MAP66

Thanks Steve, Yes, I have the tools etc. which go with the kit, you will know how fiddly they are to assemble and remove from the fret. Very difficult not to distort the brass and a lot of fettling is required. I want to make two of the roof window frames and one window frame on each side as openers. Not sure if I'm up to the task but I will certainly give it a go. I have lots of ready made landscaping bits, foliage and plant stuff I've hoarded over the past couple of years as I had intended to model an allotment at some point, so this diorama will be a good excuse to use some of it in representing the garden features.

With the tree now complete, I decided it needed to be displayed on a diorama as opposed to the other option of putting it away, then forgetting about in which case it would undoubtedly end up damaged. A rummage through my unfinished bits box turned up a half complete brass greenhouse kit and a yet to be started garden shed. Ahh, I thought, a back garden scene. So that's what its going to be and again it will be on an 8"square base, but this time foam board. I'm working on the greenhouse at the moment and its all in 4mm scale, the tree being a large silver birch at 50' tall. Here's a couple of images of the greenhouse still under construction as I'm adding additional microstrip to form more windows.

I thought you were clearing your work space to make room for Ze Panzer Kampfwagen!

Chris, all this talk about paint organisation has 'stirred' something in me to the extent that I have put up additional shelving above my modelling work bench, had a clear out and ordered a new paint rack. Thank you for sharing your idea which did the trick in getting more organised. Also hadn't mentioned it as yet, what a cracking crane- superb work! Now get on with the Goods shed

I had a good stint at the tree today and its more or less complete now, just needs some additional detail here and there and the thin supporting wire disguised in some places. I've added a few images of how it looks now and a couple more close ups showing the bark detail on the trunk. This one will be destined for another diorama I think when completed.

No Problem Yan, glad you found my tree endeavours of use. I also thought you could only get good results from using wire and I'm glad I had a go with plastic armatures combined with seafoam. If I ever get the space for a layout in the future, then the plastic armature method of modelling trees would be the choice for me, with maybe just one or two wire constructed silver birch.

Thanks Mikkel, I hope you find many uses for the polyfibre, I always make sure I have some in stock.

As I attach evermore hanging green stuff to the tree frame, I find myself thinking; good job I've nothing on for the next 'month of Sundays' because that's about how long its going to take. I shall persevere regardless, as its turned into a labour of love. Once all the greenery is attached, I will concentrate on further detailing of the bark where it is visible. So more pics to show, I'm about a third of the way there, hey ho

Thanks Stuart, very kind of you to say so. Its all a bit 'make it up as you go' with this one, hopefully though I will end up with a convincing looking silver birch tree. All the best Mark

Well I'm slowly venturing into the unknown with the silver birch build. I have now twisted single strands of very thin copper wire onto the main branches, the idea that they will serve to support the hanging lengths of polyfibre. I then coated everything with plastidip spray (word of caution, do this outside where there is plenty of fresh air and still wear a mask). I then attached some lengths of polyfibre again to see how it looks, so far so good. The thin now white wire helps support the polyfibre but the white shows through in places, so before I continue any further, I will paint these wires green to camouflage them. Hopefully, that will do the trick. Here's a few more progress pics.

As promised, front fascia painted and name plate applied. That should keep the little folk happy for the time being and give me a bit of head scratching time to figure out a sector plate.

Nice work Keith, its coming along very nicely indeed. We had a bit of a change round with rooms recently, I hope you end up with somewhere to continue creating your layout projects (I was allowed a corner of a room) which was an upgrade from the dining table. Still getting used to my new domain though.

I've had a go at attempting the distinctive bark patterns, mainly on the trunk using black/grey paint and a 000 brush. Then I dry brushed a green colour, mainly up one side of the tree and then added some tea dust for texture. The tea dust when dry will need to be blended in by painting white and black/grey. A final going over with white weathering powder will probably also be required if any of the colours are too strong. More branches are required at the top half of the tree to fill it out a bit. The plastidip spray arrived and after a couple of coats of the stuff on a test straight piece of wire, I am able to coat the wire with a brush on filler mix to add some fine bark texture. I am going to remove the foilage netting that I have applied previously as it was just to see if it would work and then apply it again more precisely. Here's a couple more progress pics.

Nice one, I sometimes refer to mine as "Ulings" (same train of thought), as the little folk of TH are descended from the greater "Model" tribe.

Quick, pretend you know what your doing, we're being watched!

Careful what you wish for marc, the little people are very impatient folk and only help if they feel things are not progressing fast enough for them. Although their intentions are sometimes good, they are rubbish workers, being too rigid and inflexible for my liking. You can't read them either, no facial expression . I just tolerate them as I don't wish to offend them. I'll be painting the facia at the weekend

I've taken a short break from tree making and come back to Tyteford Halte in a final push to get a few things finished off. It seems the little people of TH have become somewhat impatient with my lack of involvement lately and have taken it upon themselves to make a start on painting the front of the layout facia. I startled one of them (friend of Arthur the painter I think) when I went downstairs early this morning and switched the light on, nearly causing the little fellow to fall from his ladder. Anyway, I think they were just hinting at me to get on with it, lets face it will take ages with that brush and one ladder, so I will take over.

