here i document my conversion of small (and cheap) christmas trees into firs for my layout.
(the first part is partially copied from another thread, but i think, the new indoor section of the forum deserves well structured threads. so i start over again.)
first i took some copper and alu pipes and sawed them into different lengths.
then i used copper wire to make sceleton roots.
soldering didn’t work well, so i took the short lane. some tape and they stay more or less in place.
i think, i will use silicon sealer, to flesh out the roots.
the finish of the bark will be paint with sawdust.
how to make the foilage acceptable i will know after some tests.
the trees will be planted 2" deep into the foam that makes up the ground.
hence the treetrunks go further down than the visible part.
for additional stability and for looks there will be some roots spreading out on the surface of the ground.
these are made from pieces of copperwire, twisted and fixed to the stems with tape.
and, no it is not just because i’m sloppy, that the tape is not laid on smoothly. this way i hope to get slightly unregular treetrunks,
the loops at the ends of the roots will be cut open before texturing.
then i fleshed out the roots, and specially the “knees” at the union of trunks and roots with some silicon-sealer.
(used that, because it stays flexible, for later bending the roots individually according to the positions, where the trees will be)
no pic. i forgot to take that step.
with a nixture of normal, oilbased householdpaint and some spoons full of sand for poolfilters i made a thick smear.
in the pic below one can see, how coarse the treetrunks became from this stuff.
when they are dry, i will cover them with a mist of dull, light grey from a spraycan. (that will be quicker than drybrushing)
next step will be to give the very cheap and plastic-like looking treeheads some additional foilage.
first try will be to apply a abundant coat of green from a spraycan, then covering it with sawdust - and spray again.
