Best Of Lashedup, more tree photos please

[wm3798]

Would it make sense to start with stranded cable or wire?  Seems to me that would be a less expensive option than going through all that floral wire...  I've got about 50' of steel cable out back that the dog just pulled down (used to be his run)...  Perhaps some experimentation...

Lee

[160pennsy]

Would it make sense to start with stranded cable or wire?  Seems to me that would be a less expensive option than going through all that floral wire...  I've got about 50' of steel cable out back that the dog just pulled down (used to be his run)...  Perhaps some experimentation...

Lee

Paddle Wire Green 24 gauge - $1.99
Floral Stem wire 16 gauge - $1.99
Floral Stem wire 20 gauge - $1.99
Super Glue 4pk - $3.99

Ending up with fine detailed pine trees - priceless
Seriously...you're not going to break the bank with these prices from Michael's....you get anywhere from 12-30 pieces of stem wire (18" length) in each pack.

[Andrew Hutchinson]

Re: Michael's floral supply

For conifers I go to the local florist instead of Michael's where I can buy boxes if need be of 28 and 30 ga wire. Usually I pay 1.3-.6 cents CDN per 18" length. I use a different method (Sisal bottle brush) for most of my conifers that works best with smaller wire, so that is where most of my experience lies, however, when I have used the loop method for conifers straightening was not as big a deal as it first appears.  Cedars are likely candidates  for this method but I think more than anything tree shape determines how much of each respective method you employ.

Now for Deciduous trees I do go to Michael's and buy their wound wire. I think it was $1.69 CDN last time out per pound (its been a couple of months since I did so but that is what I seem to remember). They sell it in one and two pound rolls. This is one area that I use the loop method pretty religiously, although with many many more loops compared to the conifers. RMJ had a great series in the early nineties (Spring through winter 1991 I think) based off of the Harvard forest models built in the 1930s. I think Model Railway Journal did something similar in the eighties as well but my memory is fuzzy there.  Copper wire was used in both the Harvard and RMJ interpretations, but I found the Micheal's wire roll to be a lot cheaper and less time consuming since I have to strip the copper wire I bring home from work. THe wire feels slightly leaded but I don't think they would be selling in Michael's if it were. At any rate it is pretty effortless to achieve the spinning motion necessary to make all those loops. It is heavier than it should be for N scale twigs but since most people apply shredded polyfiber, scrubbing pad or filter media as a foliage support this thickness isn't so apparent. For smaller branches or just smaller bushes where better branch control is necessary you can get 34 and 36 ga steel wire on a spool but go back to the real florist shop for that. Michael's selection is more Product No. 1 and Product 1A so it is nice to deal with a proper vendor when one  get's the chance.

Along those lines, for those of you who don't want to pony up for expensive scenic materials to finish with I would recommend the Hundman series and with it Don Ledger's watershed series on tree making that appeared ten or so years ago in Mainline. Fine Jute rope in particular is a handy substitute for static grass when trying  to represent fine twigs, while larger  (1/4" in N scale) sisal strands can fill out a conifer armature regardless of whether you are using a bottle brush or wire loop armature. That said  in the last couple of years I've cut most of the jute out of my conifer recipes in favor of a coarse sawdust I gather from under the cross cut saw in my shop. It is a little longer on average than the same diameter I was getting from the table saw and with a couple rounds of straining the difference is more pronounced and you don't need to cut it with scissors as you do with jute rope.  I still use the fine saw grit from the table saw as a top layer but colour it before applying by making as dry a paint/sawgrit slurry as possible. a yogurt container and a stick get the job done. Once it is dry I coat the tree in glue and apply the fine sawgrit, spinning it out in a yogurt container to force the particles to the branch ends as per the Ledger article.

Great thread by the way!

Andrew Hutchinson



 

[Chris333]

There are some tree pics here:
http://www.modelrailroadphotos.com/photos/member.php?uid=3408&protype=1

[Bob Bufkin]

I just found some green plastic covered wire called Twistee.  Looks like the same stuff used in bread wrappers.  Not sure if the wire is will be thick enough tho.  For 99 cents  for 100 ft on sale it's cheap enough.

[3rdrail]

I just found some green plastic covered wire called Twistee.  Looks like the same stuff used in bread wrappers.  Not sure if the wire is will be thick enough tho.  For 99 cents  for 100 ft on sale it's cheap enough.

If it's what I think it is, it is totally useless for model railroading. It is a single wire reinforced flat strip. But the time you cut off the "wings" in either side of the wire, you could have made many trees using florist's wire.

[Rowan]

There are some tree pics here:
http://www.modelrailroadphotos.com/photos/member.php?uid=3408&protype=1

Nice photos !

 

[160pennsy]

Don't forget to cover the tree with the plaster mixture.

Tom, I must have missed that step  IMHO not sure you really need the plaster for n-scale trees

Andrew, thanks for the tip on the florist shop bulk packs. Regarding the N-Scale magazine Don Ledger articles, once I use up my current materials I might have to try the sisal rope spinning trunk method

Update on the florist wire (Scotchpine Jos) method - Stretching out & cutting up the filter material into little fuzz balls was VERY tedious. Also have to avoid pressing them back together into a big clump in your tray. Need to keep space & air between them so when it's time to add them to the tree armatures, they fall down as separate pieces. I still had to move or stretch them around afterward. To quote Mr. Jos ...less is more!!

Over on the Atlas forum Tim Horton asked about the colours...The economical spray cans are my typical brown/gray tree color choices from the big box store - Camouflage, Chestnut Brown, Nutmeg & Primer. For the these models I primarily used Camouflage & Chestnut Brown. My prototype reference comes from all the tall pines here in North Carolina...not postive but I think they're loblolly pines?

Holding off on the final step of adding the static grass until I have some on hand. My Scenic Express shopping basket currently has spring greeen, late summer, dark green & forest green static flock, but I'm open to any suggestions.

[sirenwerks]

Paul,

The dead, bare branch at the bottom of the tree on the right is a nice touch. I don't know that I've ever seen a mature fir or pine without dead lower branches. Usually lots of them.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Well this is definatly the way to gp for long needle pine.

[wm3798]

It might be time to shift this topic over to Tutorials and Hints so it doesn't get lost... Very Good Stuff.
Lee