Thanks, Joe, for reducing this to an article!

I am just about to build a bunch of trees for the PCMRC (http://www.pcmrc.org) South Bend section.

The article fills in some holes in my understanding. Thanks.

Outstanding

Really a terrific article Joe!  For a scenery newbie like me, this is exactly what I needed.  Thank you!

One question:  You mentioned that the SuperTrees pack was advertised as being enough for 25 trees, but you were able to make 100 from that.  Did I miss an explanation of that additional yield?

How do I get 100 trees instead of 25?

I mention in the video that even though the Supertrees documentation says 25 trees per box, I typically get closer to 100 trees. I got a question via email as to how this can be.

Basically, I make smaller trees than it sounds like they are thinking. When you do smaller trees, a lot more of the otherwise "reject" sprigs become usable.

I not only make smaller foreground trees (4-6 inches instead of 6-9 inches), I also do a lot of middle-distance (3-5 inches) and background trees (2-4 inches) as well. This is in HO.

@ Joe - number of trees.

Joe,

Having mentioned that for HO scale, how many trees do you think you would get for N scale?

Thanks!

Den

How many trees for N scale?

For N scale, at least 150 trees, and maybe pushing 200 ...

I have to say the video on

I have to say the video on this was well worth my purchase and I've had some great success with this method. I'm intrigued to try NYWB's method of boiling the stems before the matte medium.

The better question maybe how

The better question maybe how much area does one box cover?

-Doug M

Trees

A really useful article, covering some points missed or glossed over by other articles re: super trees. Thanks, Joe.

Alternative Steps

Enjoyed the article. One alternative to the method for getting rid of excess Matte Medium is to take a 2-liter or larger pop bottle and cut off enough of the top to allow you to place the saturated tree inside and give it a gentle twist several times between two fingers. This allows the matte medium to be collected and re-used with little or no waste to it. Faster twists will remove any stubborn liquid that may want to stay around.

Sometimes the trees like to twist while drying or have a natural bend to them that you may want to straighten. Attaching a small, weighted alligator clip to the top of the drying tree will allow the bend to work itself out while drying.

unreadable

The text on the Linux download of this page is almost unreadable.  It is worst at the left side (1st column) and almost normal at the right side (last column).  The photo is fine, as is the caption, and the "feedback" box is also fine.  I've noticed a similar thing on several other pages of this issue.  If I go to the online version (no download) everything is OK.  Some sort of scanning problem?  Has anyone seen the same thing with a downloaded Windows version?

Larry B

Larry, it's your reader

Larry, it's your reader. Whenever a Linux user approaches us with "wierd page" problems, we tell them to try a different reader.

Jeff Shultz, our staff Linux guy, can probably comment further.

And the Windows and Mac versions are fine - with a 60,000-some monthly audience and the magazine being almost a week old now, we would have had complaints like crazy if it was anything else.

Trees,trees and more trees

Trees for the masses

Thanks for the graphic demonstration on deciduous trees.  Looks like I'm headed to the Snc Exp website.

Joe, Thanks for a most

Joe,

Thanks for a most interesting demonstration.I will be making some of these soon. The only thing i have to find is the Matte glue you talk about i am not sure if it is available in South Africa and to ship from the USA might be a bit costly

but we will see.

Trevor

Newspapers

What is a "newspaper" and where can I purchase such things?

'-)

Billso It is the thing I

Billso

It is the thing I find in my front yard on Wednesday nights that I have to bend over and pick up then deposit in my trash can on my way through the garage.  Over the years only one has been opened and that was by the neighbors dog and I had to bend over lots of times to pick it up.

the trees.

I love it.  So I ordered the stuff from Scenic express and I was a good camper and said I had read the article. Now I suppose I could go wandering in my own forest behind the barns and collect mushrooms and then model a nuclear disaster 

Thanks for the magazine. I get a real kick out of it.

Trees arrived and I did it your way

The kit and the large bag of trees arrived quite quickly and I have been happily making the best trees I've ever seen. While your directions were slightly different than the ones in the package, I would say you were spot on, particularly with the black paint on the trunks and the yellow paint at the very end.

It's great because the neighbor's kids can do it and not hurt a thing. This applies to me too I'll admit.  I do take note that if the dish soap is added that the bubbles occasionally trapped after the dip in the matte medium look remarkably like the disgusting gypsy moth cocoons we get on the trees in our yard i September. I also note that the bags have tons of seeds in them so I will try some plantings of non indigenous species come spring. I hope this doesn't come out like Canadian thistles.

So, thanks again for a great resource and excellent execution.