Nov 14 2008
How To - Make Model Trees with Plants
How To - Make Model Trees with Plants
Fall and early winter is a great time of year to gather natural materials for your model railroad scenery. The sap has left your plants and the woody parts should be mature. Dried plants, weeds, seed pods, and twigs can be gathered to provide the basic structure for your model broad leaf trees.
Strip off any remaining leaves, berries, or seeds. Dry the plants by hanging them upside-down indoors. If you dry them standing up right they may dry into a drooping position. Tie them with a string and hang the plants up side down in a dry space for a week or more. If you want to speed up the process you can use glycerin beads from a florist supplier. Follow the directions carefully.
You want thin, branching plant materials. They should be in the correct size for your scale. Berry bushes often have excellent scale bark grain and nice thin branching. You usually need to trim off smaller pieces to get the correct size. The cutting goes best with a pair of sturdy scissors or nippers. A small razor knife takes more effort, but it works too. Cut them a little long on the base so that they can be glued into the base of your scenery. If the plant is too thin consider bundling and gluing several pieces together.
Once dry, and cut, you can add leaves. Dip the ends in white glue or spray with adhesive. Then sprinkle “ground foam” on the glued tips. Make sure the glue is the kind that dries clear and is NOT glossy. You may even use “mat medium” to serve as your adhesive. If your tree (or shrub) does not have enough leaves, simply add more glue and sprinkle on additional “ground foam.
Stick your trees in a “working” block of scrap rigid foam. Do not glue them to the working base. Used packing from electronics or a block of florist’s foam from a craft store will hold your trees while working on them.
You will want to purchase “ground foam” and “clumps” in various sizes and colors. Woodland Scenics Company has a fine range of products. Open the plastic bags into clean and dry food sprinkler containers such as those used for spices or grated cheese.
The most realistic look comes from using several sizes and related colors of ground foam. Start with the course foam or “clumps” and then use medium, then fine. Clumps may even bridge between branches. Use a slightly darker color first and a closely related lighter color on top. Work on some paper. Shake off excess material once the glue has dried. (If you kept the colors separate at each stage you can even put it back into your sprinklers for future use.) Spray on more glue or mat medium to hold each layer.
Dark, then lighter colors creates the illusion of shadows below, and sunlit leaves on top. Larger clumps support medium and fine ground foam. The choice of colors is based on the type of trees, and season, you are modeling.
For a “forest” use mostly course foam for the background trees. Make a few “feature” trees for the foreground. If you are trying to create a forest, keep the trees close together. Do a small section to the desired density and increase the size of your forest later. Trees spread out too much will not look like a forest. Dense patches are better than the same number of trees spread out. Make several patches and the mind will “fill in” the rest of the forest (because your eyes have sent the brain the message “dense forest”).
Vary the type and color of the trees based on natural conditions and location. Trees in a wet valley are lush green. Trees at the top of the mountain are muted in color. One side of your mountain is in the sun, the other side is in the shade of the mountain. If you are modeling very high mountains remember the “tree line”. It is the place where trees can’t grow because of lack of moisture and elevation.
You can install the finished trees by drilling or piercing a hole in your model railroad base material. Then dip the base of the tree in clear drying glue. Plant the glued tree in the hole. It may need something to lean on or temporary support while it is drying. Large binding clips can stand on their side and temporarily hold you tree while the glue dries. Plant trees together in odd numbers (3, 5, 7, or 9.) When two trees or a single tree is planted in an area the mind either tries to balance the two trees or focuses a great deal on the single tree. (You don’t want it to do either of these.) It’s best if the trees vary slightly in size and shape, but still look like they are related.
Avoid making “lolipop” trees. A single stick with a round lump on top is not believable. Most naturally occurring trees do NOT look that way. This is part of the reason to select branching twigs.
Once the glue is dry make sure your tree blends into the landscape at the base. You may have to add more paint or ground foam around the base to look like turf, or dirt. You might want to use some air drying clay to make slightly exposed roots or thicken the tree near its base. One of the main tricks to a natural look is to make the base believable. Finish the illusion by having a few medium or fine leaves sprinkled on top of the grass or dirt below the tree.
This is a chance to be truly creative. Enjoy it.
Have fun!
Trainguy
