Show Us Your Home Made Trees!


B_Kosanda

Member
This idea was started in another thread. I thought it would be interesting to see pictures of other people's home made trees, deciduous or evergreen, I don't care. Let's see 'em! Constructive criticism allowed. Maybe we'll all see something new.

Here's some of my recent creations. These are made from dowel rods, furnace filters and Woodland Scenics ground foam.

Bill
 
Okay Bill,
Here's a shot of my loco in the trees.
Shamus
Scratchbuilt
bt02.jpg

 
QK! can't match you guys yet, but given time I might come up with something. This is a little scenario I did to see what I could do with the spur to the power plant, The trees are a mixed lot some weed trees from an experiment a few years ago, Some Lichen from a club module ( painted ) and some Lichen treated and dye'd by myself, last but not least hand made spruce ( bamboo trunk furnace filter branches ground foam foilage) anyway I like it enough to make some good trees for the area.

Cheers Willis
 
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OK, I had told Bill that this thread would get me back into the trainroom finally.

The problem is that the trainroom is temporarily filled with excess furniture...but the kamasutra tripod once again got me out of a fix....

This Live Oak (HO) is handmade from stranded electrical wire, I think it was about 1/4" in diameter without the insulation. Once the armature/wood part is shaped, I coat it with a latex filler material (i forgot the name, heck even latex caulk would do). Then I paint the wood with, well, a wood color paint...whatever I have in the paint cabinet, i may blend some to get the right look.

I then cover the frame with Woodland Scenics foam.

Needless to say, these take a while to make but they really stand out and besides you don't need a lot in South Texas.
 
Some thoughts:

One of the reasons I took up photography was to help my models be more accurate. Well, it worked enough to convince my wife..... I quickly found that perfection was an impossible goal and quickly settled on a "reasonable representation" frame of mind. Of course, I'm pretty arbitrary on my application of it.....

The best thing I can offer to anyone looking to do scenery (or even any model) is to study the real whatever. Yes, study trees. Stand back and look at them at all angles.

How are the limbs shaped?
Can you even see the limbs?
What's the overall proportion?
What makes one different from the one next to it?
How high are the lowest limbs?
How tall is it relative to other things like buildings, trains, telephone poles, etc?

Other details I like to consider:
how does it look at the ground? Does it flair a lot or just a bit or none at all?
How's the bark's texture? Color?

But most importantly, what will the model tree do on the layout? Will it be a scenic element all to itself or does it provide a representation or effect without being distractive to the real focus of the scene (usually the train)?

Obviously, my Live Oaks are "foreground" trees, meaning they don't blend in, at least I hope! They are planted in front of the tracks usually. For background trees like so many of us need in larger volumes, trees with no or little detail are more than suitable. They don't need lots of detail because they are behind the bulk of the scene, and the larger number of trees is used to manage an overall effect, not a single focal point.

It's not that one is better than the other, it's more about the purpose it serves on the layout.
 
Hi kenw, I like the oak tree although I haven't seen any around here, mostly Maple birch and evergreen types. Your method should work quite well for the maple and birch so I'll probly give it a try in the winter months.

Cheers Willis
 



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