Any hints on making a pine tree forest

Kelley wrote:

And thank goodness no camels either.

Are you sure? I know one living about 2 miles away from you, you´ll see why the next time you come .
Mattias

Made some changes. Started adding water, falls, soil, grass. Now for a couple hundred trees. Where is the best place to get cheap lamp lights? Ron

Gonna be hard to light up the Marklin farmhouse, however, here is a trick I will do with mine. Since you are using steam i would assume it would be in the 40s to early 60s. I guess even then some folks had lights mounted on electric poles back then, but everyone had some kind of porch light. You could glue an LED or used those smd LEDs those tiny flat ones, with real fine wire, run it along door then paint over it, or, use some conductive paint. You paint it on from electrical contacts of the led to the base to some wires glued on, hidden on bottom of house. You then paint over that. Since I have one of these houses I will do that little project and see how it works. This will give a bit of life at night to a simple molded resin house.

Really just looking for the best deal on street lights like lamp post lights. Don't know where I'll put them as yet. Thought about fiber optics. See alot on eBay but they look very modern. Shipping very slow. Thanks Ron

Hey Jim
Are there any photos showing your full layout? Really like your style. Is there a best way to add snow to these trees? Thanks Ron

Socalz44 wrote:

Here is some of the 2000 trees I made using Loren's method. Jim

With all the help and suggestions from everyone we are getting there. We have the start of our forest, a river, a part of a town, a mountain, a back drop, and a tunnel all within a 48 by 19 inch board. We are getting there but now need some snow, some lighting, and a Christmas train. Thanks Guys Ron

I have a "Z" Scale layout and I found A way To make Cedar tree in a large amount with these Chenille Stems (bump Chenille). You can find them at Michael's Crafts or Hobby Lobby. They come in a Package of 12 stems they look like pipe cleaners item number 158543 Brown in color but with different shape. They come in other colors too. I use the brown or green. Each stem makes 4 small trees, so one pack make 48 trees. the cost about a $2.00 maybe cheaper. The one I bought was in 2005 and they were only $.77. Other materials needed wire cutter, paint brush, and some water base paint in different shades of green. These might work for you. I have pic of them. In the right upper corner you can see them they are thin but they worked for me. To Make them look like cedar trees I sprayed them with glue and used ground cover. To color them I took the Brush and rubbed across the chenille stem to color them and let them dry.

Has anyone tried the trees for sale over a d'Bay - ebay that is. These one are 5cm high (too high for anything but big mountain trees), but they come in all sizes. These ones are $20 for 100 trees. Tempting if they are any good at all.

I've made a few trees for my N Scale Layout but I'm not satisified with my tree making skills - I need more practice.

I've found some things are a good deal down a d'Bay - but not so much with Zed where vendors seem to want full retail for everything - somethings you can buy from on-line retailers for the same or less. As I live in Canada it is actually cheaper to have things sent from China where they frequently offer free shipping than it is to import from the states where most vendors want to use US Priority Post which to Canada is expensive - and we get dinged a surcharge at our post office because the US post wants a signature returned to them so Canada Post charges the recipient a fee for that. If the parcels are sent ordinary first class post - then there is no surcharge and the rates are not so bad.

I've bought and used the Chinese trees from eBay. The ones that I got were a little too bright green for me so I spayed on some hair spray and sprinkled on some darker ground foam. You could also spray a darker shade of green paint on them to tone them down if you just sort of mist them.

Fort Kent Dad wrote: ... These one are 5cm high (too high for anything but big mountain trees),...

I disagree that a 5cm is too tall for anything but a mountainous area. A 5cm tree works out to about a 37 ½ foot tree. Way small for a lot of trees right outside my window and there are no mountains in sight. Heck the cottonwood trees over there by the tracks (again, outside my window) are close to 100 feet tall and I live in the middle of a large city.

The problem lies in the fact that a lot of people are used to seeing very small trees on layouts. I think people started using smaller trees because trees of a realistic height, look huge… while in reality trees ARE huge. The canopy of the large red maple directly in front of me would fill my side of the duplex I live in. Folks just don’t seem to notice their real surroundings much… or at least don’t get to look at it from a giants point of view and so reality can look out of proportion on a layout. I myself prefer trees of a realistic height/size. These 5cm trees would be just a bit on the small side for me.

Joe

Hello
We sell a tree making machine, the wire might be a light coarse for Z scale, it is by H & J Trains


We also sell a wide variety of pre-made trees suitable for Z scale


It may be purchased from www.ontrackhobbies.com

Okay, I watched the video link. Seems easy, but I never used hairspray before. My question is, how well does the hairspray work? Does it lose it's stickiness over time?

