Trees

[port perran]

I've been playing around trying to make reasonably acceptable trees.
I have made some before but have never been completely happy with the results.
This is today's example which seems, to me, to be fairly acceptable :
5FF2410E-6BC4-4E8A-B21F-CC3FC9D3905F by martin scane, on Flickr
I'd be happy with any feedback or suggestions, good or bad?

[dannyboy]

Well it certainly looks like a tree.  . Actually, it don't look bad at all. 

[Train Waiting]

Looks ideal; very tree-like.

Best wishes.

John

[Newportnobby]

Looks very good to me, Martin.
Maybe the branch far left might sag more with the foliage?

[Invicta Alec]

There has been quite an interesting exchange of ideas on the N gauge Facebook page in the last couple of days. Bob Tidbury for example was pointing out that in general we N-gaugers tend to make our trees too small. An average mature oak at 18 metres tall would be 120mm in N scale.

What height have you made this one and what was your method? (It looks great by the way).

Thanks.

Alec.

[chrism]

There has been quite an interesting exchange of ideas on the N gauge Facebook page in the last couple of days. Bob Tidbury for example was pointing out that in general we N-gaugers tend to make our trees too small. An average mature oak at 18 metres tall would be 120mm in N scale.

Very true.
I need some large trees, with plenty of overhang to conceal the curve around to the fiddle yard on Coniston so I ordered a variety ranging from 8cm up to 12cm high. Wen the big ones arrived I looked at them and thought "Oh heck, what have I done?"
Then I though about it and realised that's only around 60' and mature beeches range from 80-115', occasionally up to 160' - I'm much happier now.

[crewearpley40]

Hope the trees are positioned to your liking. It does in my opinion placing trees and standing back then re positioning makes the difference, then when satisfied glueing fixing then work on the ground cover

[Bealman]

Mature trees are indeed massive things, but you have to be careful though when it comes to model railways. A scale tree will often make the trains look too small!

There has been discussion of this before, and I think selective compression is a valid technique here.

As Martin himself says, if it looks right, it is right.

[port perran]

There has been quite an interesting exchange of ideas on the N gauge Facebook page in the last couple of days. Bob Tidbury for example was pointing out that in general we N-gaugers tend to make our trees too small. An average mature oak at 18 metres tall would be 120mm in N scale.

What height have you made this one and what was your method? (It looks great by the way).

Thanks.

Alec.

Thanks Alec
As George says,  i work on the basis that looking right is more important to getting the size inch perfect.
This tree is 6cm tall or about twice the height of a locomotive from the ground (not the rails) which I think is fine for a medium height tree.
It is, by the way, supposed to be a sycamore.
It's made using grape stalks of which I have a goodly supply.
I dry them thoroughly then roughly cut to the shape I want. I then give the whole thing a couple of coats of PVA to seal it then add any paint as necessary.
The greenery is small pieces of Woodland Scenics clump foliage painstakingly stuck onto the branches as individual pieces with fairly thick PVA.
Once dry, I fill in any gaps and then spray with Hobbycraft aerosol positioning spray to fix everything.
I finish off by finally filling in any remaining gaps then spray again.
Hope that helps.
Martin

PS
This was a first attempt and I feel that it looks ok so I'll press on with a few more (hopefully different tree types).
I'm also working on some much smaller flowering cherries using twisted wire. We'll see how they turn out later.
Oh and by the way Mick, I don't think that I can make that bough sag any more without snapping it!

[Bealman]

Looks fine to me, Martin. At first I thought the green was a bit light, but then I remembered it's a British tree. Dark trunks, light leaves.

Over here with the eucalyptus trees, it's the other way round!

Been here too long, maybe! 

[ntpntpntp]

Yeah looks really good.   I will have to borrow the grape stalks idea, we seem to eat quite a lot of them!

I Like your static grass treatment too, good use of colours.

[Invicta Alec]

Thanks Alec
As George says,  i work on the basis that looking right is more important to getting the size inch perfect....

It is, by the way, supposed to be a sycamore........

It's made using grape stalks ...........

I'm also working on some much smaller flowering cherries using twisted wire......

Martin,
Interesting isn't it that in a few other areas we talk about trying not to make things over scale!? In the case of trees "looking right" does seem to be more important. I think @Bealman 's comment "I think selective compression is a valid technique here." is priceless and a maxim I intend to follow more in my modelling.

I don't know the difference between a sycamore and a sequoia ...... your tree looks great 

Your grape stalk idea........genius!

I'm really looking forward to see what you come up with on the flowering cherry. I've had the idea for a while of having a line of these as a contrast against too many green trees. Any commercially available ones I've found looked less than convincing.

Alec.

[port perran]

So...I've now finished a second tree, slightly larger and a different shape.
I'm actually making the trees as an experiment for a club layout so they are "planted" near the canal on Trepol Bay just to see what they look like.
However, I'm quite pleased so they might be staying where they are!
0B12ED69-8264-40AF-9DD3-2D36E13ECF32 by martin scane, on Flickr

I'm less happy with my "cherry tree". In reality it should be pink so it's now an apple tree in blossom I think.
It is ok but could, I think, be better – still, it is a first attempt with wire so I can probably do better next time. I need to try to find some pink scatter type material or flock (I shall have a browse on line).
Again, this tree is only propped up here on Trepol Bay to see what it looks like.

56FE5F7A-3A1F-4F5D-A65F-FEB1C0324651 by martin scane, on Flickr

[Delboy]

Hi Martin,
They look great. If I can offer one opinion to hopefully help with the realism. Tree trunks are seldom brown but usually shades of grey.
Keep up the good work.
Dennis.

[port perran]

Hi Martin,
They look great. If I can offer one opinion to hopefully help with the realism. Tree trunks are seldom brown but usually shades of grey.
Keep up the good work.
Dennis.

Thanks Dennis. You are indeed quite correct. I had intended to do that but completely forgot. It's easy enough to go back and repaint though.