Hardwood Trees question


N

nsconductor

Member
Just came in from gathering up alot of "real" tree's in my backyard. I'm doing a fall layout.....so want alot of hardwoods to show fall color along with the pine trees for green. Did a brief search on here about using twigs.....but didn't see an actual post on preserving the twigs.... I did read in one post about dipping them in 50/50 water glue mixture of something like that. Will the glue leave a glossy sheen on the trunks? Planning to do this tonight.....so what methods are used? Also read about matte medium....whats that? Is that Hodge Podge matte medium what you use?
 
A mixture of 50:50 water and artist's matte medium is what is commonly used to seal and preserve Supertrees and would be just as applicable to any of living plant. Matte medium is a widely available art product rather different from Hodge Podge. Any arts and crafts store should have it. This treatment not only seals the plant, but retains the suppleness. When dry, the coating is dead flat.

NYW&B
 
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NYW&B said:
A mixture of 50:50 water and artist's matte medium is what is commonly used to seal and preserve Supertrees and would be just as applicable to any of living plant. Matte medium is a widely available art product rather different from Hodge Podge. Any arts and crafts store should have it. This treatment not only seals the plant, but retains the suppleness. When dry, the coating is dead flat.

NYW&B
Click to expand...

Good info! So how long do you soak or dip the trees? Just hang them up to air dry I guess? What's a good brand of Matte Medium? Any kind that's not good for model railroad use?
 
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nsconductor said:
Good info! So how long do you soak or dip the trees? Just hang them up to air dry I guess? What's a good brand of Matte Medium? Any kind that's not good for model railroad use?
Click to expand...

Soaking need not be for more than a couple of minutes (even shorter for thin weeds like the Supertrees), just enough to let some of the solution seep into the weed or small twig. After the brief soaking, just stick the twigs in a piece of foamboard, or hang them up side down from a string and let then dry completely.

As to a brand of Matte Medium, whatever Michael's, or A.C.Moore, et al. happens to have on their shelves has always worked perfectly for me. Just make sure the label on the bottle says MATTE Medium, as there is also Gloss Medium and at least one other type whose name escapes me just now.

NYW&B
 
I bought some Liquitex Matte Medium. Stuff is expensive......$30 for a 32oz bottle. Luckily i had a 50% off coupon and got it for $15. I have roughly 3/4 of what I bought mixed 50/50 with water now and my first batch of trees hanging to dry. Can I use the 50/50 mix for other stuff like ballasting? I'd hate to waste it. It's stored in an airtight container so hopefully it will keep.

BTW, I was only soaking my trees for about 10 seconds.....did it before I read this. Only did a 1/4 of my trees though, so I'll soak the next batch longer.
 
Soaking time for your wooden, or weed, tree armatures will depend on just how dry they are before you start. If they were found lying on the ground after a long spell of dry weather they are probably well dried out. However, if they were broken off living trees, or plants of some type, they are likely to still be quite green and won't absorb the Matte Medium. That's OK, as the coating will simply seal in the existing moisture. So...a 1 or 2 minute dip in Matte Medium for the really dry stuff, 15 to 30 seconds for the fresh, and you should be fine. Let the dipped "trees" dry AT LEAST 24 hours in a warm, dry, location with good air circulation.

For other purposes, I consider Matte Medium as THE universal bonding agent for groundcover and have used it almost exclusively for years over my entire layout in scenicking. However, for this application it needs to be treated a bit differently. You should dilute the Matte Medium 1:4, or even 1:5, with water in a large container (quart or gallon milk jug) and shake well. Then set aside for a day, or so.

Matte Medium gets its flatness, or matte, appearance from talc. If the liquid is used immediately after mixing it can dry leaving a whitish film. This you want to avoid. So allow the mixture to settle and draw your bonding liquid only from the upper, or top, 75% of the container. Used liberally, this liquid will give you a perfectly invisible, but very strong bond for all your groundcover, ballast, etc.

Below is an example of the sort of results I've gotten using Matte Medium as a scenery-bonding agent.

sladejunction001a.jpg


NYW&B
 
Looks good! Just finished my second batch, soaked everything for around 3 minutes each. Most of my stuff was fresh cut....and maybe 15% of it was ground pick up, but not too dry.

Do you use lichen or something else to "fill out" the tree....or just let the foam foliage do it all?
 
Back in the good ole days :D the preservative was a concoction containing glycerin, water and dyes. It was messy, time consuming, providing one could actually get some glycerin. The last I bought was from a drug store, it wasn't cheap, $10 for a small bottle if I recall.
Now this 50:50 water and artist's matte medium seems to be a much better answer.
BTW nice picturer NYW&B, beautiful scene.
Cheers
Willis
 
nsconductor said:
Looks good! Just finished my second batch, soaked everything for around 3 minutes each. Most of my stuff was fresh cut....and maybe 15% of it was ground pick up, but not too dry.

Do you use lichen or something else to "fill out" the tree....or just let the foam foliage do it all?
Click to expand...

Nsconductor - All my trees are flocked with various colors commercial ground foam, with grades that range from coase to fine. To gain foliage density I will often give more than one application of ground foam to the tree.

NYW&B
 
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