Hey guys, I need some honest opinions. Scratchbuilt trees.

[grandeman]

Hi all. We just made these and need some opinions, good or bad. Scrap em or make more? Please feel free to use any constructive comments on how they could be improved. I'm wondering how fine gold foam sprinkled over them would look (I need to buy some).

[Anonymous]

I think the colors right, maybe some more leaf material? You can see the seed pods. Did you do the trees that Dave Farly (sp) shows in the MR scenery book?

I wanted to add, the trunks look great, and the branches look right in their proportion. What did you use?

[medic_149]

grande man, they look awesome in my opinion. You are right about the gold, if you are going for the fall look, you need some red's and orange in there also. Great work....medic

[Anonymous]

Okay, you want my honest opinion?




They look GREAT! Very nice![tup]


uspscsx

[BMRR]

No !! Don't scrap em, I think they look great.

Stan.

[AggroJones]

They look fine to me. Mabey make the main branches petruding from the trunk a little thicker on future trees.

[2c]

[Anonymous]

They look like real trees. I think you did a nice job.

[Anonymous]

They look real good. That late in the fall, when that many of the leaves have fallen you might see a few browns even on the most colorful tree. The bark is great for beech trees and there leaves do turn yellow. With the bark a little darker (don't ask me the color I am still trying to find a good mix for my layout). You could have maples with the full range of reds, oranges and yellows. For variety toss in a pin oak, darker bark, brown leaves that do not drop until spring.

They really do look good. I hope mine turn out half as well.

[Pruitt]

Aspens, right?

They look great, unless they were supposed to be lodgepole pines - then you'd need to refine your technique somewhat! [:o)]

How about posting a quick tutorial for us?

[Anonymous]

[#ditto] We need a tutorial!!!
andrew

[Anonymous]

Thoose look nice!

[twhite]

Grande Man--gorgeous, just gorgeous! Tutorial, PLEASE!! I still need tons of fall Aspen (out here we call them Poplar, for some reason) and commercial is just too expensive a proposition in the long run. So if you'd do a 'how to' on them, I for one, would be forever in your debt (as usual!).
Tom [bow][bow]

[Cox 47]

They look great to me...Keep em......Cox 47

[Anonymous]

They look VERY good! Good job Grande "Men"! [:p] dthurman mentioned more leaf material. If I had to add any ideas for improvement, that would be it. They do look very nice and very real!! Keep up the good work!

[Rotorranch]

Those look great!

What are they?

Those would look great spattered among some othere trees. Great work!

Rotor

[trainchris]

Very nice work on the trees, definitely keepers! I don’t know if your going for early,or late fall maybe just a bit of orange and browns? Even if you leave them the way they are they look great. [:D] [tup]

[SpaceMouse]

There are parts of them that look really good and at first glance, that is what you see. However, if you look at the picture long enough, I can see your concern. You are worried about the sparse higher branches which would be more noticeable on the layout than in the photos because of the camera angle.

But before I did any scrapping I think I would try some selective pruning. Perhaps you could even somehow attach those stray branches to the trunk and make it even fuller. Of course, that would be more easily done before putting on the leaves.

[Big_Boy_4005]

They look great. Make more!!!

You might want to do just a little trimming, there are a couple of stray branches at the top. They are showing up in the lower photo.

By the way, properly staged and lit, that scene has the makings of a photo contest winner.

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SpaceMouse

There are parts of them that look really good and at first glance, that is what you see. However, if you look at the picture long enough, I can see your concern. You are worried about the sparse higher branches which would be more noticeable on the layout than in the photos because of the camera angle.

But before I did any scrapping I think I would try some selective pruning. Perhaps you could even somehow attach those stray branches to the trunk and make it even fuller. Of course, that would be more easily done before putting on the leaves.

Hi guys. Thanks for all the input. Sorry I haven't posted since last night. That wicked witch Katrina took me off line until about 10 minutes ago.[V] Anyway, you've hit on my concerns Space. I'm thinking about adding some gold medium ground foam to see how they look but some "pruning" might also help. The seed pods standing out is also a concern. One thing though, trees are tough to model and are almost just a suggestion. I'm glad to see some recognized them as "aspens".

As for the technique, I promised the gentleman that turned me onto it not to post it on a public forum. I would comment though, that what you see was purchased at Hobby Lobby, completed in a couple of hours tops, at a cost of less that $10. You guys go take a look at the floral dept there.

[Anonymous]

Just a thought: Here in Indiana, in late fall, when the trees lose their leaves to the point of showing bare branches, the very top branches are fully exposed first, so the minor concern about your trees is not so bad. We don't have aspens here, but I can't imagine them losing lower branch leaves first. Anyway, IMHO, yours are the best fall aspens I've seen in a long time.

[Fergmiester]

I almost replied last night but stopped myself as my comments were less than flattering!

I say scrap the whole lot, get rid of them and start over again, you heard me, get rid of them!

Bob Boudreau stated that one has to practice, practice, practice to get it right.

Saying that, send me an e-mail and I'll give you my address so you can send me about 100 acres+ of the stuff as I need trees desperately. Please don't tell the others as they might want some! [:D]

Fergie

PS Outstanding!

