With the first section of my layout’s ground cover well under way, it was
time to start putting some trees together. Since my layout is set in a
mountainous terrain, it will feature forests comprised of pine trees, most
of which will be in the back-half of my layout. The front half will feature
more deciduous type trees around the residential, commercial, and industrial
areas.
I used Woodland Scenics plastic tree armatures for my pine trees and for
the majority of my deciduous trees. Using the tree armatures does of course
require assembly but are a lot less expensive and look far more realistic
then most pre-made trees. Making trees completely from scratch is probably
the most economical option and I like the look and ease-of-use of the tree
armatures, so this was the option I chose.
The first step was to prep the armatures by bending the branches and limbs
into a 3-dimensional shape. Once all the armatures were properly shaped, I
mounted them by their bases to a sheet of foam board. I will not use the
bases of the trees on my layout as they look unrealistic, however the bases
worked well for holding the armatures upright while I work on them. I
airbrushed the armatures with a mixture of chocolate brown and gray paint to
get achieve the desired colour. I then applied a coat of dull-coat to get
rid of any gloss left on the trees.
Next I applied adhesive onto the armatures. Woodland Scenics recommends
their own tacky adhesive, Hob-e-Tac, so this is what I used. I applied it to
the armatures using the supplied brush, doing about six trees at a time. I
was careful to not apply too much glue to the trunk of the tree as most
trees don’t have a large amount of foliage growing out in that area. I let
the Hob-e-Tac set for about 15 minutes until it became clear and very
tacky.
I then dipped and rolled the armatures in Woodland Scenics foam products. I
used Conifer Green Coarse Turf for the pine trees and a combination of
Medium Green Clump Foliage and Underbrush for the deciduous trees. I also
had a couple deciduous armatures from Life-Like which I covered with Light
Green Coarse Turf. I found that the pine trees looked a little empty, so I
used Conifer Green Foliage to fill them in a bit. By using different sized
pieces of foliage which I stretched out and placed randomly between the
branches, the pine trees lost their generic, pipe-cleaner look.
I noticed the next day that large amounts of the clump foliage had fallen
off of my deciduous trees. I realized that unlike the very light coarse turf
I used on my pine trees, the heavier clump foliage did not get a good enough
grip on the Hob-e-Tac adhesive from simply rolling the armature around in
the material. Instead, I had to hand pressed all the clump foliage back onto
the armature to ensure that it was properly secured. I then shook each tree
to remove any loose pieces and to see where I needed to apply more.
The final step was to highlight the trees with blended turf to give the the
trees a more realistic look. I sprinkled a little bit of Earth Blend on the
pine trees, and used Green Blend on the deciduous trees. I then gave all of
the trees a spray of thinned white glue to seal everything in. Be careful to
not get the clump foliage too wet, as the added weight is actually enough to
cause the clumps to drop off of the armatures.
The trees are now ready to be added to my layout. I should have my fist
post on the first stage of my scenery within the next couple weeks, as long
as everything goes as planned.
