Wire tree tutorial?

[Ray Earle]

Hi gents,

Hope this is in the right section, if not feel free to give it a shove in the right direction. 

I'm looking for a tutorial on how to make tree frameworks from twisting wires together. Does anyone know of such a thing online?

Cheers,

[Hammers]

Hi gents,

Hope this is in the right section, if not feel free to give it a shove in the right direction.  

I'm looking for a tutorial on how to make tree frameworks from twisting wires together. Does anyone know of such a thing online?

Cheers,

If you scroll down this page to the area called Related Topic ... you will probably find some interesting threads.

[Timbor]

I made some wire trees recently roughly following Dr. Mathias' tutorials: http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=41545.0

However, I did it a bit differently.  I got some floral wire (24 or 27 guage).  I cut about 20 strands, maybe 4" each - I would say cut the pieces about 1-2" longer than the height of tree you wanted.  I also made some pine/hemlock trees using a section of dowelling, drilled some holes for branches, and put two wire sections per hole for the branches.

After twisting my armatures, I made a mixture of acrylic caulking, sand, water, and craft paint to the colour of the bark I wanted.  I then gooped it over the armature, and left it for a day to dry.  I did some drybrushing, and voila!  You can leave them bare or add foliage.

I used these for a diorama I did for a gift, you can see some pictures in this thread: http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=59188.0

A plus as well, the caulking maintains flexibility, so you can adjust the branches a bit if you need to.  Though I would not try bending them 90 degrees.

[Mitch K]

Hi gents,

Hope this is in the right section, if not feel free to give it a shove in the right direction. 

I'm looking for a tutorial on how to make tree frameworks from twisting wires together. Does anyone know of such a thing online?

Cheers,

This is my take:
http://mitchwargaming.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/hundredth-post-trees-going-cheap.html

This is what I got out of it:

[Belgian]

To cover the wire armature you can aslo coat it with wood glue and cover the piece with sawdust. looks quite good as I have tried a couple of trees that way. 

[Ray Earle]

Great stuff, thanks gents. 

[6milPhil]

To cover the wire armature you can aslo coat it with wood glue and cover the piece with sawdust. looks quite good as I have tried a couple of trees that way. 

Interesting technique, I use either filler or if I want to do a bit of sculpting miliput.

[Belgian]

Interesting technique, I use either filler or if I want to do a bit of sculpting miliput.

The result of the sawdust and woodglue mix gives a very sturdy end result but you will need several coats depending on the amount of space you left when twisting the wires (if that makes sense). I have chosen for this techniques as filler is prone to cracking but miliput also sounds like a good idea as it dries rock solid.

[Mitch K]

The acrylic modelling medium I used is moderately flexible. Flexible enough that it won't crack off my cutting mat but has to be scraped off

Painter's caulk would be an alternative for smooth barked trees (beeches, birches, chestnuts). It remains permanently slightly flexible and is tough as old boots.

[6milPhil]

The result of the sawdust and woodglue mix gives a very sturdy end result but you will need several coats depending on the amount of space you left when twisting the wires (if that makes sense). I have chosen for this techniques as filler is prone to cracking but miliput also sounds like a good idea as it dries rock solid.

It makes perfect sense, I use filler because it's quick.