Vic Smith said:
Doing the Angry Beaver it took alot of searching before I found trees I liked, having the same issue with the Schmatterhorn.
I don’t know Vic I am kinda liking these filter furnace trees. Took me maybe half an hour to make one tree so I wouldn’t want to do a forest but for a few here and there it isn’t to bad.
Best trees I ever made had twisted wire trunks and limbs. The bark was liquid latex rubber painted on. Artist acrylics were used for color. The leaves were less spectacular just some woodland scenic’s fiber and foam.
Devon’s flocking might be better…
I’ve heard of yellow snow, I hesitate to know the cause of pink snow(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-sealed.gif).
Wonder if any of this could survive being on my RR?, of course I doubt all my stones will stay glued…
Looks grand, weeds?
John
John Caughey said:
Best trees I ever made had twisted wire trunks and limbs. The bark was liquid latex rubber painted on. Artist acrylics were used for color. The leaves were less spectacular just some woodland scenic’s fiber and foam.
Devon’s flocking might be better…
I’ve heard of yellow snow, I hesitate to know the cause of pink snow(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-sealed.gif).
Wonder if any of this could survive being on my RR?, of course I doubt all my stones will stay glued…
Looks grand, weeds?
John
John,
The limber pine will be done with the twisted wire form as you describe. In my neck of the woods most limber pines are little more than bushes with thick trunks. I will use the filter materiel on the ends of the wire branches and then the flocking and paint.
As to surviving, thats the great thing about doing this for an indoor layout. You get to do stuff like this. My biggest concern is when the elusive 10 ton mountain cats arrive and decide to walk through the layout. I have two of them and will have to devise a plan to keep them off.
You done good with the tree. Are you sure you haven’t done this before? You have a good eye for detail and a great imagination. I’m struggling to keep stones lined up and here you are building (built) an entire diorama(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif). I’ll go back thru your posts and look, but did you do a tutorial on the trees? If not, when you get a chance, after the challenge of course, could you throw a quick how to together? Yet another project for you. You need more trees anyway, so why not do a well written documentary, just in case you forget how to do it in the future (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif).
Wow all that Devoning has really paid off! Got a link to the tree making?
Dan,
I have done “this” before in the sense that I have had both HO and N layouts in the past where I have done scenery. But I have never used any of the techniques I am using here. I never made my own trees always bought them and my base was plaster and paper over wire forms. So I might say I am familiar with what I am trying to achieve but the way I am going about it is all new to me.
There are three main people to thank for the ideas that I am using. Vic is my idol (yeah I said it Vic) his pizzas and his willingness to absolutely stand in defiance of the Large scale rules led me to my dream of this micro indoor. He has taught me to forget everything anyone has told me about Large Scale. He proves that tight curves, clearances in the mm range, and radically reduced proportion buildings can still look very good. Ty (Landrel) Brown has some of the most solid indoor work a person can ask for. Almost everything I am doing is some adaptation of how he is doing his. He not only uses readily available and cheap products but he posts excellent how-to videos on how to apply it. And then my buddy Korm. He thinks outside the box and his indoor uses so many different ideas that he could easily write a book. He looks around everywhere and sees modeling potential. His wife must run scared when he gets that look in his eye. . . no that’s not what I mean rooster, what I mean is he must rummage through the house stealing everything and cutting it up to stick on is layout. Honorable mentions have to go to Ray Dunakin for he absolute genius modeling and laser focus on detail, Eric for his creative use of materiel and excellent hand carving work. All of these guys and many others on here just do inspiring work that I do my humble best to emulate.
If I do something that inspires someone else and can pass on what I have discovered then it is a huge bonus and I have paid my debt to the community.
Vic Smith said:
Wow all that Devoning has really paid off! Got a link to the tree making?
Ty does such a great job of explaining it and exactly what to use. He uses a commercial flocking. I used used coffee grounds and a medium green acrylic paint mixed to form my flocking. But in the end it is two brown so I sprayed over with some green when it was done. I actually like the results. One thing I did do differently, and no offense to Ty but I think it looks better, is before flocking, I teased the layers apart and it gave the tree a ore filled in appearance. his are more layered. Its a personal preference I guess.
Devon Sinsley said:
Craig Townsend said:
You want a easy way to make evergreen trees?I am always open to ideas. But at this point I have a plan for two different style of trees. One is a big pine tree using Ty and Bob H’s filter fabric trees. and then Korm made a tree out of twisted wire that looks like a limber pine which I might try. But like I said I am open to anything.
The idea I was going to give you was along the lines of a furnace filter tree. The only difference is to use an industrial scrubbing pad to polish floors instead of furnace filter material. These pads are 24 or 30 inches around and are fairly dense. Cut off a chunk and then peel the layers for your tree. Same idea as you already have just a different source of material to use. https://goo.gl/images/ieQn7M
Thanks Devon I’m flattered by that compliment, I’ll check out the video.
The snow shed looks great and the tree is very believable! Well done!
Thanks for the video, Devon.
Used coffee grounds? I have heard horror stories about folks who used used coffee grounds for dirt, only to find that after a few months, they have fungal growths all over their layout. Now those stories were relayed to me third and fourth hand, so I do not know how true they are, or under what circumstances they may, or may not, have happened.
We’ll find out. I dried the heck out of them and hopefully they won’t get wet and grow the spores. if my tree develops snow then I will know.
Snow? Ok. I was thinking that maybe it would start growing.
Nice job on the shed and tree. Will it be part of a module or a diorama?
There is still a few weeks left to the build time. Will you make a few more smaller trees?
Todd Haskins said:
Nice job on the shed and tree. Will it be part of a module or a diorama?
There is still a few weeks left to the build time. Will you make a few more smaller trees?
Todd,
Eventually it will be part of my indoor layout when I get a chance to build it. That’s a ways off. Last years challenge and this years challenge are being made for that layout. When the time comes I will plug in the pieces and blend them in. But for now it will be a diorama. I also still have a ways to go on all the little stuff. I am already making another pine tree of a different variety called a limber pine which is more or less a glorified bush. I will make at least one more small bush as well. I have grass to add plus bear grass clumps. So still a bunch of vegetation left to make. Also will be some debris; logs, branches, and rocks. At this point it is about putzing around and adding as much detail as I can muster before the end.
David Maynard said:
Snow? Ok. I was thinking that maybe it would start growing.
Walk down stairs and see that my tree grew a foot? On a serious note if it does start to mold I wonder if I could spray it with some kind of mold and mildew killer to stop the advance. I would hate to condemn the tree. But mold is nothing to play with. Do you know what others did to deal with it?
Devon, no. Like I said its a story that has been told to me third and fourth hand. So I don’t know for sure that it actually happened, and what the end result was.
Bleach is the only thing that will stop mold, I suppose you could use a spray bottle with a bleach solution and spray down any spots if the get mold on them. I would think that between the paint and the glue it would already be pretty well preserved.
I will have to keep an eye on it and go from there. Not to concerned but it is something to watch for.