[Anonymous]

Well after waiting for five minutes for the thread to load (yes thanks for all the 100K to 200k redundant signature pictures!), The trees were worth the wait. Looks like like someone made good use of Katrina time. Sounds and looks like you survived the ordeal of the storm. Excellent advise to open our eyes in the floral department for "hobby sources". Too bad Hobby Lobby is primarily a central US chain!
Will

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Fergmiester

I almost replied last night but stopped myself as my comments were less than flattering!

I say scrap the whole lot, get rid of them and start over again, you heard me, get rid of them!

Bob Boudreau stated that one has to practice, practice, practice to get it right.

Saying that, send me an e-mail and I'll give you my address so you can send me about 100 acres+ of the stuff as I need trees desperately. Please don't tell the others as they might want some! [:D]

Fergie

PS Outstanding!

Well...

I think, I 'm going to start over. I won't scrap them (not yet anyway) until I make some better ones. I'm gonna try it with the ground foam and see how they look. I asked for honest opinions and apprieciate them. I have to be honest with myself though, I'm not satisfied with their appearance yet. I think there's a good chance the new versions will look better. One thing is for sure though, I LIKE the fall aspen color on the layout!

[CNJ831]

QUOTE: Originally posted by grande man

Anyway, you've hit on my concerns Space. I'm thinking about adding some gold medium ground foam to see how they look but some "pruning" might also help. The seed pods standing out is also a concern. One thing though, trees are tough to model and are almost just a suggestion. I'm glad to see some recognized them as "aspens".

Grande - Nice job. I also tried this same dried floral material (widely available and called gyphsophilia, if I remember right ) for trees some years ago. However, I found the seed pods too objectionable for HO (at O-scale they work much better). They give the impression of dinnerplate-sized leaves, although when planted enmass this aspect is less noticeable. In the end I decided to lightly cover the branches with suitable ground foam to generally hide the pods and liked them a lot better.

Overall, however, I'm happier working with Scenick Express Super Trees these days, as no floral product I've been able to find begins to compare with their delicate, multi-branch, ready-to-use structure. 'Course, that product aint cheap!

CNJ831

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CNJ831

QUOTE: Originally posted by grande man

Anyway, you've hit on my concerns Space. I'm thinking about adding some gold medium ground foam to see how they look but some "pruning" might also help. The seed pods standing out is also a concern. One thing though, trees are tough to model and are almost just a suggestion. I'm glad to see some recognized them as "aspens".

Grande - Nice job. I also tried this same dried floral material (widely available and called gyphsophilia, if I remember right ) for trees some years ago. However, I found the seed pods too objectionable for HO (at O-scale they work much better). They give the impression of dinnerplate-sized leaves, although when planted enmass this aspect is less noticeable. In the end I decided to lightly cover the branches with suitable ground foam to generally hide the pods and liked them a lot better.

Overall, however, I'm happier working with Scenick Express Super Trees these days, as no floral product I've been able to find begins to compare with their delicate, multi-branch, ready-to-use structure. 'Course, that product aint cheap!

CNJ831

What I'm thinking is to remove the seed pods altogether and then cover them with foam. What do you think?

[CNJ831]

QUOTE: Originally posted by grande man

What I'm thinking is to remove the seed pods altogether and then cover them with foam. What do you think?

Grande - Too labor intensive (unless you really enjoy that sort of work!). First try applying a light coating of color-matching ground foam. Doing so makes the seed pods much less obvious...almost invisible from a distance. I think gypsophilia, or mini gyp, does a good job representing aspen trees as their branch structure seems much more open to me than that of most eastern hardwoods. Give the foam a try first...especially if you plan on making lots of aspens.

CNJ831

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CNJ831


Grande - Too labor intensive (unless you really enjoy that sort of work!). First try applying a light coating of color-matching ground foam. Doing so makes the seed pods much less obvious...almost invisible from a distance. I think gypsophilia, or mini gyp, does a good job representing aspen trees as their branch structure seems much more open to me than that of most eastern hardwoods. Give the foam a try first...especially if you plan on making lots of aspens.

CNJ831

Thanks. The material we used is mini gyp. It can be had in a bleached, whitish color. Maybe I can get some more supplies together tomorrow and give it a try. I saw these on the Scenic Express website. They might be just the ticket if the standard foam doesn't give the desired look.

[Anonymous]

I bought some of that at Michaels which is similar to HobbyLobby. I used ground foam but it bunched up and was a little over powering. I think you are on the right track with the idea of enhancing the seed pods. Have you thought about the static flock stuff? Hope to see the improved version.

When you said you can't tell us, does your source have sometype of booklet? I think they look pretty realistic, just those darn pods stand out. I am waiting for your trackside detail book to get printed by MR someday

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dthurman

I bought some of that at Michaels which is similar to HobbyLobby. I used ground foam but it bunched up and was a little over powering. I think you are on the right track with the idea of enhancing the seed pods. Have you thought about the static flock stuff? Hope to see the improved version.

When you said you can't tell us, does your source have sometype of booklet? I think they look pretty realistic, just those darn pods stand out. I am waiting for your trackside detail book to get printed by MR someday

Thanks David. Overpowering doesn't sound to good. Maybe sparse foam highlights would work. BTW, check your email.