UVS Workbench 01/06/2019 - More leaves vicar....

[Ultravanillasmurf]

This is where stuff that is sort of work in progress or stuff that is nearly finished and fits no where else will end up.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

So I need trees for various projects (TWD being the most pressing).

I have a number of packs of Woodland Scenics Plastic Tree Armatures (various scales and sizes).

The armatures come in two pieces.

A rather flat tree armature and a stump/base. In a lot of cases I have discarded the base.

A number of the "trees" are rather small, two inches or so tall) and are not really suitable as "trees" but will make good bushes and shrubberies.

For that, I have trimmed the trunk back to just below the first branch with a razor saw, then drilled and pinned it to a Renedra base.

 It is easiest to clean the mould lines (of which there are many) while the armature is flat.

Once cleaned, I warmed the plastic with boiling water (you can also use a hairdryer) and the application of brute force via a pair of pliers.

I rotated each branch such that the whole thing made a near circle. The base of the trunk and the Renedra base was drilled and pinned with 1.5mm plastic rod, and glued with copious quantities of liquid poly. Once dry, the trunk was painted with Citadel Agrellian Mud technical paint (it cracks to simulate bark).

The bases were covered with PVA glue and then Woodland Scenics Fine Cinder Ballast was sprinkled over it. Some patches of coarser granite ballast was used to break up the surface.

The whole thing was sprayed with Citadel Chaos Black.

The trunks were painted with various brown and grey shades from a wet palette, dry brushed with Citadel Terminatus Stone and then washed with Citadel Agrax Earthshade. The bases were painted with Vallejo Burnt Umber.

The foliage on the trees is Woodland Scenics Green Poly Fibre, cut into clumps and glued using PVA applied to the branches.


The question is, do these require leaves?

The bases were decorated with a mixture of Peco Patchy Grass Tufts, Gamers Grass tufts, various shades and lengths of static grass and fine turf (minced sponge).

Next, some of the larger tree armatures.

[OSHIROmodels]

Nicely done 

I think at the moment they look a little 'fluffy' so some leaves might help to combat that.

[snitcythedog]

Very nice work so far but I agreed with the fluffy.  One suggestion if you do add leaves of some kind.  Once they are on spray with clear Plastidip.  The stuff is a godsend for setting flock/sawdust to fibers.  I wish I could find the original post here on LAF that suggested it to give credit where credit is due. 

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks.

I will have a look at the Plasdip.

I have previously tried using Clump Foliage (coarse cut sponge) which was okay in the background.


I do have a packet of Little Leaf Oak, which I am going to try out.
http://www.green-scenes.co.uk/store?productlist-categories=little-leaf-company

The house goblins have returned a couple of books on trees by Gordon Gravett and I will see how he sticks the leaves on.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

So following on from the above I decided to try modifying one of the trees.

The first task was to reduce the fluffiness. I seemed to remove about half of the poly fibre, teasing the remaining out (and giving it a bit of a haircut).


What was a bit odd was that the foliage looked rather opaque in the photograph, so I swapped to a white background.


I then used a large brush to apply PVA glue to the fibre and then added the Little Leaf Company Mid Green leaves.
http://www.green-scenes.co.uk/store?productlist-categories=little-leaf-company
I had bought it rather a long time ago.







I also took the photographs against a white background.






I do need to spray the tree to attempt to keep the leaves in place.

[snitcythedog]

The change to the white background really made them pop.  Looking very nice.

[Daeothar]

Very nice indeed.

I take it those leaves had a paint bath? because I've done almost exactly the same thing in the past, but with naturally green  leaves (ground basil in this case), and even though they were sealed with multiple layers of watered down PVA, they are turned brown eventually.

Also, I've found that while it looks really, really good, the end result is still rather brittle and fragile, no matter how many coats of PVA I applied. How do you ensure table survivability?

I recently bought a scale leaf punch on AliExpress and intend to use it on thin, coloured paper, to create the required leaves, but being paper, they should take PVA glue better, and should be stronger than natural leaf litter, especially when coated in (several layers of) PVA after application...

[OSHIROmodels]

Splendid 

[M Blakey]

Brilliant guide

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks.

The leaves are straight out of the bag (and not a tea bag ^___^). I have had them a number of years with no deterioration.

Not sure what they are made of though.

I have no idea how long they will stay on with the PVA.  I only glued them on this week. Hopefully this weekend I will find some kind of fixative.

[Captain Blood]

Looks good.
If you spray them with a very dilute PVA solution (like 1 part PVA to 10 parts water) it will dry matt and act as a reasonable fixative. Two or three coats better still. Essentially that’s all Woodland Scenics ‘scenic cement’ spray is as far as I can tell - very thinned PVA. It just happens to cost about ten quid a bottle for about fourpence worth of PVA 

[Wirelizard]

Those look great in their thinned-and-leafed forms.

Let us know how they stand up to gaming!

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks.

@Captain Blood - I will try that.

This is the stuff I used.

[AKULA]

Fantastic looking