Dunton RR is going to need a mess of trees. Conifers, some deciduious, shrubs, etc. The commercial stuff out there, with the exception of pre-made, super expensive stuff is what I consider to be stuff for amatures. But, I can find no good information on making the large size conifers. Douglas Fir, Engleman Spruce, White Pine, Blue Spruce, and possibly Pondersoa Pine. Thinking I need 8 foot scale diameter, up to 100 feet tall or so. That figures out to 2 inch bases and 24"+ tall. That is big enough that you need to really do this right to have the realism at only a couple of feet viewing distance. Probably need to make at least 30 of the tallest, working through various sizes. (I did notice a shrub around here called a "butterfly bush" gets fall tops that look very much like cypress trees that need water, but not quite the Fir-type species I wish to model.) So. Trunks....how to make the bark look rough beyond the painting/highlighting skills???? How to make the branches? There are some real artists out there making the kind of trees like I want to make, but it isn't so cool to go send them an email asking how to do their business. :tb-shocked: I live in the Pacific NW and have the time to go get natural materials, but I see many uses of man made fibers and such too. I get my thrill out of doing stuff myself. Fixed disability income requires I do it myself. Shoot me O scale sized ideas please....many N and HO, but not going to work in On30 for this layout.
I think I found my answer on railroad.com but cannot link the message. The essentials are: Cheap dollar store dowels to length of need. A dried plant called Caspia that you can get at Michaels or dried decorative plant store. Some means of staining the trunk, A few different colors of flock and some spray adhesive. The big points are to make the bark look stressed you roughen it by dragging across a saw blade. Then stain and highlight. The Caspia, you take and size to branch lengths largest to smallest. Spray with the adhesive and dip in the flock stuff. To install the branches drill holes at necessary angles to get them to look natural. Sure wish I could have linked this, it was a pictoral, and it was good, about 5 year old thread. Search string would be trees, and pine trees. Very crude and very effective, fast, low cost, and look great if you use enough branches....the author was a little chinsey, but maybe that was the type of tree he wanted. Anyhow, when I get that far, I will post a thread how I do it. I haven't laid any track yet. Jack
