Making Fall Aspens, a mini tutorial.

[grandeman]

Hi guys. It's in response to this post http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?page=1&TOPIC_ID=45609, that I'm putting this mini tutorial together. Before I start I'd like to say that I don't feel qualified to tell many of the members here how to model anything. I'm just an average model railroader and this is my technique for making aspens. It was concieved by a previous failure to get the results I was after on my first attempt. I tried again because we need the trees without the high prices of commercially marketed aspens.

Total time to make an aspen is probably less than 10 minutes (not counting paint drying time). The only cost involved is a cheap can of spray paint and the Woodland Scenics foliage material.

Friend and fellow board member cjcresent turned me on to a local plant called Oakleaf Hydrangea. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/131/ While he may not have had aspens in mind, I've adapted the plant to meet the need. Oakleaf Hydrangea grows in the wild around here and on a recent railfan trip at our hunting lease, cjcresent pointed it out to me. Thanks CJ! The best time to harvest it is now, as the branches are dried on the plant and ready for use.

If you can't get the Oakleaf Hydrangea, Hobby Lobby has a variety of commercially available, prepackaged products that would probably work just as well for very reasonable prices.

Oakleaf Hydrangea, the "raw" tree material. Trim all the leaves and buds/seeds off.


After the excess material is removed, paint the tree flat white (off white would be even better).


Using white floral tape (Hobby Lobby, .67 cents a roll), tape the trunk in overlapping layers. The tape is like wax impregnated crepe paper and is best applied while stretched tightly. If done correctly, seems will be all but invisible. One roll of tape will do MANY trees.


Add the bark markings with a black Crayon. It's best if the Crayon is sharpened with a razor blade. Make the markings radom in nature.


Using Woodland Scenics Early Fall Foliage, carefully stretch the material and tear it into small, manageable pieces. This material reminds me a cross between pillow stuffing and furnace filter. When applying the foliage, keep in mind that real trees are airy and can be seen thru at spots. Ideally, you want to be able to see traces of the branch structure and upper trunk and backdrop when applied.




And now for the fun part, the planted fall aspen on the layout!

[Anonymous]

[tup]

Well, now I can see I am off to Micheals to buy some Oakleaf Hydrangea and then the LHS for some foilage.

Thanks Grande Man!!!

[Anonymous]

Thanks Grande Man! (gathers up the spilled beans, and prepares to tell the wife that these beans will grow into nice fall aspens... with a trip to the LHS!)

[steveblackledge]

Chears Grande man, nice work and well done

[Anonymous]

those are the best looking deciduous trees I've ever seen. Very well done, and easy to make too!!

[grandeman]

Thanks for the comments guys. I hope you all have an aspen forest before long...

[JohnT14808]

Grandeman....VERY nice!! I wonder if seeds for the Oakleaf Hydrangea are available at the local nursery......Plant some seeds next spring and you could have aspens in the Fall!!! ....wonder if the stuff will grow in the Pacific NW....Hm-m-m-m-m-m-m Sounds like ANOTHER Google search.......
Nicely done...Thanks for your tutorial. Wonderful trees.

[ondrek]

QUOTE: Originally posted by grande man

Thanks for the comments guys. I hope you all have an aspen forest before long...

pardon me for asking, but did you also make the fur trees in the picture?
if yes, can you do a tutorial on how you made those too?

thanks

Kevin

[fievel]

Grande Man - that is absolutely amazing ! I've been looking for a more realistic
method for tree making. I plan on having Summer green foliage, but the trunk
detail is what really makes it come alive. Thanks a lot , and - GREAT JOB !!
[bow][bow][bow]

[grandeman]

JohnT14808, check the link for places the oakleaf hydrangea grows. There's a list but you have to scroll down the page a good bit.

ondrek, the firs are made by Busch. I got them from a Walthers sale flyer . They range in size from 1"(great for distant ridgelines) to 6 " and 160 of them set me back about $50.

fievel, the green foliage should work just as well. Cjcrescent is using the oakleaf hydrangea for other type trees with good result as well. They would be even easier since the trunk wouldn't need tape/marking and the tree wouldn't need to be painted prior to adding foliage.

Thanks again for the positive comments. I've learned many cool things here and it's great to be able to give a little back every once in a while. Don't ya just love the internet?

Edited cause I can't type...[:I]

[egmurphy]

Nice work. They look great. A couple of questions.

1. So with the 'foliage' material you don't have to bother sprinkling on ground foam afterwards, it's already included?

2. Did you just put some white glue on each branch before applying the foliage, or did you dip the tree in dilute white glue?

3. Nice photography too. How do you manage to aim and squeeze the shutter release with both your hands in the photo?


Regards

Ed

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by egmurphy

3. Nice photography too. How do you manage to aim and squeeze the shutter release with both your hands in the photo?

I heard he is good with his feet [:)]

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by egmurphy

Nice work. They look great. A couple of questions.

