Best Of how to make deciduous and/or pinetrees

[LIRR]

no particular species .... just a generic conifers. I'm not trying for museum quality models of the tree, my purpose is to populate the layout scenery with trees....

[peteski]

no particular species .... just a generic conifers. I'm not trying for museum quality models of the tree, my purpose is to populate the layout scenery with trees....

Majority of modelers building train layouts will not take the tree-making process to *THAT* level of detail. But even so, applying Jos' techniques will yield really nice looking generic trees. After all, most modelers need to divide their hobby time between many facets of modeling and operating layouts, while it appears that Jos is really concentrating on the nature aspect of scale modeling.

I have noticed that Jos takes the tree modeling to the next level. His botanical and art backgrounds are also beneficial in his modeling. He researches and makes his trees with the same level of detail as modelers scratchbuliding locomotives, maintaining accuracy with the prototype and paying attention to even the most minute details.  I would even go as far as comparing Jos tree modeling  to Max's scratchbuilding his locomotive.  Even though Jos' trees don't take as long to make as scratchbuilding a locomotive, his attention to details is as intense as @mmagliaro . I hope that neither one minds the comparison.

[grove den]

Well ....ok...I don't....
LIRR: I won't  bother you anymore with more questions and/or other technical things about modelling trees
just fresh from my nursery:2 old oaktrees 8 inches


detail of the base of the trunk:


Jos

[svedblen]

Nice work on the oak-tree bark. How did you do that?

[grove den]

Hello Lennart,

I use a kind of "caulk" for the texture on the trunk:a quick drying interrior filler that will stay flexible.
I add some acrylpaint to give the "paste" a darker basic color. Mostly I use black and ( yellow)ocre . These 2 colours will make a nice dark olive kind of colour.
Right after  I mixed the caulk and the acrylpaint I add this stuff with an old  small short haired stiffbrush on the trunk and "main"branches. I repeat the stroke s with the brush several times during the caulk is "drying"/"thicken" . That is all....
To check the texture I've made I put the trunk right next to my desklamp: the texture is clearly visible now  because of the cast shadows!









Because the old stiff brush has less hairfibers and that will lead to small kind of grooves. If you want these grooves more visible than make/bend  your own engravingneedle/rake  by using a piece of thin wire!


the texture you made will be more visible after a  darkblack/greyish wash of deluted acrylpaint...lett dry and finaly drybrush carefuly the trunk with a very light colour like buff or very light kahki.....


Jos

[svedblen]

Thanks Jos!    I assume you use some kind of acrylic caulk?

[grove den]

Yes Lennart, I use a kind of acrylic caulk so I can easily mix the caulk with the acryl paint.
Btw you could also use acryl paste used by painters to give the paint more "strength"( modelingpaste from- for example-  Liquitex? It is just what you (will) prefer....
a picture of the stuff( modeling paste) I can buy overhere:


Jos

[LIRR]

It’s not a bother.....I think the whole point of this forum is sharing idea and techniques as well as giving and recieving feedback

[LIRR]

I lightly misted the trees with hunter green spray paint, that sufficiently toned down the white spray-glue residue. That makes version 3 my best efforts so far. now I find my first batch of trees are no longer up to my standards and will be relegated to the background at least, perhaps not used on the layout at all.....

[grove den]

LIRR:
Don't throw away any tree....I re- use the trees as a "shrubtree"!!:
By using a a tweezer :  try to undo the fibers/foliage that was made of fibres and coarse/fine turf, from each "branch/wire by putting the points of the tweezer close to the trunk and carefuly slide the tweezer to the outside of the tree. I use sprayglue so it is not that difficult to remove the glued fibres/foliage from the branches.
One tree can make more then 20+ small shrubs!

Jos

[grove den]

Another big oak under construction. about 27 cm/11 inches
The frame of the oak was made with a piece of  the trunk of an  old boxwood .
Completed with branches made of 2 mm aluminiumwire as a "core"and twisted 0,4 mm floristic wires aound it and modelled the finer/smaller branches/twigs.
All spry painted in a basic ochre/khaki colour!

to be continued....

Jos

[tom mann]

These just get better and better all the time...

[grove den]

Bark of the old oak "in wintertime"is ready and also first time "drybrushed" the texture:
Matthias oude eik 1 64 drybrushed 1Klformmbbgroveden by Jos Geurts, on Flickr

Also completed a scale 1: 17 spruc etree with 3 trunks:
1 auf 17 Fichte 5-2-2018 bKlformmbbgroveden by Jos Geurts, on Flickr

Jos

[LIRR]

As I mentioned, as I get the hang of this and refine my methods my first batch of trees are no longer up to my standards....so I decided to try to rebuild them. This is a tree from my first batch....too full & bushy...



I stripped off the foliage, I see I used way too many branches....



So I trimmed and removed nearly half the branches



And rebuilt with my latest technique....

[LIRR]

Latest batch.....