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The trouble with trees...... Journals/Blogs
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MRH Author 5,547 posts Michael Tondee MRH Author 5,547 posts
Michael Tondee

The trouble with trees is that layouts eat them.  I've been in a real rut lately with the layout  and with modeling and the hobby in general. I briefly considered leaving because I thought I had lost the " magic"  I was getting out of modeling and then, just like that, I found it again.

I had acquired the stuff to make some Joe Fugate style " bottlebrush conifers"  awhile back but could not find the motivation to do it  even though I knew the layout was sorely lacking trees.  They were on my " to do list"  for the area around the turntable up  to the point where I had drawn an imaginary line and said " I'm going to finish basic and intermediate scenery to here." I had to just about force myself to try making a tree just before leaving for a church gathering Friday night but I did it and though it was not great, it got the juices flowing again. When I got home from church I made a few more and then more still over the weekend.  Lo and behold, the magic was back! I realized, again, that one of the things I love about the hobby is taking common ordinary items and fashioning them into usable scenery and structures. It's the same thrill I got from building what I call my "poor mans trestle" out of bamboo skewers and wooden matches back when I was in N scale.  A HO one is coming at some point and I'll probably document it here.

Joe's method which, I found on TMTV in the old Siskiyou Line videos is great for background trees and when you average the cost of the materials out over how many tress you can make, they cost pennies each. I will use other methods to make more detailed foreground trees but you can't beat these to help fill out a mountainside. I've got many more to go but have hit a good stopping point  here on Sunday night so I thought I'd post an update to my blog with a pic of the work.  I need to touch up some places on the tops of the trees and a couple of other places where I was handling them while installing them but all in all I think it looks pretty good especially for an I-phone pic.Trees2.jpg 

Thanks for reading my blog,

Michael

Michael, A.R.S. W4HIJ

 Model Rail, electronics experimenter and "mad scientist" for over 50 years.

Member of  "The Amigos" and staunch disciple of the "Wizard of Monterey"

My Pike: The Blackwater Island Logging&Mining Co.
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michaelrose55 Super User 3,458 posts
michaelrose55

Tell me about it! I have

Tell me about it! I have about 450 trees already made and installed and I still need more just to fill the background behind Gustavsburg. The whole layout will eat somewhere around 8,000 of them. Oh, and that's just the N scale layout. Now that I've started my second layout in H0 I'll need another 2,000 - 3,000... You want to stop by and help me out ?

Michael

The Breitenbach - Rosenheim Railroad V4
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Michael Tondee MRH Author 5,547 posts
Michael Tondee

Back in the day....

I could turn out three times as many N scale trees as what I've done in HO in the same amount of time. I've actually got a box of old N "furnace filter" trees here that I'm saving for if I ever can get a new motor for my Atlas N scale Shay.  Will probably do a little small N layout on a shelf plank if and when that happens.

Michael

Michael, A.R.S. W4HIJ

 Model Rail, electronics experimenter and "mad scientist" for over 50 years.

Member of  "The Amigos" and staunch disciple of the "Wizard of Monterey"

My Pike: The Blackwater Island Logging&Mining Co.
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AnEntropyBubble Frequent poster 614 posts
AnEntropyBubble

I Like it

Hi Michael
 
I like what you have done there, a nice scene and your trees turned out really well. Bravo!  
 
P.S. Glad you found the "magic" again.  
 
Andrew

Blog: The Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway

 
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Dave O Prolific poster 1,145 posts
Dave O

Looks like trees.

With a soft focus like that, they are quire presentable.  Perhaps adding a few of shorter or taller stature to povidide a bit more variety?  Looking good Michael, just keep moving forward.  
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Michael Tondee MRH Author 5,547 posts
Michael Tondee

Heights

Yes I do need to vary the heights and sizes more. I had thought I was till I started "planting". Michael

Michael, A.R.S. W4HIJ

 Model Rail, electronics experimenter and "mad scientist" for over 50 years.

Member of  "The Amigos" and staunch disciple of the "Wizard of Monterey"

My Pike: The Blackwater Island Logging&Mining Co.
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BruceNscale Regular poster 493 posts
BruceNscale

Clear Cut Logging

Hi Michael,

When I ran out of "tree patience", I made tree stump masters out of sculpy, poured rubber molds and cast the next couple of hundred using Alumalite resin.

It allowed me to model the smaller trees in the distance, a few high quality trees for the edge of the logging area and fill the rest with tree stumps and low growth brush.

I can always "regrow" a forest as my ambition returns...but right now...it fills the gaps.

ignature.jpg 

Happy Modeling, Bruce
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Michael Tondee MRH Author 5,547 posts
Michael Tondee

Nice idea Bruce....

..... and I had already planned some tree stumps and dead fall anyway. I'll keep your idea in mind though. Only problem is that word has it that some the notorious outlaws who hide out in the "Sighattica Mountains" are loving the new trees for the cover they supply!! Michael

Michael, A.R.S. W4HIJ

 Model Rail, electronics experimenter and "mad scientist" for over 50 years.

Member of  "The Amigos" and staunch disciple of the "Wizard of Monterey"

My Pike: The Blackwater Island Logging&Mining Co.
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joef MRH Founder 17,625 posts
joef

Glad you found the method useful

Michael:

Glad to hear you found this conifer tree-making method useful. To me the part that is really magical is adding the secondary branches - it takes these trees from wimpy bottle-brush knock-offs to something much more!

One thing I've found that helps, though, is to give the trees a good final trim and cut off any of the secondary branches that are sticking out at really odd angles. The phrase when trimming I like I got from Pete Vassler of Canyon Creek Scenics: "cut off anything that doesn't look like a tree".

I think it's the trimming step that really makes these quick trees look all that much better. And you're right, the perfect application of these trees is middle to background. For killer foreground conifers, it's hard to beat the furnace filter methods, ala Pete Vassler.

Joe Fugate​
Publisher, Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine

[siskiyouBtn]

Read my blog
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Michael Tondee MRH Author 5,547 posts
Michael Tondee

I agree Joe....

The trees don't really look like much at first but when you add the secondary branches, it's like the tree magically appears before your eyes. I have a couple sitting here that have not been painted and "foamed" yet  and they still look good even in the unnatural color.  I have to tell you though that my wife gave me a very funny look when I told her what I was about to do to the new whisk broom I bought....LOL

My plan is to do exactly as you say and make some of the highly detailed furnace filter trees for the foreground areas. I'm very excited to try that method too....

Michael

Michael, A.R.S. W4HIJ

 Model Rail, electronics experimenter and "mad scientist" for over 50 years.

Member of  "The Amigos" and staunch disciple of the "Wizard of Monterey"

My Pike: The Blackwater Island Logging&Mining Co.
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OregonSD9 New member 8 posts
OregonSD9

Nice trees

I think your trees looks good together with the backdrop. I'm trying to recruit the family to make trees for the layout, so far no luck. When making furnace filter trees what brands are recommended?  ///Magnus

 

 
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Michael Tondee MRH Author 5,547 posts
Michael Tondee

Not sure about brand....

....but I know that there are certain types that are supposed to be better than others. I'll have to let others that know a bit more about it than I do comment. When I worked in N scale, I used the "blue stuff" with success but I think there is actually a certain type or color that is supposed to be better. Michael

Michael, A.R.S. W4HIJ

 Model Rail, electronics experimenter and "mad scientist" for over 50 years.

Member of  "The Amigos" and staunch disciple of the "Wizard of Monterey"

My Pike: The Blackwater Island Logging&Mining Co.
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