Hi all.

After a few months of working on the fiddle yards, track laying and getting Ropley to the stage where it could be operational in time for RMweb Live, it's time to turn back to the scenics side of the layout.

A few entries ago I was experimenting with producing trees using the methods described here. Since then I have also found this gentleman's work, which is simply amazing. They appear to broadly follow the same method, and I have tried to use a similar one for the trees on Ropley.

The trees start with a wire frame produced using florists wire, which is twisted into branches and then trimmed to the desired lengths. Superglue is then applied to the frame, and whilst this is still wet, bicarbonate of soda is sprinkled onto it. This has two purposes, the first being to set the superglue rock solid, and the second to give some texture to the trunk and branches. Fibrous teddybear stuffing is then glued to the branches, and teased out to give more bulk to the tree. The basic method is covered in this blog entry.

The last couple of evenings have been spent making the trees that will line the top of the embankment at the far Eastern end of the layout. Originally this tree line was much longer, stretching down to just past the water tower, but since the installation of the footbridge it has been cut right back to start just past the carriage and boiler shop building. The only difference between previous experiments and these trees is that in place of the random bag of scatter used for foliage, I used some fine scatter from Treemendus.

I don't think my efforts are anywhere near as convincing as those in the two links above, but I'm pleased with them. It's amazing the difference just this handful of trees makes to the look and feel of the layout!

A more simple method of representing the tree line which runs along the entire length of the rear of the yard may need to be found, as twisting the wire for these three trees has taken its toll on the fingers! That said these need only be 'low relief', so it may be manageable if they are made up over a period of time.

Cheers all,

Tom.

Ropley is a N Gauge Model using 2mm Finescale Easitrac modelled after the real location on the Mid Hants Railway Watercress Line.