1. So with the 'foliage' material you don't have to bother sprinkling on ground foam afterwards, it's already included?

2. Did you just put some white glue on each branch before applying the foliage, or did you dip the tree in dilute white glue?

3. Nice photography too. How do you manage to aim and squeeze the shutter release with both your hands in the photo?

The WS floiage already has the texture applied. In the earlier thread, I was speculating that dyed "pillow stuffing" could be sprinkled with foam for the desired effect. After using the WS foliage, I'm going to stick with it.

I just wrapped the foliage onto the limbs, no glue. It's a material that gets caught on the tree well enough as is.

As for the pics, I'm using the camera's timer feature and a tripod. The timer is great for getting sharply focused layout shots too...

[twhite]

Smooth job, Eric! I like it VERY much. Actually, I can adapt it for some fall Maples and Liquid Ambers that grow out here in California. I know that the Maple isn't native to California, but it was brought out here in the 1850's by New England settlers in the foothills, and grows all over the place in the Sierras, now. Thanks for the tutorial. Between your 'aspens' and Aggro's 'pines', you've made a lot of modelers happy campers when it comes to trees.
Tom [:P][:P]

PS: How big was that .22 you used to shoot those little holes in that little sign in the photo on your other thread, BTW? That is SO cool!
T.

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by twhite

Smooth job, Eric! I like it VERY much. Actually, I can adapt it for some fall Maples and Liquid Ambers that grow out here in California. I know that the Maple isn't native to California, but it was brought out here in the 1850's by New England settlers in the foothills, and grows all over the place in the Sierras, now. Thanks for the tutorial. Between your 'aspens' and Aggro's 'pines', you've made a lot of modelers happy campers when it comes to trees.
Tom [:P][:P]

PS: How big was that .22 you used to shoot those little holes in that little sign in the photo on your other thread, BTW? That is SO cool!
T.

I hope you can put the info to use, Tom.

As for Billy Bob, unfortunately he shoots a 44, not a 22! He ain't shoot'in nothin now, Jimmy Mac took his pistol... [:D]

[grandeman]

Well, a trip to the LHS today brought home more of the WS "foliage". I thought it looked dark in the store but when I got home it's considerable darker than the original batch. Looks I'm going to have to find some more material in the original color. To anyone thinking of making some aspens, take a close look at the color before you buy foliage. I think this is a freak lot. Most of the "early fall" color I've seen in the past is more appropriate for fall aspens. Anyway, just a heads up.

[rexhea]

Eric: Very good post.
I hope you don't mind me answering a few of the questions above, but the use of the fine ground foam works very well for other types of trees made with the Oakleaf Hydrangea. If you use ground foam you do need to keep the seed pods on the limbs. They provide a sticking point on the branches and will give you the "bush look" of leaves.

Also, if the bloom is not completely dry, then you need to hang them up for about a month using clothes pins and a line. This will prevent them getting out of shape if they dryout on the layout. if you just let them dry in a bag, then they will take the shape of however they are bunched up...usually bent...I know.[:I]

This method is from the very fine works of the Birmingham Wrecking Crew, MR Club that CJcrescent is a member of. They have an excellent club layout that is covered with this type of tree.

REX

[grandeman]

Good info, Rex. Thanks for posting it. We need to find another batch next time we're out. It sounds like it may be best to cut the branches a little earlier in the year and hang them to dry.

[rexhea]

As you have already suggested, this time of the year on through the winter is an ideal time to cut even though anytime is all right to do so. Of course, the drying time would be longer the earlier you cut them.

I am in the process of placing trees on my Sawmill Ridge with the ones I cut last winter. Many of them are bent from improper storage, but with some trimming I will be able to use most. The boss lady and I are going to the boonies tomorrow (weather permitting) and cut some more. It's a good idea to have plenty on hand.

Addendum: I mix my glue/water mixture (about 3:1) in a paint bucket and then dip the entire tree into it for a good coverage. Then I sprinkle the bottom first with fine foam followed by the top. Hang to dry and then place them on the layout. This process is very quick and painless.

This makes such a good looking tree, I hope many out there can benefit from this bush.

REX [:)]

[Anonymous]

I know this is a pretty old thread, but I was digging around and found the info useful.

A guy at the local hobby shop recommended hydrangea clippings to make trees, so I have some from my own yard that are pretty good. I dried them and bought some clump-foliage and thought I was good to start.

Then the hobby shop guy said that the dried hydrangea would be too brittle to handle, so he would soak the whole clipping in diluted glue, then use ground foam, not foliage.

So, should I soak the whole clipping, or just put the glue on certain areas?

Should I use foliage or ground foam ?

Is the floral tape that was wrapped around the "trunk" of the clipping (tutorial - start of thread) just to get a thicker "trunk" ?

I guess I could just experiment and see what I like best, but I thought I would see what people thought, as I only have about 10 hydrangea clipping to work with at the moment. 

[AggroJones]

Back up again

 

[AggroJones]

Too bad grandman doesn't hang around here anymore...

[Canondale61]

I agree would this method work for maple and oaks?

Kevin