Aston On Clun. A forgotten Great Western outpost.

[MrWolf]

2 minutes ago, MAP66 said:

Nice one, looks like you have enough wire now for a small forest. Good luck with the tree building, it can be quite therapeutic once you get into it. 

 

I think that for the less important trees I can production line them, although each armature needs to be different. I'm quite looking forward to it.

 

Quite intrigued by the MBR Scots pines though!

[MrWolf]

Having taken a look at the Bench of Bodge with a view to fence making followed by tree making, it's obvious that I need to clear the decks before starting anything else.

Amongst the bits lying around were some 3d printed exhausts that I'd removed the modern looking parts from and rusted up, not forgetting to paint the ends of the pipes black so that they look hollow.

 

We've not been for a wander around the village garage for a while and it's less tidy than before.

 

 

 

 

Designated disposal points weren't a thing back then.

 

[MAP66]

3 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

 

I think that for the less important trees I can production line them, although each armature needs to be different. I'm quite looking forward to it.

 

Quite intrigued by the MBR Scots pines though!

Yes, a production line is key to getting through the numbers that you will require and probably won't feel like such a chore. Maybe start with 3 or 4 at a time to get a feel for the materials and techniques required and then slowly add to the numbers. The ones further back can also be more duller in colour and smaller in scale to add to the illusion of being further away.  I've seen lots of methods for making conifers and the like over the years, none of them really convincing, but unable to recall any of them now. I will need to look up those MBR Scots pines. I do still remember how to make a very convincing silver birch though if your interested.

[MrWolf]

Inspired by @JustinDean"s vintage photo, I found one in the archive and gave it the black and white treatment.

 

Aston crossing, 1938.

 

[Bluemonkey presents....]

Fab modelling with that wall and the tracks in the ground, love it. The best trees I have seen if you are wanting a number on a large scale, without smashing the bank or Father Time were made from Sea moss. To me, they appeared very realistic, especially when clumped together to form a large thicket/small wood. With the additional few 'character' trees which was modelled separately with more detail, in the foreground. It all seem very convincing.

[Rowsley17D]

11 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

Rob I'll tell you who made absolutely fantastic trees @Physicsman. I've not seen any recent posts from him but he did a really good step by step guide to producing them. Unfortunately I can't remember what the name of his creation was I'm afraid- forgettory.

 

@Physicsman 's layout is Gill Head in the Settle and Carlisle section 

[Fishplate]

That's looking superb Rob. I like the start of the tractor tracks .

 

Is this the topic you were looking for? :

 

 

Edit : Always read to the end of the latest postings. I see @Rowsley17D got there before me!

Edited December 2, 2023 by Fishplate
As detailed!

[John Besley]

17 hours ago, MAP66 said:

Hi Rob,

this doesn’t solve your need for lots of less detailed trees, but ridiculous as it sounds its dead easy to make a few of your own more detailed trees to plonk in more prominent locations, a nice old Oak by that splendid wall could look good. I made this representation of an English Oak in 4mm scale from a plastic tree armature onto which were grafted twisted wire and finally sprigs of sea foam. The bark texture is deep gap filler with a small amount of dilute pva glue. Ivy vines are strands of plumber’s hemp. Use your choice of different blends of leaf scatter to represent the season you are modelling. I used Vallejo acrylics and Humbrol weathering powders for the colours. Discounting the time to let things dry overnight construction time was around 5 hours.

 

 

That is pretty convincing... I need to make a couple of trees for Exhill however in 7/8th this will require thousands of leaves and even a small sapling would be about 300 to 450mm high to be convincing 

[MrWolf]

23 hours ago, Fishplate said:

 

Similarly aware in a (proper) Mini with HGV's that you could pretty much drive under (or they could swallow you)😬. . . . I'm sure they didn't have as much side protection closing off the under-trailer space in the 1970's as they do nowadays.

 

A Triumph Spitfire MK3 will go underneath most car park barriers with the roof down (just in case you need to give the pole a helping hand.

 

So a friend told me...

 

Useless fact of the day is that the crash protection bars to the rear and side of lorries are known as a Mansfield bar.

Not after a cr@ppy pub in a similar town where one might be accused of spilling someone's pint or looking at someone's "bird" but after the actress Jayne Mansfield who died when her convertible Dodge Polara went under the back of a lorry. 

After which a collapsible bumper bar began to be fitted to lorries.

