Re: new jungle terrain pieces - How-to trees

[pistolpete]

while saving up for some new figures, i was on a brief hiatus from posting but i was still working on pulp stuff.  i made a couple of jungle pieces from aquarium plants which turned out ok IMHO - i'm not too happy with how the cardboard bases curl with paint/pumice.  i also made some trees as well which i'm really liking.  they're made from plant twine and artificial leaves from michaels; based on an idea i saw from the heroscape forums.
i have enough trees for now, but i'm planning on making more jungle terrain in the near future.

jungle pieces:








trees:

[MalcyBogaten]

I am seriously liking those trees!

I'll have to keep a look out for the leafy bits! Is the twine stuff of the trunks the plastic coated wire? Or is it the hairy string? Strengthened in some arcane way?

The aquarium plant jungle bases are fantastic as well.

I have given up cardboard bases as they are a pain. SO totally agree with you there.

Lovely work.

[marianas_gamer]

Looks good Pete. I like the trees. I use cork coasters that I trim down. This gives heft and stops the curling problem.  I have also used spackle over thin cardboard and have had good results.
LB

[d phipps]

Well done! Those twine trees are a clever idea. 

[pistolpete]

@malcy:  it's thick floral wire wrapped in a paper-like material and the leaves are cut from much larger branches.



@dphipps: in truth, it's not my idea, i found it on the heroscapers forum.

if there's interest i could post a 'how-to'.

[MalcyBogaten]

I think a bit of a "How to.." Would be great!

Never have enough trees!!!!

[Grishnakh]

Glad you like my trees! The ones you created look great. If anyone else is interested in a how to here's a link to my thread!

http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showpost.php?p=489751&postcount=437

[pistolpete]

grishnakh - yes that's the one i used. thanks for posting!  a friend of mine is huge into heroscape and suggested i take a look.

but if anyone is interested here's my how-to:

1- some covered floral wire and artificial leaves from local craft store.


2- cut a piece of the wire with a wirecutter for the trunk.  i hate measuring so i used a thumb length for top branches, a thumb and a half for roots, then just a guess for tree height.  use a figure or a previous tree as a guide.


3- use the first piece as a guide to cut 3 or 4 more.


4- twist all trunk parts around each other; after the first couple of twists, you can mix up the twisting so it's not uniform or a regular braid pattern.


5- bend out the roots, the branches; optionally the trunk.  also check the balance so it stands upright by bending/twisting the roots.


6- cut leaves that look "about right" size wise.


7- hot glue the branches and attach the leaves, one at a time. 




TIP: do a lower branch first so you can overlap the higher leaves on top to cover any gaps. 


underside view


Optional: use an extra smaller leaf in case you want/need to cover up any gaps. 


all total - about 10 minutes of work.  once you have one tree done, it's a lot easier to gauge/estimate lengths and get in a rhythm/assembly line.  i think the whole lot of 15 took me about 2 hours and cost about $12 in supplies and i still have a bunch left.

[MalcyBogaten]

Thanks for the "How to.." Something else for me to play with when time allows.