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wazzou
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 Posted - 09/24/2006 : 16:16:38
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I am going to attempt at the request of several of you to offer a tutorial on how I construct the trees seen on my Photo Diorama in last Sunday's SNFF.
These are all of the materials needed with the exception of some sharp scissors and some ACC.
I sharpen the dowels on both ends in a pencil sharpener and use a benchtop disk sander to make a nice sharp point at the top.
I usually will cut 1", 1-1/2" and some 2" squares from the furnace filter material. Many of these I will cut diagonally into triangles as shown.
The furnace filter has some layers to it. I will pull these layers apart some to form the branches.
I slide this pulled apart piece of filter centered as much as possible over the sharpened top of the tree down to a level on the trunk you desire. ACC it in place so it won't move around on you in later steps. Some Zip Kicker comes in handy. Don't worry about the scraggly appearance, we'll address that later.
Here is a tree with several pieces of pulled furnace filter attached and ready to trim up to the shape you desire. The brown one has been trimmed and sprayed with cheap brown primer. I will also spray lightly with cheap gray primer prior to flocking.
Here are two more shaped trees. The reason I ACC most layers of filter to the trunk is so that I can cut the pieces of filter that go from one layer to the next. If you do not do this, what happens is, after you flock the tree with ground foam, you tend to get a tree that looks like hard candy on a stick. You don't want the spiral shape that will more than likely appear if you don't seperate the levels.
Here is a tree after it has been sprayed lightly with cheap gray primer. Trees usually have a more gray look to the bark than brown.
Now we are ready to spray some adhesive from the top down, all the way around the tree.
After you spray the adhesive, I shake Woodland Scenics fine ground foam (Weeds) all over the tree from the top and sides only. Do this over a box so you do not waste the foam.
I will look for bare spots and hit them with some cheap, odorless, extra hold hairspray and fill in. Don't be afraid to leave them lightly flocked. In my opinion it is better if you can see some of the branchy structure.
At this point, I will hit them again pretty good with the hairspray and sift some of the Noch Fir Needles from the top down onto the flocked tree. Here is a closeup of the Needled tree.
That's it. Plant' em. You can shove the other pointed end in to your scenery, usually even through plaster. You can shove it in as far as you wish. There are many variations you can make with the furnace filter to give the trees a different look. The key to me is to make them not look like furnace filters on a stick.
I have made sisal rope trees twisted on a wire armature, but these look real enough to me and can be produced much quicker.
I hope this has been helpful.
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Regards,
Bryan
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Edited by - wazzou on 09/24/2006 22:39:02
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bbeegle
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Posted - 09/24/2006 : 16:31:16
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very nice,thanks for the pictures.what size dowels do you use? thanks,Brian
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PARADISE275
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Posted - 09/24/2006 : 16:38:42
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Thanks for the excellent lessons, Brian.
What is the furnace filter made of? Is there a particular brand name?
Rick
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mmagliaro
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Posted - 09/24/2006 : 16:43:47
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Bryan: Thanks for doing this. It is very helpful. You do a better job with these furnace filter trees
than anybody else I've ever seen. They look quite realistic. Can you tell us about how tall the trees
in your photo are? Guessing from the 1.5 - 2" square size, I'd guess about 7 - 8", counting the trunk?
That would be about a 100-foot pine?
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-- Max
N Scale steam for the masses |
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hegstad1
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up1950s
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Lou D
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Posted - 09/24/2006 : 17:20:38
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Wow!! GREAT looking trees!! I gotta do a bunch of them!! THANX!!!!
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Synthfilker
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Posted - 09/24/2006 : 17:47:02
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That's the way I do it, too - except I usually use cedar shims to make the trunks. I cut them lengthwise on a scroll saw to get tapered blanks, then use a belt sander (inverted, clamped down, and locked "ON") to round them off.
This works for trees up to about 8" tall - about 100 feet tall.
I'm curious though... in the far background in some of the shots are some REALLY good looking conifer trees, better even than the ones in the close-ups. How did you do those? 