[MAP66]

2 hours ago, John Besley said:

That is pretty convincing... I need to make a couple of trees for Exhill however in 7/8th this will require thousands of leaves and even a small sapling would be about 300 to 450mm high to be convincing 

I can imagine that tackling scenery in the larger scales can be challenging, especially convincing looking trees. I think I would look to mother nature herself and look for small dead branches and large twigs for suitable armatures, the sea foam and wire still has its place for the finer branches and everything can still be covered in filler to disguise the joins. A case of experimentation for the foliage in that scale, as you’re basically looking at individual leaves. There are leaf cutting dies on the market now which might suit 7/8” scale, not sure how you would go about gluing them all on though without it being very time consuming 🤔

[John Besley]

2 hours ago, MAP66 said:

I can imagine that tackling scenery in the larger scales can be challenging, especially convincing looking trees. I think I would look to mother nature herself and look for small dead branches and large twigs for suitable armatures, the sea foam and wire still has its place for the finer branches and everything can still be covered in filler to disguise the joins. A case of experimentation for the foliage in that scale, as you’re basically looking at individual leaves. There are leaf cutting dies on the market now which might suit 7/8” scale, not sure how you would go about gluing them all on though without it being very time consuming 🤔

 

Old Lavender bushes when they have gone and turned into a shrub are a usefull source of tree parts and yes I have leaf cutters which will work, its been done before in 1/35th scale... just need to clear up some other projects first...

[Rowsley17D]

Hydrangea is another good source of natural armatures. I found Woodland Scenics foliage mats well teezed out to be good looking leaves. 

[MrWolf]

Having been admiring @Gilbert's layout on the Timsbury Bottom S&D in a very small space thread, I've been thinking hard about the ground cover for the wooded areas as well as hedgerows and weeds, all of which are going to be easier to install before things like trees.

 

I've been looking at some of the military and wargaming items on eBay and have ordered a few bits to try out.

 

This being one of them: 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134078414710?

 

I haven't forgotten about the wire fencing and I might just have to get on with that too.

[lezz01]

Nice have you seen this site?

https://www.treemendus-scenics.co.uk/product-category/earth-and-ground-cover/

Regards Lez.

[Gilbert]

7 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Having been admiring @Gilbert's layout on the Timsbury Bottom S&D in a very small space thread, I've been thinking hard about the ground cover for the wooded areas as well as hedgerows and weeds, all of which are going to be easier to install before things like trees.

 

I've been looking at some of the military and wargaming items on eBay and have ordered a few bits to try out.

 

This being one of them: 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134078414710?

 

I haven't forgotten about the wire fencing and I might just have to get on with that too.

Thanks for the kind words.

Tufts are certainly a useful addition to our scenic portfolio.

In terms of TB I plan to add some hedges running along the wire fence as well to soften things visually...

ChrisH

[MrWolf]

On 06/12/2023 at 02:33, lezz01 said:

Nice have you seen this site?

https://www.treemendus-scenics.co.uk/product-category/earth-and-ground-cover/

Regards Lez.

 

Not for quite a while. Somewhere I have some of their forest floor material though. I'll dig it out and see how it looks.

[MrWolf]

I've decided to have a go at building a specimen tree to help disguise where the road exits the layout into the backscene. It was always the plan to have a large tree there and I'm quite looking forward to the challenge.

 

So having spent a bit of time re-reading Modelling broad leaf trees, I took the advice therein and typed "Ash tree winter" into Google images, which came up with some wonderfully idiot proof illustrations.

 

Deposit photos

 

 

[John Besley]

Watching with interest.... there are a number of good YouTube videos on building trees...

 

 

Here's one

[Fishplate]

11 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Somewhere I have some of their forest floor material though. I'll dig it out and see how it looks.

 

If you dig out the forest floor, then not so good as left undug. Context Conundrum 😁

[MrWolf]

A bit of time spent this evening has produced my first wire tree armature in about 35 years. 

The smaller branches need tidying up yet, but here it is in position to see how it looks size wise.

 

[MAP66]

Cracking start Rob, keep on twisting 🔀

[Winslow Boy]

If it's an ash tree, Fraxinus,that your modelling Rob then I'd include one or two limbs that are dead as they are very prone to shedding limbs in winds.

[MrWolf]

10 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

If it's an ash tree, Fraxinus,that your modelling Rob then I'd include one or two limbs that are dead as they are very prone to shedding limbs in winds.

 

Good point, they often drop lower branches as they grow towards the light, a  sort of automatic crown lift. 

It's reminded me that there's often the odd scar on the trunk from shedded branches too.

[MrWolf]

Further twisting of branches and I also found some thinner wire in my stash, which has been twisted in, looped and twisted back on itself before the loop is cut to make extra branches.

 

 

Next stage is to mix up the bark coating. PVA wood glue, PVA filler powder and a dash of water. The resulting glop is brushed on and worked into gaps.

 

 

I've clamped the tree into an old vice as the block of wood I was using wasn't heavy enough. The parcel tape prevents the bark mix sticking to the vice.

 

Another three or four coats required.

[Fishplate]

Looking good Rob 👍