I actually composed this for the League of Extraordinary Modellers Website (the first of the few I am currently composing) and I just want to share with you a simple tip about how I make my trees. This procedure is so simple that you may just want to try it to add some life to the dioramas you are making.
SIMPLE WAY OF MAKING A BASIC 1/35 TREE FOR A DIORAMA
PART 1 OF 2
I. Introduction
Trees have always been an important component of many dioramas. They add a certain degree of realism to the scene as well as help define the scale of the entire diorama. There are a lot of ready-made scale trees available now in the market. The modeling hobby has certainly developed into a major consumer sector that model companies have really supported it by the production of such scale trees for scale model dioramas.
While such ready-made scale trees come in excellent detail and wide variety, they do not always come cheap. This only adds to the woes of modelers around the world today who already have to contend with the rising prices of models, paints and tools. This is especially true for me coming from a country where the hobby is considered very expensive. Moreover, this should not deter modelers as there are many simple ways to create a homemade scale tree from very ordinary and cheap materials. And here is one of those many simple ways.
Assume that the tree shall have a real height of 4 meters or roughly 100mm in 1/35 scale. This tree will not be a representative of any particular specie of tree. It will just be a basic tree for the purpose of simplicity.
II. Materials:
The materials needed are:
1.) Galvanized Iron Wire (or any wire available) – wires of various thickness are preferable and being shown in the above picture are with thickness 3mm and 2mm respectively.
2.) One (1) piece of Scotchbrite Scouring Pad
3.) Woodland Scenics Coarse Turfing Materials
4.) Masking Tape
5.) Putty
III. Procedure:
1.) Cut the wires roughly into 100mm in length. Keep the thick wire more or less straight. Twist the thin wire around the thick wire leaving roughly 50mm at one end. Bend the end of the thin wire away from the end of the thick wire. Wind at least two thin wires around one straight thick wire. This will be one of the branches of the tree. Take note that adding a still thinner wire is advisable to simulate even smaller branches. Make more branches by the repeating the mentioned steps.
2.) Bind all the branches together by a separate piece of wire. Bend the upper ends of the branches away from the center to simulate branches forming the crown of the tree. Spread the lower ends to simulate the roots. Now the structure formed more or less resembles the skeleton of the tree.
3.) Wrap the wires in masking tape. Make as many passes or layers necessary to hide the wires and make the shape of the tree more distinct.
4.) Apply putty to the trunk and areas likely not to be covered by the leaves to cover the masking tape joints. No sanding is necessary.
5.) Apply the base coat of paint. The choice of color may depend on one’s preference or the requirements of the scenery where the tree will be used. Some weathering of the tree trunk and branches can be done to further give depth.
6.) Tear the Scotch Brite Pad into small pieces. This will serve as the leaves of the tree. Using scissors is not advisable as straight-cut edges will give an artificial look to the leaves.
7.) Using CA, glue the pieces of Scotch Brite Pad to the branches. Make sure that the pieces are glued almost parallel to the ground. By this time the tree is already recognizable.
