How do I make trees from scratch?

[MAbruce]

I'm in N-scale, and am in the middle of making a lot of trees (over 200 so far - and many more to go). I'm using a product called "Supertrees" by Scenic Express. I was first concerned that this product was intended more for larger scales, but because of this, I found that one package of tree material has yielded 100's of N-scale trees!

All you need is a bulk package of their tree material, fine foam flocking material (they sell this, or you can use another brand like Woodland Scenics), a bottle of matte medium, a spray bottle (fine spray - I bought a cheap bottle of hairspray and emptied it), spray paint (cheap primer gray or brown will do fine), and tweezers.

The instructions are in the bulkpack, but you can look them over on-line:

www.scenicexpress.com (website is down right now - they are working on it).

It's a labor intensive process, but my cost per tree has been pennies - and I think they look great.

Please note that their tree material is made from "natural material", but by the time you finish, it's spray painted and coated with matte medium.

[Anonymous]

Hello there,

I don't know about how to do pine trees, yet. I've made about 400 trees myself which resemble oak-like trees.
What I do is go and take a walk into a near forested area. I take my scissors and a plastic bag and look for little twigs which may appear to be suitable to become a "tree". I usually pick tough twisted twigs, cut them in pieces from one inch to 3-4 inches long. Go back home and sink them all in a solution of 30% rubbing alcohol, 30% elmer's glue, and water. I heat those twigs plus liquid solution for about five minutes (not boiling), then I take the twigs right out and put them into a regular cookie pan and the oven them for 10-15 minutes at 200 degrees, approx. (make sure not to toast them too much). Take the twigs out, let them cool down. Next, at your benchwork if you wish, cut the twigs accordingly to your hobby needs (shorter/longer) and glue (I use regular elmer's glue) some large, short, or medium bits of coarse turf covering the "tree's" tips. Pin the brand new trees into a sterofoam block piece and let the glue do its job. Nex day you can glue them into place in your layout. I use hot glue (you apply it with the help of an electric heated gun). And that's it!! I haven't find the need to paint the tree trunks since most of the tree trunks dry to a natural color.

The good thing about this method is that you'll end up with a variety of tree trunks, twigs, shrubs, etc. The downside is that it is time consuming but the overall results are very, very nice...an cheap !!

Best regards and good luck!!

Rodolfo

[Anonymous]

For pines, I have used bumpy chenille, which is a craft material similar to "pipe cleaners" but with an undulating profile that can be cut into small trees. The biggest difficulty is in finding large enough bumps to work with. Anyways, assuming you can find some, look for it in dark green or dark brown colors, or black as a last resort. The chenille forms the armature, and the dark dolor adds depth and shadow. Take this pine tree shape, spray it with adhesive, or else dip it into diluted glue (my preference, since dipping will cause the evenly-spaced fibers to clump randomly, more realistic) and then sprinkle on fine green ground foam. The green will stick to the tips and give you a good outer texture, while the deep dark colors indside will still be visible and come off as branches and trunks, lost in deep shadow.

For deciduous trees, I use floral materials of a wide variety. I gather together branch structures to create a decent size trunk with plenty of branches, then use the same tar-and-feather approach to add rough/clumpy ground foam to the branches. This is not technically a "no natural materials" solution, but the floral materials are pretty stable, and once soaked in glue per this method, become even more stable.

[Anonymous]

tahnok100; Nigel's tips are right on. There's another source of info: if you go to a train show that has operating layouts, ask the club members manning their layouts how they made the trees that you like the look of....chances are, one of their "tree guys" are there, and will explain the method to you in detail.
At many of the shows, the NMRA folks are doing clinics, and often tree-making is one of them.You can watch trees being made.
good luck & regards / Mike

[Anonymous]

2002!? Or do you mean 2003? Either way, I'll check it out.

Bill, I mean natural as something you go and pick up out of your yard. My layout is in my room right next to my bed. So I prefer to keep things like dirt and twigs out of it.

[nfmisso]

Take a look in Mainline Modeler and N-scale Magazines. Bob Hundman is really big on making trees. His company has also published a book on trees.

These two isse especially:
Toothpick trees; N Scale, January/February 2002 page 62 easy-to-make trees

Making deciduous trees from sagebrush, Mainline Modeler, February 2002 page 24

See also:
http://index.mrmag.com/tm.exe?opt=S&cmdtext=TREES&output=3&sort=2

Nigel

[dknelson]

One old method was to take lots of fine wire, twist it together to make the trunk, have portions branch out in decreasing thickness, cover the trunk with wax or plaster or some solid, paint it, and stick green lichen on the branches for leaves. Modlers were happy with this look for decades. But frankly when you look at older photos in Model Railroader -- and by older I mean pre 1960 -- I think the scenery and especially the trees are the things that look the most dated. Woodland Scenics and others like it have really revolutionalized what we now tolerate in the way of scenery
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

What do you consider a "natural material" and, just out of curiousity, why not use them? (And what's left - unnatural materials ;) )? Most of the more realistic trees I've seen use stuff like dried floral materials, wood, etc.

[Anonymous]

How can I make oak and/or pine trees in N? I need a really inexpensive way of doing it. And I also need it so that there are no natural materials in it. Any ideas?