How to Make Trees and Shrubs

[grove den]

First attempt:How to

How to make shrubs
I am aware of the fact that this may be the 20st version of how to make shrubs.I'll start with this item because I can do some experiences for the "bigger"item:How to make pine/decudious trees.

Ingrdients:Fibres from filters they use in gardenpondequipments to clean/clear up the water. Here in my country you have/can buy 3 sorts:rough-semi rough and fine fibre
super glue( glues in seconds, sometimes not
wire 0.4 mmdiameter.You can buy this "wire" at flowershops
spraycan or airbrush
spraycan with glue in it(do not know the right word)
leaves"woodland ,heki ,noch, selfmade from sawdust(I did/do)
a scissor(old but sharp one)

Take/pull a small part of the fibres out of the package.Twist the fibers in the midlle between your fingers, Take a wire(0.4mm diam.)and twiddl it tight in the middle of the "bunch"of fibres. Than add 2 or 3 drops superglue on the twiddled wire and let dry for more than some seconds!!
After drying cut it in the middle and you've got 2 shrubs, still not in good shape but that is why we've got the scissor!!
Cut the bunch fibres in the shape you like and color them with a "basic"color from a canspray or airbrush and finally add the leaves. Here we are, I think, at apoint that finishing the shrub is a matter of taste.I mean the leaves and color of it....Transparant/semi transparant and so on
The" leaves"can be "placed"with cansprayglue. Please do not use to much, less is better than....
The finishing touch is to spray your shrub with matte medium. I'll use the ones in a cannspray.
I add some pictures how i make the shrubs

 

[grove den]

pictures of shrubs

Here are some more pics from how I (With the knowledge and help from many other modelrailroaders .) make shrubs.
For my N scale shrubs I use steelwool,(first picture) the stuff you need to clean the pans when someone( =o ) cooked the potatos for too long!!
Only important thing by using this steelwool is that you have to preserve it from oxidation. so spray the small bushes/shrubs with something that stops oxidation.
In one evening you can make over more than 50 shrubs!=)

 

[Steve B]

Nice work Grove Den

 

[grove den]

Now I am making a small diorama to" put on"the shrubs/bushes, so you can see the effect of it with 2 small people in HOscale. Hope the macropictures will not fail. I shall post them( maybe) tomorrow.
I am also trying to make a firtree in O scale. In HO scale it would be a giant fir tree=)at that size they do exist!!!

 

[grove den]

O scale tree

Here my first attempts...

 

[grove den]

Thank you, Steve.
I visited your website...asspecially the pictures on:Mainline! they are great and -very-British- The last picture is the best.......with,of course, also many trees on it.

 

[grove den]

(very)small diorama

as promised, here it is the "shrubdiorama"
Figures are inHOscale (20mm)
"Landrover: toy from my son...

 

[Steve B]

Nice work, they do look very realistic, love the fir tree

 

[grove den]

cheap tree

Hello Steve,
It's a low budget tree from about 50 cm high. Made of artificial branches from the Asparagus(sparrow grass in my dutc/english dict.) I bought 2 branches = 2 Euro's each(2 US dollars) and pulled off the leaves and sticked them on a wooden dowel covered with sawdust and "glue for joining wood" For the large branches I twist a wire around the branch, like the way you shape branches with bonsaitrees. So you can bend them easily in the right shape!
After that I sprinkle some Woodland turf :"dark green over the branches"wich I glued with aerosolglue. At the end I use again the aerosol paint to color the trunk and the "backside of the "fir"branches,totally costs:5 Us dollars and some time (1hour)..... to make a bigHO or regular O scale firtree
The picture I add you can see the tree from the bottom

 

[OldGettysk]

Neat idea with the Asparagus leaveswill have to try that one

 

[grove den]

Hello Paul,

Add 2 pictures that maybe showing important detailes: the leaves have small grassfibres on it. The otherpict. shows the scale in comp.with my hand/fingers
I'ld like to see your result(s) when you finished it(them) !!

 

[Steve B]

I'll have to give it a try

 

[grove den]

Start "How to make "

As I promised here are the first pictures I've made from the start How to make deciduous tree( and later a how-to-make- pine trees) The pictures I add are about starting making a "groundpin"and one of the many possibilities to model the trunk+ how to twidle a branch on the trunk

 

[grove den]

next episode II

 

[grove den]

next episodeIII

 

[grove den]

next episodeIV

 

[grove den]

continuing

Next week I'll try to post pictures of how to model the branches and twigs on the trunks you've seen on the last pictures. Also how to "lengthen"a branch or a twig so that you eventually have a natural looking "frame"
This weekend I have no time to post them because of a moderailway exebition in Germany( Lippstadt) and sportobligations with my 4 children See you next week +add "for taste"

I am(6 oct ) still working on the "How to": collecting the pictures and translate the text. Fortunatly this week someone joined our volleybalteam who was(IS) from the states(US) so I will show him the translation and he will ,iff neccesery make corrections concerning the text.