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CEO of the Bethlehem-Ares RR
Dayton N-Track web site:http://daytonn-track.org/
BARR Construction Blog: http://daytonn-track.org/Blog/ |
Edited by - Synthfilker on 09/24/2006 17:48:53 |
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up1950s
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Posted - 09/24/2006 : 18:04:25
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quote:
Originally posted by Synthfilker
I'm curious though... in the far background in some of the shots are some REALLY good looking conifer trees, better even than the ones in the close-ups. How did you do those?
Those are real ones in his back yard I would think .
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Richie Dost
Photos http://picasaweb.google.com/up1950s
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Edited by - up1950s on 09/24/2006 18:04:42 |
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wazzou
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Posted - 09/24/2006 : 18:08:59
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The trees in the tutorial are about 80' tall.
The dowel is 1/8".
I don't know of a brand name for the filter. I couldn't tell you what it is made from either. It is very stiff.
Synthfilker,
Yeah, but do you notice the diameter of the trunks? Pretty thin. They are over 100' tall. I use the 1/8" dowel for most trees and use cedar door/window shims for some taller ones and also for trunks one some sisal rope bottle brush.
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Regards,
Bryan
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smudgeloco
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pbrooks
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Posted - 09/24/2006 : 21:00:39
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Bryan-
Thanks for that tutorial, that's keeper info!
I tried to make some of those once, and didn't do very well with them. I think you've figured out the process to make awesome trees.
Now where did I put that filter....
Thanks again,
-Phil Brooks
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http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a140/pbrooks137/Model%20Portfolio/
Phil Brooks
"I GOT INTO model trains for the groupies, but I STAYED IN for the huge financial rewards..." |
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Synthfilker
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Posted - 09/24/2006 : 23:24:11
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quote:
Originally posted by wazzou
The trees in the tutorial are about 80' tall.
The dowel is 1/8".
I don't know of a brand name for the filter. I couldn't tell you what it is made from either. It is very stiff.
I'll check tomorrow at work - I work at a hardware store, and we carry those filters. If I remember to, I'll get the UPC code, too. The only problem with using that kind of filter material is that you really need a pair of tin snips to cut it - the material is heavy enough that cutting it with scissors gets old REAL fast.
quote:
Synthfilker,
Yeah, but do you notice the diameter of the trunks? Pretty thin. They are over 100' tall. I use the 1/8" dowel for most trees and use cedar door/window shims for some taller ones and also for trunks one some sisal rope bottle brush.
Hmmm... that's only 20 inches in N scale... not much for a 100 foot tall tree. The shims give you a 1/4 inch base (about 40 inches in diameter... a little less by the time you sand it a bit).
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CEO of the Bethlehem-Ares RR
Dayton N-Track web site:http://daytonn-track.org/
BARR Construction Blog: http://daytonn-track.org/Blog/ |
Edited by - Synthfilker on 09/24/2006 23:29:05 |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 118 |
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Curn
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Posted - 09/24/2006 : 23:28:13
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Bryan,
On your diorama there seemed to be some deciduous trees also. Were those made in a simular process?
Edit, Never mind. I didn't read the last sentance of the tutorial.
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Edited by - Curn on 09/24/2006 23:43:47 |
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tehachapifan
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Posted - 09/24/2006 : 23:35:05
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Whoa! Great looking trees and a great how-to as well!
I'm gonna' have to do some of those for sure!
Russ
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Russ
http://www.mlescalemodels.com |
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4x2dsp
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Posted - 09/25/2006 : 00:20:47
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If that is the same kind of furnace filter material that I used to make my trees, I believe it is made from horse hair. Looks very similar in the pics.
Nice looking trees Bryan. After I built enough, I started to look at the trunks and wanted more texture (a wire wheel with the grain works pretty good). Then I'm looking at the next batch for foreground trees to have much wider trunks at the base, which means starting with a much wider dowel, and a lot more work.... maybe a smaller quantity.
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Jeff
visit my Layout pics
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