Been recently experimenting with a new type of Evergreen being not very pleased with the last few. These trees are quite easy to make and can be sized to fit any scale.
The few threads of the past have started with modeling steps and then images. Seemed as that became a bit too boring so posting the pictures first this time.
Coconut fiber is nothing new but sparked some interest to try some out.
Noticed on many tree tutorials the coconut fiber is put on too even and then trimmed evan more evenly after the fiber is strung on the trunk.
With that said, it was noticed there wasn't many examples of perfect looking Christmas trees if any the last time looking at them in the woodlands.
So the experiment was to make the tree shape a little more sporadically uneven like they usually are.
Thanks for looking gentleman
TF
Nice tree, TF! How long did it take to make one? How much longer would it take to make a dozen? I would imagine there could be economies of time for things like spraying the initial fiber-on-wood sticks.
I have visions of a stream n a deep ravine, with a forest of these trees on the river banks, climbing up to a magnificent bridge.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Sorry, I got sidetracked, nice tree TF.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I like the result, TF. I made a couple like that, not quite as nice. I did make the dead lower branches and stuck them in tiny holes I drilled per Joe Fugate's excellent instruction he posted, probably back in 2006. I don't know that I ever would have noticed and thought to add them, but they sure make a difference to the realism.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Nice tree TF. Those bottom branches really set it off. I've seen that stuff at our local Tractor supply.
Like all of you guys, I'm always thinking how something could used for modeling.
I remeber the first bag of cat liter the wife brought home, "ballast" i said, she just rolled her eyes.
Mike.
My You Tube
MisterBeasley Nice tree, TF! How long did it take to make one? How much longer would it take to make a dozen? I would imagine there could be economies of time for things like spraying the initial fiber-on-wood sticks. I have visions of a stream n a deep ravine, with a forest of these trees on the river banks, climbing up to a magnificent bridge.
Thanks Selector -n- Wisconsin Mike for the kind words.
Thank you Rich -n- Brent for the nice compliments and having my back as well Both are appreciated
Bet your trees look fantastic Selector and sure would love to see Joe Fugate's trees. They sound like they were really something.
Can just imagine your wife rolling her eyes when you told her you're using the kitty litter for ballast Mike Hey, ...The Lion says it works good too, so why not.
Gidday Mr.TF, keep this up and we’ll have to start to call you “The Tree Guy”, not “The Bridge Guy”!! I know you’re working in N scale, but curious as to your trees height? Cheers, the Bear.
Fantastic trees TF!
Three questions:
1. What did you use for the trunks? (Wooden skewers?)
2. How did you get the excellent bark effect on the trunks"
3. What did you use for the dead branches?
Thanks,
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Hi Dave
Thanks for the kind complement and your questions of interest.
1) Yep, you got it, they are bamboo skewers.
2) The trunks after spray painted Tamiya natto brown where damp brushed with raw umber and dry brushed with khaki, then taupe. Took a toothpick dipped in CA to put some bumps and swipes here and there before the dry brusing.
3) The dead branches came out of the coconut fiber and sometimes you're lucky enough to get a split one. Mostly the Y in the dead branches was done gluing another limb with CA. The limbs were CA'ed to the trunk with accelerator as well. The nice thing the fiber is very flexible with memory so the limbs don't break off the trunk.
Thanks Dave
Love the trees TF!
Mike
TREE TRII FOE FUM... LION wants to put a BaoBab tree on the layout of him...
I know a tree grows in Brooklyn, but this one will be in the Bronx at the end of the Broadway Line.
Like home it is...
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
BroadwayLion TREE TRII FOE FUM... LION wants to put a BaoBab tree on the layout of him... I know a tree grows in Brooklyn, but this one will be in the Bronx at the end of the Broadway Line. Like home it is...
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!
Liking the trees TF. You say you are shortening some?
Leave them as they are. Place them at the rear of a group. They will look as if they are on a rise in the ground.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Good looking trees. Where might I find coconut fiber in New Hampshire? I could use ScotchBright pads I suppose.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
Good afternoon
Thanks Mike, Thanks David.