 

[grove den]

continueing how to make a tree

I'll give it a try without my "translator"/sportsfriend...

As shown at the pictures I took during the making of the "groundpin and the start of the trunkI will go further to show and describe you how to make the (tall) branches and twigs all to the top of the tree.
The way how to do it is not so difficult but to describe it, that's another story

The wires?threads I use are 0.6 mm diameter for H) and 0.36mm diameter for N scale(bought in Flowershop)


At the pictures , the last ones above ,you can see the trunk and the first (tall) branche.
To continue you take one wire of the bunch(from the "trunk"). Twiddle this 5 or 6 times around the trunk and bend it down a little bit. Add a new wire to it and twiddle it( starting it in the middle of the new one) again at least 5/6 times. maybe more if you want longer branches..
If you repeate this till the top of the tree and all the wires are "twiddled" you'll gonna have somethingeek: ) like the first picture I add.
For HO I start the first branch on about 2 inches from the modellsurface/ground(exclusive the groundpin!) if the tree is planted near houses or in streets(Priesermen will thank you
In free nature or planted alone in the Wildernes the branches can start to grow just above the surface...

But back to the twiddling...
The branches can be made like shown in the pictures above"how to twiddle branche and trunk" For the top of the tree they are O.K. but the lower branches have to be taller/heavier. This can be made by adding new wires to it the same way as prescribed above("starting in the middle of a new One"...)

This part of making a tree is the most difficult one, because you have to look/watch carefuly the shape of the tree you want to immitate! (see pics below)

to be continued grove den

 

[grove den]

lengthen tree

I hope the drawings I made, makes clear how to lengthen( making taller) the tree. So in the beginning of making the branches you do not have to take a wire each time from the "bunch of wires"( the trunk/frame is built of)
The result of twisting the many wires/threads could be like the picture of a tree I made

the left picture is the "frame" of a tall pinetree
On the thumbnails i added two more pictures from the tree I started to "twist"in the thread: continuing how to make trees I added more threads to the lower branches like the way I drew in the Pictures on the left

Finaly I made an instant "how to make" from birch trees so I do not have to write so much in your language Actualy you can use this for any trees you want to make...
The first birch( on the left!)shows a "frame"of a birch that is not benched in shape and is already been sprayed with primer.
The second one : I added the sieved coarse sawdust on the lower part of the trunk, and fine at the top. I did this with a mix off white glue,a very litlle bit of water,few drops of the stuff you(or your wife ) uses to do the dishes and little bit acrylpaint. So you can see wich part of the trunk you have glued and wich not.
The third one:After drying I painted the whole trunk in a sort of white color(acrylpaint: mostly white with a very little bit of oker. Just a spot! After drying I "painted" the tree with black aerosolpaint. ONLY the outside twigs/branches. NOT the trunk: its a birch!
After drying I bend the branches/twigs in the right shape(Look at pictures of real birches from outside.)
Next one: Here I added the fibres on the twigs: The fibres were cut in very small parts/pieces(1/4 inc=<1cm!) and during the cutting with a sharpe scissor,I collected the cutting fibres in an old shoebox(Without shoes )
DO NOT PRESS the fibres!
Than I took the frame and sprayed with aerosolglue over the outside of the twigs(Do not spray near the box with cutted fibres!) Back to the box I took carefuly some fibres and let it fall, from the top, down into the box. Repeat this one more time.
Now you have to remove the fibres wich are not glued, and that is, I think a little bit sticky! Because now the tree will have it's final shape before adding the "leaves".
At he last one you can see the tree with its "leaves"
I glued the leaves by first again spray the tree(outside parts of it!) with the aerosolglue and directly "throw"the leaves( coarse turf from WOOdland or flocken from Busch, Noch or Faller etc.) with a theasieve on the fibres. It does not matter from whom, but it has to "fit"with your own vegetation on your layout AND it is a matter of taste!
At the end I always spray the tree twice with matt varnish(aerosolcan) to make it less vulnerable

 

[Steve B]

Thanks for sharing your method's, theye will help me when it's time to make trees