Dyeing Super Tree Stems?

[C855B]

Robyn has been going gangbusters with Super Trees and is having a blast. We planted one on the layout to get a sense of where we were, and the assessment was the canopy was great, but the trunk and branches were too light.



So far she has tried adding artists' dyes (brown and black) to the matte medium soak, but they seem not to penetrate well. We get a little darkening, but not nearly enough. I suggested a pre-soak in a dye solution, and I guess the next step is to pick-up some Rit during our errand running; she said her dyes were too expensive for this sort of thing.

Other ideas are solicited for darkening the stems en-masse.

[Philip H]

hang the stuff from a line outside and Airbrush?

[Chris333]

I spray paint them.

[wazzou]

I spray paint them.

Yep.

[davefoxx]

I spray bomb mine.

[TLOC]

While I have moved away from Super trees the only time I got the trunks the correct color was with the airbrush. Be thankful Robyn is helping you with these.

Tom

[nuno81291]

+1 to spray bomb. I’ve planted the armatures in bulk on a scrap foam piece or hung them on a clothesline after straightening and dipping in diluted glue. The ones I dipped seem to be holding up better than those I didn’t some 7 years later now. I preferred clustering them to paint as it uses less paint.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I spray bomb the ***** outta mine. Because they're naked the color is really important.

I usually plant a bunch in a piece of styrofoam, take em outside and give em the works.

I use a mix of "treetrunk" (https://m.valsparpaint.com/color-detail.php?id=1782&g=1016), gray primer, flat brown and a tiny touch of red primer to warm it up.

[C855B]

I hear everybody on this, but Robyn's not fond (at all!) of spray bombs. I catch hell every time I use one, invariably eliciting my catchphrase, "Get over it!".

Seriously, tho', I also have to wonder given the process to keep them pliable is soaking in the acrylic medium and the spray would clog the pores rendering them too crispy. Are we spraying before or after the initial soak, obviously letting the soak dry first?

From our experiments so far came a "D'oh!" moment. Forget the dyes, use wood stains. We have lots of different shades around the workshop. Quick dip, let dry. Advantage, I feel, is the stain works with the natural material for the visual texture. The test with stain is drying right now, so I figure she will flock it tonight. Will post then.

[Maletrain]

I took a bunch of Tamiya spray paint tops out to the woods and held them against tree trunks to see what really matched best.  I guess it should be no surprise that it turned out to be "olive drab", the old WWII camouflage paint color.  That seems to give the closest overall impression match.  There just seems to be a little green in the gray of tree trunks.  (Most are not very brown.)  I am not as far along with trees as you (or as I want to be), but am thinking of painting the armatures olive drab as a base and then streaking on a medium gray in a mostly vertical cross-hatch with a dry brush to see if I can match oak bark in N scale.

Stains seem like another idea, but I don't know how they will work with the various "toughening" treatments like mat medium or glycerin.  I am going to try penetrating epoxy on some weeds and super trees ("sea foam" plants) to see if that makes them substantially less breakable.  I am sure that I will need to paint those if I epoxy them first, and am thinking that wood stain would limit epoxy penetration if I used that first.

If anybody else wants to try any of these ideas first, it could save me a lot of wasted effort if they don't turn out as well as I am hoping.  

[Santa Fe Guy]

Much to your wives chagrin I use spray bombs and have so on my Super trees for over twenty years. I chose to spray a colour called Mocha, sometimes light brown then a light spray from the top down with light grey and then spray up using flat black VERY sparingly to add some shadows in close to the trunks.
Do not waste your time soaking it does not do anything and I have planted well over 450 of the suckers in N Scale and On30.
If any are bent, just use a warm soldering iron by placing close to the side away from the bend and just gradually straighten. This works.
Rod.

[peteski]

I hear everybody on this, but Robyn's not fond (at all!) of spray bombs. I catch hell every time I use one, invariably eliciting my catchphrase, "Get over it!".

Maybe, if feasible, spraying outdoors would not be all that problematic? Or are there other reasons for her dislike of aerosols?

[C855B]

Well, she didn't work on the stained test core tonight; more preoccupied with her own experiments shaping the canopies. Snapshot from her older iPhone, hence the blur:



Have to give her credit, for a first-timer I'd call these pretty usable. The one on the right is an experiment with air-hardening clay to form a more proportional trunk base. I suggested a little touch-up with an X-acto to give it texture, and she might add a little bit of dye there.

"150 to go!" she says. That's the ticket.

Maybe, if feasible, spraying outdoors would not be all that problematic? Or are there other reasons for her dislike of aerosols?

It doesn't matter, really. My choice is to assist in methods acceptable to her and offer encouragement, or do it myself. I value her involvement in producing the layout and especially her enthusiasm for this process, and need to respect her preferences.

[CRL]

If my wife was kind enough to build a few hundred trees for my layout, I’d be very careful with any suggestions or constructive criticism offered for fear that said trees would be shoved somewhere that would cause me significant physical discomfort and distress.

[davefoxx]

"150 to go!" she says. That's the ticket.

Only 150 to go?  Haha!  She has no idea!   

DFF