A couple more trees for Netherhope/ Balcombe.

[theoldmansminion]

as good a set of trees, as i've seen,

 

what i really like about them, is that you can see through them

 

particularly with birch, very realistic

[Re6/6]

I've been fleshing out the bark on the latest batch of 'olympic period' armatures with a little additional PVA/Artex mixture and then stippling on some 'Green Sceen' bark mix to give rough bark effect. This works very well for the appropriate type of bark needed. I've tried using it as a base for bark but I prefer my own mix for this operation.

 

Next I've been experimenting with Tamiya and Games Workshop acrylics in various combinations of greys, tans, green and black. I've found that adding a little Tamiya silver to the paint for smooth barked trees like beech, give it a little lift.

 

 

This one will probably be used for the 'sea moss' method (mentioned earlier in thread)

and has had the GS tree bark mix stippled on but yet to be painted when I decide what colour it should be. This armature was made using soft aluminium wire.

 

This one has had GS bark stippled on and has been painted

 

This will be large silver birch inspired by Andy Y's lovely pictures earlier in the thread.

 

I've been trying some smaller trees. They still need the foliage trimming and repositioning.

 

 

[Andy Y]

 

If you were to pull the postiche up a little from the visible branches (particularly top left) to give a little more airiness (or do a bit of keyhole surgery to take a few mil off the end of the branch) I think you'll have captured the best silver birch I've ever seen John. Cracking work.

[Re6/6]

Thanks Andy for your kind words.

 

Yes, you're right about the foliage and the errant branches. It still isn't airy enough with more 'dangle factor' required! The mistakes only really show up under the 'cruel' lens.

 

It's still just eluding me. "Must try harder", as it said on my school report!

[Re6/6]

Getting there with silver birches. A bit lighter and more 'droopy' foliage.

This one was foliated using straightened postiche pre-loaded on both sides with a mixture of Green Scene 102 & 125 ground foam. (snap below)

 

 

Experimented with two methods here. Pre-loaded and plain postiche. For these types of trees I prefer to attach the plain to the branches and add the scatter later.

 

A little trimming and removal or covering of that errant branch on top needed.

[Tim Hale]

Have you tried sea foam attached to the wire armature?

 

Tim

[Re6/6]

Another new silver birch (centre), inspired by Andy's excellent snaps.

 

This is a result of a lengthy power outage yesterday!

 

Don't know much about silver birch varieties but there seems to some that have very 'droopy' foliage, others are more 'upright'

 

These are still a little dense. For very sparse and 'airy' looking trees, much more finely detailed armatures will be needed to start with.

 

 

 

[Brian Harrap]

Hello John, came across this the other day - wonder if you should be considering modelling the roots where they spread out above ground at the tree base. Just a thought, Brian

[Neil]

Lovely models John, I guess they take some time to craft. On Monday I picked up a copy of Great Model Railroads 2013 from Smiffs in Aberystwyth. Lots to enjoy but in the context of tree manufacture there's a veritable forest (2300) on Bob Collet's Huntington and Hartford Railroad. Now they're no where near the quality of the specimens you've produced but looked at en masse they're very convincing. The best news is that they take about an hour to do 150. Worth a browse on the new stand.

[Re6/6]

Two medium size (150mm) silver birches for Balcombe . Only about another 100 assorted types of trees to go!

 

Ash trees are the next to experiment with. Could be that they'll go the same way as the elm.