As work on the HO scale Freemont Mills model railroad continues, Eric White shares his technique for making realistic trees from scratch! The Super Trees natural product is at the root (pun intended) of all his work. After he shows how to model these trees, Eric also demonstrates helpful hints for installing them on a layout of any size or scale!
Also be sure to follow the exclusive In The Workshop series for tips, tricks, tools, and clever insights, as demonstrated by various members of Trains.com staff!
Bravo!
“Shake it off?” Nice pop reference there Steve! A fellow member of the model railroad club I belong (West Bay Model Railroad Association in Menlo Park, CA) does pretty much the same process but he’s found the “starter” tree out by his home and went from there. They do look very realistic, much the same as yours.
Did that clothespin get glued to the tree? Suggest attaching it higher on the trunk.?
My problem with super tree material is that the “trunk” is often out of proportion to tree height. Tall trees have a much thicker trunk, can be a foot or more in diameter. These look too skinny to support the tree height. Judicious placement in backgrounds to minimize the skinny effect is much more realistic.
Liked it. Tip – put the glue on the hole opening. This way the tree pushes the glue into the hole if you put it on the tree trunk when you place it in the hole, the edge the hole wall skims the glue off leaving a puddle for you don’t want it.
Thanks for this, Eric. I had my first experience with Super trees a few months ago and was very pleased. I saw a video on line that used a soldering iron lightly touched to various places along the trunks to straighten them out, and I had very good results using that technique.