Thanks Steve, much appreciated. I measured the height of the tree and its topping out at a scale 50' in 4mm scale, mature silver birch grow to that height I think, so your correct it could be used in either scale. I have a copy of Gordons grassland and landscape book (highly recommended) but not his tree one unfortunately, so I will push along using the trial and error technique. I have included photos of the polyfibre, made by Polak, a quick internet search should return a number of UK stockists selling this stuff. It comes in a number of different grades and shades of green and has many uses in landscape modelling, I used some of it to drape over the stone retaining wall in the tree diorama. Just cut off strips and tease out to the desired shape and then glue in place. You can apply it directly over static grass to look like clumps of weeds or undergrowth, have it trailing over gates, railings walls and sides of buildings and/or structures and climbing up trees etc to resemble ivy - loads of uses. The only problem it has, is when you tease out the material a lot of the scatter gets dislodged and comes off leaving areas a bit bald. I rectify this after gluing it in place by giving it a quick spray with some scenic glue, hairspray or matt varnish and then sprinkling on some more scatter material on the baldy bits.

Well I said I would have a go at a Silver Birch (Betula pendula) is the variety I will attempt to model. Due to the slender trunk and wiry branches of this variety of silver birch I am not able to use plastic armatures or seafoam and instead, will construct from wire instead. So the title of this thread no longer makes sense, apologies for that but I didn't want to start another thread just for this tree. I've put up a few images to show the early stages of progress. I should also mention that this particular tree is more suited to 7mm scale, so now the title of the thread is completely meaningless, apart from the tree bit . I'm using wire similar to florists wire, 4 lengths twisted together for the main trunk and single lengths of wire to form the branches. The single lengths of wire used to form the branches are simply bent around the trunk twice to hold them in place and then secured with a blob of superglue gel. I then applied the deep gap filler as before which was no problem on the trunk areas but very tedious for the branches as there is not adequate surface areas for the filler to adhere to. I will need to come up with a quicker and better solution for the thin branches. I did a little research and have ordered a product called plastidip aerosol spray which I'm hoping will add a surface to the wire which the filler will stick to. This is very much an experimentation for me and so I have jumped the gun and started to add a few lengths of teased out polyfibre tree netting in an attempt to replicate the weeping foliage. Early stages show some promise, so I will keep going a bit further before turning my hand to painting the distinctive bark patterns. That's going to be the showstopper I feel, if it doesn't look convincing then, at least I know why others buy ready made silver birch

Hi Steve Thanks for following and for the great comments throughout the year, all very much appreciated. I have a few ideas rattling around in my brain, not for a layout as no room unfortunately. For now I will continue with kit building, maybe some rust wagon weathering (haven't tried that yet) and I need to have another go at point construction in P4, with a tie bar that I'm happy with. Then there's that High Level chassis kit I need to make a start on for the Airfix 14XX - oh, and the Airfix Autocoach which I started to improve and have since abandoned. Before all that though, there's a few final tweaks at TH to complete and I'm at the moment, at least, still happy with making trees - silver birch next. Hope your still keeping busy on the modelling front too. All the best Mark

I just realised that it was a year ago yesterday that I started this thread, blimey!! which then made me think, its about time you finished it off, so apologies again for the lack of updates recently. So, I have been doing a bit of tree construction under a separate thread as previously mentioned and my first plastic armature and seafoam attempt turned out pretty good I think. I have now incorporated it into a small diorama. I used the same technique to construct a smaller tree for Tyteford Halte which I have just managed to squeeze in to the right of the small lamp hut. Here are the images...

Loving the sash window detailing, having a couple of them half open is a nice feature. Looking forward to further updates.

I'm glad to report that the smaller tree is now planted on Tyteford Halte, to the right of the lamp hut - just about squeezed it in without too much of a haircut. I've included a side shot of the tree to show the low relief profile which allowed me to locate the tree almost right up against the backscene. This is not apparent when viewed from the front as shown in the wider shot. What next.... maybe that silver birch as a practice piece, but it will need to be with wire this time.

Managed to sprinkle on some foliage this evening, I used the same colour as for the diorama tree, oak leaf from the green scene collection which is an olive green colour and then some darker green scatter for a bit of contrast. This tree is destined for Tyteford Halte which is modelled on July/August time. The final stage will now be to add some finishing paint details and weathering powders to areas of the trunk and branches which remain visible. I will post some images after the tree gets planted which will involve some final tweaking to fit it in. It seems that after an initial offering up, the tree will now be located to the right of the lamp hut as a wee more space is required.

Keith, your making excellent progress with using the items you have to hand. You must have already hit the requisite 2 items of 'rubbish' already and your concept already covers the railway elements, so your well on the way. Keep the updates coming Keith, this is just the early stages of a soon to be splendid Cakebox entry. Mark