) to use for planning scenery projects.

You should also be able to get your LHS to order their materials.

I got the ground foam in bulk from AMSI. Here's their web page:
http://amsi.miniature.net/index.html

Their web page is not really an online sales site. Your best best is to call or email them if you want to order the bulk stuff straight from them. Just ask them what kind of quantities they sell in bulk and the price. Since I bought from them nearly 5 years ago now, be prepared for a price increase.

[krump]

we make most of our trees (approx 20 cents each) out of
- skewer sticks - stained a light brown/ grey
- furnace filter screened fiber (rough cut into 1-1.5 inch squares, 3-4 for each tree)
- spray on glue to hold the furnace filter secure
- then trim and shape the trees as desired
- camouflage spray paint to colour
- spray on glue
- then sprinkler on some ground cover (tapping off excess)

other trees are made out of
- discarded cedar roofing shingles (splintered and shaped / rounded) for tree trunks
- stain the trunks light brown/ grey
- drill numerous pin-holes into the trunk - around the trunk for the top 2/3rds of the tree
(using a dremel type tool)
- trim FERN pieces, and then glue them into to holes

try it, you'll like them - inexpensive, but they take a bit of time (especially the first few dozen) do them in stages, and multiply your effort

cheers