Lead Adventure Forum
Other Stuff => Workbench => Tutorials => Topic started by: Lt. Hazel on 10 December 2008, 10:30:37 AM
-
OK as I promised here´s the tutorial. You can build other trees with this method, I think autumn is good to see some "naked" trees.
This are the materials you will need:
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s274/snilloc_photos/tutob002_r1_c1.jpg~original)
A: toillet paper
B: wire
C: spray paint (brown)
D: spray glue
E: white glue
F: fine sand
G: flock (I use NOCH Classic-Flock dark green
H: steel wool
I: pliers
J: a wooden stick
I don´t know the english words for some materials, so feel free to correct me (e.g. "steel wool" :smt001 )
Next part: Building the trunk
-
Cut some wire stripes (ca. 20 cm / 8 inches)
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s274/snilloc_photos/stamm1.jpg~original)
Bend the wire in the middle and twist it with the pliers and the stick.
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s274/snilloc_photos/tutob001.jpg~original)
Use 4-6 stripes of twisted wire to create the trunk.
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s274/snilloc_photos/stamm2.jpg~original)
apply white glue to the trunk (don´t cover the whole trunk. It´ll be too messy)
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s274/snilloc_photos/stamm3.jpg~original)
Twist sheets of toillet paper around the trunk to hide the wire structure
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s274/snilloc_photos/stamm4.jpg~original)
Should look like this when you ready
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s274/snilloc_photos/stamm5.jpg~original)
Cover the trunk in white glue and put the sand on it. This will be very hard once dried.
Next: Flocking
-
Vary nice
-
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s274/snilloc_photos/krone1.jpg~original)
Take some of the steel wool and mount it on the top of the trunk.
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s274/snilloc_photos/krone2.jpg~original)
Spray the top brown, make sure the paint goes "in" the wool. Let this dry.
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s274/snilloc_photos/krone3.jpg~original)
Put some flock in a box. Spray glue on the trees top
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s274/snilloc_photos/krone4.jpg~original)
Press the tree in the flock, make sure you cover the whole top.
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s274/snilloc_photos/krone5.jpg~original)
And that´s it. I paint the trunk with VMC Burnt Umber and drybrush with VMC Khaki and VGC Stonewall Grey.
-
I thank you in English as well! :D Great tutorial.
-
Interesting twist using the steel wool. I have done something similar in the past, but using a model railroad product that is already died green. It is sort of like a giant cotton ball, but the fibers are a bit more loose.
-
Thanks! I was genuinely eager to know how you made your trees. This seems similar to the rubberized horsehair method then, but with materials that are more readily available. Just need to get hold of some fine-grain sand and flock of the "spongy" variety.
-
We can do with one of these wire trees it.posts so I'm making it sticky for a bit.
-
BTW, you could probably also do this with pipe cleaners in place of the wire. That way you might not have to mask the wire with toilet paper before adding the sand. If you want trees with a swampy look, you could even skip the sand as well. That way the trunks will look sort of hairy, which wouldn't be out of place in a swamp.
Just checked the grocery store for steel wool and as expected, they only had the soapy kind. I bought some just to see if I could soak/rinse the soap out. We'll see how that turns out.
-
The steel wool is for polishing stone and metall, may be you can get it in an art shop or builders market?
-
I've been using steel wool for my trees for years. It's great stuff. And like the Lt said, don't look for the grocery store variety. Go to a home builder's store or any place that sells lots of home repair stuff. They'll have it.
-
Outstanding tutorial.
I really must try this out.
Thanks for your efforts, it's really appreciated.
-
Excellent tutorial.
-
Alright, a home repair store will be my next destination, I guess.
I did try soaking the soap out of the grocery store variety, but it started to rust quite rapidly. I don't know if that would have made a difference in the end, but it seems pointless to continue now that I know where to look for the non-soapy kind.
-
Very useful. Thanks Lt Hazel... I shall try a few of those one day in the not too distant future.
-
Excellent tutorial Lt Hazel!
An alternative to steel wool is some of that plastic "pan-scrub" material used in washing the dishes. It's often used for hedges etc.
Although very dense and coarse as bought, it can quite easily be "teased-out" until it is quite soft and made to resemble fine branches in a very similar way to steel wool. I have had a problem with rust in the past with steel wool, due to a damp house I used to live in when some of my trees started turning orange and looking autumnal. It was very pretty, but not a good effect for the African bush :-[
It is a little more work with the scrub material, but the effect is just as good as with steel wool and has the advantage of being dark green, so you don't have to be quite so thorough with the brown spray stage. There is some dust created in the "teasing" process, so ventilation is probably recommended.
Any supermarket or local "corner shop" should sell packs of them very cheaply.
-
you are a genius !! I will do that too !!!
-
you are a genius !! I will do that too !!!
Grimm, I wish I were :'(
Sadly, the truth is I picked it up somewhere, either on the web or from a terrain book.
Never mind, though, it makes a nice change from being an idiot - even if only for a few minutes lol
-
Never mind, though, it makes a nice change from being an idiot - even if only for a few minutes lol
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=i_XSXHm4vT4&feature=related
;)
meow,
Matt
PS : Lt, thank you very much for the tutotrial : that is the way I intent one day to do my future trees, I just miss the tip about paper toilet...
-
As I was searching the craft store over the weekend for pot toppers and other suitable terrain stuff I came across something called "floral stem wire". It is simply florist's wire covered in a textured tan paper, used to make stems for artificial flowers I guess. I think it might save the messy glue and TP step, but I have not tried it myself yet.
-
Merci beaucoup, Matt!
I love that song and didn't realise there was a video on YouTube.
Wonderful stuff! :D
-
I've been experimenting with steel wool (the proper, non-soapy stuff) now and I'm finding it a bit difficult. It seems to be the exact same stuff as in the materials picture, but I can't get it as fluffy as in the tutorial. It's also tricky to glue, I'm using PVA glue and it just gets soaked up by the wool, leaving precious little on the actual contact surface.
Am I doing something wrong?
-
I pull the wool apart till it´s fluffy enough. And I don´t glue it to the wire, just wrest it around. It works. Come to the Tactica and I will show you how to do ;)
-
Have just seen the completed olive grove in another section and wondered if there was a tutorial on making the trees knocking about, glad o see that there is, very useful and very helpful, thanks very much.
Cheers
Stu
-
Very nice tutorial. The use of steel wool must have leaked from my brain or something because I never would have guessed at using it for tree foliage :).
-
outstanding a holiday experiment