Loren is our rezident tree guy. I'm sure he will pipe up when he sees your question---

Fred, Strange I should come across this thread this evening when I am gearing up to grow me a tree or two.....hundred that is.

I owe a couple of guys here some trees and they will get the first of the new crop coming out.

In regards to hair spray....that is all I've ever used, (the cheapest, extra hold, non scented if possible)from any grocery store.

In my technique I spray paint the tree armatures a brown or gray, (neither color is ideal) to cover the Chenille bump fibers. It really doesn't matter what color of bump one uses because the painting step covers well and then you are ready for the application of the ground foam. BTW, I do not use cheap spray paint because it seems to be very thin and not cover well. I guess the paint is the most expensive ingredient in my tree making. From a spray can of paint, one can spray several hundred trees of typical Z scale size.

I spray the tree armature with hair spray and immediately dip the armature or sprinkle the foam onto the armature, then lightly tap my fingers that are holding the armature and then spray the armature again to 'seal' the foam.

Once hair spray is dry, the foam is pretty well set. I've even gone over an area of finished forest and given the area a booster shot of spray for a little measure of 'upkeep'

This video is pretty well done and easy to understand. I think anyone trying to make trees will find the technique that works best for them.

I have made a fancy tree making machine that will produce up to 20 trees at a time if making short trees, but even the scale 100' trees I can get about 8 from one winding.

Maybe I should make a video of my technique and share. Karin made business cards for me and she named me 'The Fir Trader' Hmmmm........

I have a lot of pine trees from a rebuild layout. Feel fre to contact me. I could collect all I have and send you a picture. My email is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. May be I cold help :)

I just saw this thread and it looks like I'm three years overdue to answer a question! Anyway, here are some trees:

These are all made by Loren's method. He's a good teacher. Jim

No, Jim you were a very good understudy and straight A student. I think you have made more trees than I have, but I think I can make them faster with my tree making machine.

No matter what method you use, filling a forest is an act of time sacrifice.

"Fill the Forest" We should write a book Jim.

tealplanes wrote: ...but I think I can make them faster with my tree making machine.

Loren, Hi;

Two questions.

1. Is there a video out there of you using your tree making machine (link please)? If not, you need to get busy and get one put together. I, for one, would love to see it in action and I’m sure many more would as well!

2. Has anyone that you know of put together a pine tree canopy for large areas? I’ve seen it done for other types of trees but not pines or furs.

Later,
Joe

Yea! I Watch the video and it's was ok! but I think that Loren machine is a better design And you don't have to do all the wire rapping and since smaller trees he can do more at one time. I have tried making the trees with a household drill and a pair of pliers and it's a slow process but they turn out pretty nice. but with Loren's rig you don't have to hold the drill in one hand and the pliers with the other. here are some of my trees!


some of these trees where done with Chenille Stems Pump 15mm x12" 12 pieces in a pack each piece does 4 trees they are all ready twisted. they come in a variety of colors. I dry brush with the green color I want. As seen in the upper right side of photo. they look like cedar trees some have ground cover sprinkled on them.


These are done with twisted wire and placed in the end of some round stock wood to make the main part of the tree.

Since I live in a pine forest (or more correctly a conifer forest)I know a bit about them. I also built a dense forest in the 90s. Sorry, I've got no pictures of the layout, but how about one of my back yard:




The conifers are typically 100-150' tall: pine, fir and cedar. Along a road cut, boardleaf trees and plants will grow in the sun. On the west coast, these are typically oak, madrone and manzanita. The last one is a red trunk with blue-green leaves that can add quite a bit of contrast.

In the image, the foreground trees are oak. Notice how dense the trees are in the image. Less than 50' form the first trees there are houses, a pool and a camp ground, but you can't tell looking through the trees.

When I modeled the forest, I used mostly the "bristle brush" trees from the German suppliers cut to a more irregular shape and coated with foam. I used more detailed trees along the cut, with8-10 board-leafs and painted wooden skewers to simulate the trunks of short trees you couldn't see the top of. Once I had the horizontal view dense enough, I added the background tree tops using the "brush" trees stuck into strips of Styrofoam painted forest colors, very much like using the lichen or man-made tufts used for modeling a dense deciduous forest.

Don't forget to add the forest litter: pine needles and broken limbs to the floor of the forest.

I'm modeling the temperate forests of California and Oregon, so you may want to research the area you want to model. Also if you're modeling a mining operation, there will be fewer larger trees, or any trees at all, depending how wood-hungry the mine was.

Hope this helps,

Mark