RSS Fetcher Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 The grass work and hedgerows on the layout are nearing completion, but trees have so far been conspicuous by their absence! In between other projects on the layout I've been collecting materials to help with a bit of forestation :-) Although I've made a few 4mm trees in the past, I've never attempted something in 7mm scale and was initially a bit intimidated by the size of a scale tree. A hundred foot elm was a fairly common sight before Dutch Elm disease struck in the 1970s, so would not have been unusual in my modelled period. Now in 7mm scale this would mean a model tree 700mm or about 2 feet 4 inches tall! I normally try to keep things as close as possible to scale but in this case I decided a bit of selective compression was in order to avoid the trees dwarfing what is in reality a fairly small layout. I bought myself a copy of Gordon Gravett's excellent book on tree construction. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Modelling-Trees-Part-one-Broadleaf/dp/1905184883This has loads of inspirational photographs and step by step guides, that I found really useful and can wholeheartedly recommend to prospective tree modellers! The "framework" for the trees was built up from lengths of paper covered florists wire. This is a available in a variety of thickness's, I found the 28 gauge the most useful. It can be obtained from most florists, but I bought mine online at http://www.craftcompany.co.uk/22-gauge-dark-green-florist-wire-360mm.html The wire is available in a number of colours , I used dark green, but as its all going to painted at a later stage any colour will do! Paper covered wire The wire was twisted together to make small "sub assembly twigs and branches" that when joined together would form the main branches of the tree, as indicated in Gordon's book. Although the wire is fairly soft and flexible, I found that a pair of pliers was useful to hold the wire firmly during the twisting process. Twisted wire branches Once a number of these branches had been constructed they were bunched together and held in position with more twisted wire to form the main trunk of the tree. I found it really useful to work from photographs of prototype specimens taken while out walking my dogs. The trunks were then wrapped in masking tape to create some bulk and minimise the twisted wire appearance. Completed tree armature The armature was then painted with a thick viscous mixture of PVA glue, Artex plaster powder and grey/brown acrylic paint. A number of coats of this mixture needed to be applied before the twisted wire appearance was masked by the mixture. Once set this coating remains flexible and it is still possible to bend the branches into any desired position. Coated armatures In order to simulate the fine twigs and provide a network of fibres that would support the tree's foliage, I used some Woodland Scenics polyfibre. This was teased out to be as fine and delicate as I could manage and then laid over the outer branches of the trees. Polyfibre The polyfibre was then held in position and coloured by spraying the trees with dark brown acrylic paint using an aerosol can. Coloured polyfibre in situ Once the paint had dried the polyfibre was sprayed with clear matt acrylic varnish and then various coloured scatters from the Greenscene range http://www.green-scene.co.uk/Scatters.htmlwere sprinkled onto the outer branches of the trees. The tress were then ready for positioning on the layout and moved around until I was happy with the their placement. As yet they are not glued in position because I still need to work on the backscene landscape and they'll get in the way! The next few pictures are of the trees in position, some of them even include a locomotive! View down to end of run round loop and stop blocks Weighbridge hut and point indicator 2021 class number 2112 waiting to run round No 2112 approaching the crossover onto the loop. Oak and Elm So that's the latest progress! Many more trees are going to need to be constructed and I really must paint some hills on that back scene! Best wishes Dave Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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