You asked for it.

[gear-jammer]

Thanks for finding the post.  I picked up the supplies today and plan to try some this weekend. 

Sue

[rrebell]

Heres a bunch of them in the background.

Hang on while I get some photos of my 'hairnet trees'.

Next weathering class, nice looking loco

[BRVRR]

Aggro

Great tutorial! I will be picking up some of the filter medium and skewers later this week.

The diciuous trees look good too. Any chance of a 'how to" on them?

Again, thanks for the lesson.

[gear-jammer]

Aggro,

Thanks for the tutorial.  Here are my first attempts.

Thanks again,  Sue

[selector]

I think those trees are first class, Sue.  Well done!!

[gear-jammer]

Thanks, Crandell.

Some sides definately look better than others.  I ran out of butterfly bushes for last season and wanted to try something else.  I have been trying as many different trees as I can so that they do not all look the same.  Next month, we will be heading down to Nevada and plan to pick up some tree material if we can.  We will see what else we can come up with.

Sue

[selector]

All of my trees have a good side, Sue.  None of them is really great, certainly not of your's and Aggro's quality, but I always found one side of them that looked decent.  I hope to improve in that respect with time...maybe even by the fall.

I wish you continued success.

-Crandell

[AggroJones]

Up again.

[AggroJones]

BUMP

[Anonymous]

Adding to this forum for a few reasons, one of which is to bump it again.

Second, to say HI to everyone (first time poster)

Third, to say this and the other forum about these trees are an incredible lucky find for me. I actually just came across the forum a couple weeks ago as I've never been to the site before even though I've been subscribing to Model Railroader for years.

I haven't quite gotten around to completing my first attempt at making trees with the furnace filter (which I found at Home Hardwar (Canadian store) and Canadian Tire). Also came across 3 different types of skewers, all different sizes. 

Working in N scale, I will be using the small and medium sized skweres to give me a choice to make large or small (young and older) trees so the two different sized trunks  should work well. The larger sized skewers where too large for N scale IMO. Maybe they could be usefull for a different type of tree...

So far all I've done is just cut up some of the filter, spray painted a couple dozen skewers, and added the filter to one of them. With me working all the time (I'm at work now actually) I've not had the time to really sit down and get to work on this project. Also - I have to get me some hair spray! I did these steps so far just to see how it looked so far (looks good).

Thanks for the incredible simple, cheap tree idea - I can't wait to sit down and work on this project! 

 

Derek 

[Anonymous]

[selector]

Yes, welcome!  This thread is one of the many gems that gives this forum its depth and value.  Glad you found it.

[Don Z]

I need some help with the material list for the infamous "Aggro Trees". I just returned from Big Lots and Target in a quest for the bamboo skewers. I found some Farberware Basics skewers at Big Lots in a 75 count bag for $1.00. I went ahead and purchased 2 bags even though I'm not 100% positive these are the same as in the material list. The butt end of the skewer is 1/8" in diameter. Are these skewers the correct ones? I was expecting something a little thicker based on the photos of the trees.....

ArtHill, Aggro??? Did I purchase the right skewers?

Don Z.

[twhite]

Don--

That sounds about right for the skewers.  You can actually pick up slightly thicker bamboo skewers in the housewares section of the local supermarket (at least out here in SunnyCal), they come in about 8" and 12" lengths, around 100 to the package.  I find them right next to the Woks, LOL!  But after you get the furnace filters cut and fitted and the flock on, you can hardly see the skewer trunks, so the tree actually looks much thicker than you think it's going to. 

Tom

[Don Z]

Tom,

Thanks for the information. The trunks of the trees in Aggro's photos appear to be much thicker than 1/8" which made me start to doubt myself....I found some 10" skewers for a great price.... 1600 10" skewers for $7.00!

http://www.reliablepaper.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=RELIABLE10BAMBOO&Click=671

Don Z.

[loathar]

Don-You can get dowel rod in various thickness too. I picked some up at Wal Mart. 3' sections for about 25 cents. More expensive, but it gives you a variety of trunk diameters. Hob Lob and Michael's has them too.

[Don Z]

Loather, 

I thought about using dowels for the trunks but I have a big problem with them not being tapered. Trying to rotate a dowel against a sanding disk to taper the trunk would be time consuming and risky to the fingertips.....of course, the woodworker in me wants to use the walnut dowels I have stashed for a 'special project'.....

Don Z.

[Robby P.]

I will have to give it a try.  Great looking trees!!!!

[Blue Flamer]

Saleen219.

to the Forums.

I just found this thread myself and found it VERY informative. AggroJones, you do everyone a great service when you post a thread like this. Thank you very much.

Saleen219. I noticed that you model N Scale. You may want to look up a couple of threads called "The "N" Crowd and The "N" Crowd II" for N Scale info. You cannot reply on The "N" Crowd as it is now locked, (it got to long), but you can on The "N" Crowd II.

Again, and enjoy.

Blue Flamer. 

[jfugate]

If you want to take your furnace filter trees to the next level of realism, check out this link in my Scenery Forum Clinic.

(Click image to enlarge)

Aggro's trees look way better than your average model conifer, but it's possible with just a bit more work to take your conifers to the eye-popping level. For a few foreground conifers, this extra effort enhances the realism of your model railroad scenery tremendously.  

[rs2mike]

great tutorial thank you sir.

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

Seeing how popular this thread and idea has become, I think it is time to go out and buy some shares in that furnace filter company.  What do you think about that guys and gals ?

There is an N-scaler from Moose Jaw that takes his layout to our local shows who has used this system for awhile and I must say that it is quite impressive. He has hundreds of trees of different sizes, of course the more perfect ones takes center stage. But he says don't worry about some of the rougher looking ones just place them in the forest or background. Don't waste alot of time on something that you won't see completely anyway.

The Last Mountain and Eastern will be "growing" alot of these for the lower part of our mountains.

Thanks again Aggro and Captain Fugate

Johnboy out.....................

[plymouth71]

any suggestions on something a bit smaller???  say z scale???

[St Francis Consolidated RR]

    Best pine trees I've ever seen.....do you have any ideas about how I might try to do this, what materials, for a 1:24 scale indoor railroad like mine (supposedly g-scale)??

    Thanks.

[Allegheny2-6-6-6]

 Really nice trees , we call em furnace filter trees, I was told by someone not to use the hair spray as it drys out after a while and you have clumps of ground foam on the ground with bald tress, for curiosity sake how long have you had them on your layout?

BTW that Cab Forward looks awesome , nice weathering job.

[twhite]

Allegheney: 

I've had furnace filter evergreens on my layout ever since AggroJones came out with the article some years back, and have had no problem with the hair-spray drying out.  It seems to be a pretty permanent 'fixative', and I've got a garage layout that's largely uninsulated. 

So the technique works.  At least for me.  Just make sure you use the cheapest, stickiest hair spray you can get. 

Tom

[AggroJones]

St Francis Consolidated RR

    Best pine trees I've ever seen.....do you have any ideas about how I might try to do this, what materials, for a 1:24 scale indoor railroad like mine (supposedly g-scale)??

    Thanks.

 

You'd need giant wood dowls I think. Micheals and Walmart sells them in various thickness. Cut down and carved into a taper.

 

 

 

 

[AggroJones]

Thanks. I've haven't had a problem with that, as I now mix white glue and water with the hairspray. Makes a better bond than hairspray alone.

How long have they been there? Years. 4 or 5 or 6 somthing like that. 

Here some more shots.