Hi David, Been leaving the trees different heights but I did shorten the first one as it was more HO size that would probably make the mountains look too short.
Hello Lion, Dem BoaBab trees are a trip and don't even look real. But are about the best prototypical example of a Truffula tree ever seen before
Thanks David Starr. The coconut fiber is a potted plant accessory that can be found in most garden sections of big box stores or other floral suppliers.
Below is not my picture. It was taken from Matt's Coniferous Tree thread a short time ago.
Really liked how these trees looked made from the fern leaves of the asparagus plant. Unfortunately as rrebell pointed out in Matt's thread, organic material eventually dries out. Definitely can testify to his statement from the last trees made a few years ago. Don't think that'll be the case with coconut fiber as it's more like wood.
For the next experiment an artificial fern plant as close to the asparagus fern was used.
The trunk was .08 tubular styrene with about 50 - 60 holes drilled in it and stuffed with different lengths of the artificial branches and CA'ed with accelerator.
Didn't like how the plastic leaves looked and forgot to take a picture of that. The tree was painted brown, hairsprayed and flocked with assorted ground turf colors as well.
Kinda looks like a big cedar tree but don't think the effort weighed the outcome.
This crazy tree took over 5 hours and won't be making another one anytime soon for that reason. Maybe someday when everything else is done on the layout and looking for something to do, ...Maybe.
Thanks for looking.
TF,
Great looking trees. A couple of things you might toss into your experiment:
I use real branches as trunks - Depending on where you live, a quick walk in the woods will likely scare up some suitable candidates – they don’t have to be perfectly straight - real trees aren’t.
I found that a coat of spackle on the trunk gives a nice texture before painting.
The fibers look great for the dead limbs – other options are broom stick fibers/straw and Nandina armatures broken into pieces.
I attacked the filter material pretty aggressively to give an airier texture – hard on the hands but gives a nice effect. I cut the pieces into star shapes to give the impression of branches
The coconut fiber can be found at Walmart sold as furnace filter material – also used to make cooling pads for swamp coolers - the Walmart stuff is green….
Here are a few pics to show big trees (click on them to enlarge). This one shows the basic armatures made from Furnace filter with sticks and dowels. The tree on the left has a dowel trunk, the tress on the center and right are real sticks. The foliage has not been thinned yet and the trunk coloring is not finished.
Here is a basic furnace filter armature before foliage has been added. I used various tyopes of foam and foliage products and then attacked these armatures with scissors to get a good effect.
Here is a partially completed rope limb method tree. In this method sisal rope is teased out into braches coated with glue and eventually glued to the trunk of the tree. Foliage is added after. Takes a very long time.
Here is a close up of the rope tree with the correct trunk coloring and finished foliage depicting Ponderosa pines found in the Western Sierra.
Have fun,
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
Double post please delete, Thank you.
Wow,
Those are some incredible looking trees Guy. You certainly blew me out of the water on those last two rope trees that exceeded any of my expectations so far. I remember how impressed I was with your layout as well. Ironically the next experiment is a rope tree I'm working on right now.
Some good ideas you shared and I thank you. I've tried going to a few nature areas here and haven't found any good branches that will work for N scale yet. Maybe haven't hit the right places.
Thanks for posting Guy. Very impressive trees indeed
Track fiddler Good afternoon Thanks Mike, Thanks David. Hi David, Been leaving the trees different heights but I did shorten the first one as it was more HO size that would probably make the mountains look too short. Hello Lion, Dem BoaBab trees are a trip and don't even look real. But are about the best prototypical example of a Truffula tree ever seen before Thanks David Starr. The coconut fiber is a potted plant accessory that can be found in most garden sections of big box stores or other floral suppliers. Below is not my picture. It was taken from Matt's Coniferous Tree thread a short time ago. Really liked how these trees looked made from the fern leaves of the asparagus plant. Unfortunately as rrebell pointed out in Matt's thread, organic material eventually dries out. Definitely can testify to his statement from the last trees made a few years ago. Don't think that'll be the case with coconut fiber as it's more like wood. For the next experiment an artificial fern plant as close to the asparagus fern was used. The trunk was .08 tubular styrene with about 50 - 60 holes drilled in it and stuffed with different lengths of the artificial branches and CA'ed with accelerator. Didn't like how the plastic leaves looked and forgot to take a picture of that. The tree was painted brown, hairsprayed and flocked with assorted ground turf colors as well. Kinda looks like a big cedar tree but don't think the effort weighed the outcome. This crazy tree took over 5 hours and won't be making another one anytime soon for that reason. Maybe someday when everything else is done on the layout and looking for something to do, ...Maybe. Thanks for looking. TF
Those look great!!!
