There is a particular type of bush here in Northern California that yields some of the best tree armatures I have seen for model railroading. I have several around here and have been busy harvesting them for the layout. With some Woodland Scenics net foliage shredded into small bits, some Aquanet Hairspray (the 1980’s REEKED of the stuff!) and some tacky craft glue glue, they yield nice, yet inexpensive trees in HO scale.
I have no idea what type of bush this is. If I posted a photo of the bush itself, is there anyone here that can tell me what kind it is? It is a pretty common plant.
At any rate, here is a shot of the materials used:
One of the tree armatures from the bush:
And some finished trees:
The photos don't do the trees much justice, they do look a lot nicer in person. Some of the armatures were pretty green, so they were painted with brown craft paint and that helped tremendously. I tried to make the trees as see through as possible and these armatures have the benefit of looking like multiple branches under the foliage. When I get a chance, I'll get better pics of these trees planted on the layout. Since my layout is made from 2" foam, they just poke right in with a dollop of white glue at the base. These trees take approximately 5 minutes a piece to make and I made 11 of them while watching TV the other night. While I was doing that, Alicia was tearing the foliage into tiny pieces for me and putting them in my "redneck tupperware". I used the tacky craft glue to put a small dollop of it on the end of each branch, dipped the tree into the dish with the foliage pieces and then used tweezers to fill in bald spots. I then coated each tree liberally with the Aquanet. All done! Cheap, realistic and relaxing. Let me know if any of you arborists out there can identify bushes by photo and I'll take a pic of one of them and post it. I've always been curious as to what these bushes are. :thumb:
I have no idea what type of bush this is. If I posted a photo of the bush itself, is there anyone here that can tell me what kind it is? It is a pretty common plant.
At any rate, here is a shot of the materials used:
One of the tree armatures from the bush:
And some finished trees:
The photos don't do the trees much justice, they do look a lot nicer in person. Some of the armatures were pretty green, so they were painted with brown craft paint and that helped tremendously. I tried to make the trees as see through as possible and these armatures have the benefit of looking like multiple branches under the foliage. When I get a chance, I'll get better pics of these trees planted on the layout. Since my layout is made from 2" foam, they just poke right in with a dollop of white glue at the base. These trees take approximately 5 minutes a piece to make and I made 11 of them while watching TV the other night. While I was doing that, Alicia was tearing the foliage into tiny pieces for me and putting them in my "redneck tupperware". I used the tacky craft glue to put a small dollop of it on the end of each branch, dipped the tree into the dish with the foliage pieces and then used tweezers to fill in bald spots. I then coated each tree liberally with the Aquanet. All done! Cheap, realistic and relaxing. Let me know if any of you arborists out there can identify bushes by photo and I'll take a pic of one of them and post it. I've always been curious as to what these bushes are. :thumb: