Making deciduous trees for a winter scene

danb

Published on 1st Nov 2017 06:13 PM

8 Comments

I have been hunting for good looking deciduous trees for a snow-covered winter mountain scene that will be filled mostly by pines and firs. There are several options in larger scales, but few in N scale (and these are quite expensive). The typical plastic tree armatures that are used to add flocking to don't look realistic to me, even when painted. My wife found this decorative item "Cinnamon Broom" and thought it might work. It looks like these are made from pine, then mildly scented with cinnamon. Straight out of the package they are too narrow and don't have enough main branches, but with some careful cutting and a little cyanoacrylate, I was able to graft some extra branches on. Add a little Woodland Scenics Flex Past for snow and they look not half bad mingled in with the evergreens. Thankfully, when using just a few twigs, the cinnamon scent is absent (so hopefully I won't have live little critters crawling through my forest).

Anyone else used this stuff before? Any thoughts on improving the look would be appreciated, or ideas for other materials.

Thanks!

8 Comments

ike8120 - 2nd Nov 2017, 05:32 AM
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The cinnamon broom would surely add a nice scent to your train room. In all honesty I have used super trees and grow a tree.

http://www.sceneryexpress.com/SuperT...artments/1006/

http://www.timberlinescenery.com/

ike8120 - 2nd Nov 2017, 05:34 AM
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IMO the trees look pretty good

danb - 2nd Nov 2017, 08:45 PM
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Thanks for the feedback. I am still working on making them look more realistic. Yes, the SuperTrees look great, and given that I don't need a whole forest they would be affordable. However, a huge package of this cinnamon broom stuff cost less than one SuperTree, so I thought I'd work on it some more. I'll post an update when I have something better.

KWLEDBETTER - 8th Nov 2017, 01:51 PM
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They look really goods honestly. Only suggestion would be if you can spread them out a little more ( I know you already mentioned this being the challenge). But, in my opinion they still look to upright for most deciduous trees. Most are shorter and fatter then their evergreen cousins.

Maybe experiment with putting a branch sideways and then cutting the main trunk off? Not sure but key will finding a way to fill out the sides.

danb - 8th Nov 2017, 10:38 PM
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Good suggestion. Will try that.

goodstuff - 22nd Dec 2017, 02:10 PM
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I used the berry cluster stems from Nandina bushes after the birds had picked them clean .
I let them dry thoroughly and painted them rattlecan primer grey .

zosimas - 22nd Dec 2017, 04:27 PM
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Originally Posted by goodstuff

I used the berry cluster stems from Nandina bushes after the birds had picked them clean .
I let them dry thoroughly and painted them rattlecan primer grey .
http://www.nscale.org/photos/data/50...m/a_coach2.jpg

Cant even tell, which means awesome

ps welcome aboard