I see you hit the wall on the time thing. I ran into the same issue with my trees. The tress you admired in the last post took quite a while - I have only three of them on the layout. As you say - maybe someday...
I found the furnace filter method was the right balance between time and looks. Do check out the Ken Larson article in the August 2006 RMC - I can send a PDF - you can contact me through the other recent tree thread.
Using branches as trunks may be a little more difficult in N scale to find the right sticks, but I'm guessing they are out there some where....
Some of my buddies and I will hold 'tree parties" where everyone gets together and makes a bunch of trees assembly line style. Many hands makes things go faster...Something to consider as you look at the number of trees you will likely need.
Great work! Thanks for sharing and possibly encouraging others to make pine trees.
All these trees are amazing. Thanks for posting.
-Matt
Returning to model railroading after 40 years and taking unconscionable liberties with the SP&S, Northern Pacific and Great Northern roads in the '40s and '50s.
As others have said 'Amazing trees' being posted.
Guy mentions collecting collecting branches to make trunks of trees.
I did just that.
I know they are different to what TF is making, but just to show they do not have to be 'perfect trees'.
Having fun making them though.
IMG_5438 by David Harrison, on Flickr
IMG_5495 by David Harrison, on Flickr
Yes, nice trees...
but where to put them in a subway tunnel?
Here is a tree that you can build on your layout.
Looks pretty good for a cell tower, eh?
BTW what is with those white poles in the grade crossing. This picture is on the NJT, and I have also seen them on the LIRR!
Many Thanks, your favorite LION
Good morning
Thanks Matt & Thanks kasskaboose for your kind words
I see what you mean David. Those scraggly crooked trees look fantastic I wish I could find some busy branches like that around here and don't think I haven't looked.
I seen on a tree tutorial these really good branches for modeling along the highways in the desert. Next time I go down south I'm going to check that out and won't forget to bring some of Batman's snake repellent He informed me it works better than the shark repellent
BroadwayLion Yes, nice trees... but where to put them in a subway tunnel?
I remember that one time I saw my favorite Lion prowling under the turnstile.
I had waved and he did acknowledge but was in a hurry to find one of those Subway sandwiches standing there waiting for a train.
Funny stuff that cell phone booster tree pole
I feel sorry for the telephone repair guy that has to climb up the pole after a thunderstorm knocks out the Transformer. Maybe that's why they didn't put the prototypical dead branch undergrowth under the limbs.
Don't know what those white poles are for Maybe it gets foggy down there and they reflect or something
My childhood memory served me well how straight the (Red) Norway Pines were in McGregor Minnesota on Big Sandy Lake where we had our cabin before the resort.
Look how straight and parallel they are in all three pictures and wasn't very selective about choosing them.
Looked up tree pictures on the internet this morning and they were just as straight as remembered 50 years later. Don't know what it is about that area that the Norway's grow so straight. Some may have an ever so slight bow to them but so does a shish kebab skewer sometimes
BroadwayLionBTW what is with those white poles in the grade crossing. This picture is on the NJT, and I have also seen them on the LIRR!
This is to prevent drivers from turning between the tracks. There are some Youtube videos of drivers doing just that. I am not sure how effective those skinny little poles would be at stopping a car. If a driver is so unaware as to turn between two tracks in the middle of a level crossing then he is unlikely to see that stick in front of him/her.
No hi, no comment, no nothing Brent. But you did do a much better job answering the question and taking the cookie I think
BATMANThis is to prevent drivers from turning between the tracks.
Uh huh...
If Gamin says "turn here" THAT is not going to stop them!