Here's a method of quickly constructing N-scale trees. It was demonstrated to me by Terry Moore in his shop - Pacific Scale Rail in Victoria, BC, Canada. Step #1: Place the open end of a loop of thin wire in a vice and clamp. Step #2: Cut a woven rope into small lengths according to the size of the tree desired. Place clumps of the rope fibers between the wire loop leaving space at the tree bottom to insert the wire into a wooden trunk. Step #3: Clamp a wire hook in an electric drill chuck and hook onto the wire loop. While pulling, twist the wire loop with the drill using a slow speed. Step #4: Remove from the vice, and trim off the wire top flush with the rope fibers. Trim the wire loop off the tree bottom leaving about 1/2 inch of twisted wire to be inserted in the trunk. Trim the rope fibers to the desired shape. Step #5: Spray entire tree with flat, black paint. Step #6: Mix your favorite ground cover materials for the foliage. Spray the tree with glue like Elmer’s Spray Adhesive. Step #7: Apply the ground cover material while the spray adhesive is still tacky. Step #8: Fill the tree sparsely or heavily, depending upon the effect desired. Step #9: Construct a trunk from a soft wooden dowel which has been scored to simulate bark and painted. Drill one end and insert the wire end at the bottom of the tree. Step #10: Fix the tree foliage with hair spray. Step #11: Make a hole for the trunk in the layout, glue the tree in place, and place some light ground cover under the tree to simulate dead, fallen leaves. [ 24 February 2002, 18:10: Message edited by: Gerry M ]
Ahh yes!, the "Bottle Brush" tree. I made hundreds of these trees with this variation: I used 18" lengths of "flower arrangement" wire (the kind with brown or green paper around 18 gauge wire) I used flat brown K-Mart .99 cent spray paint I used sisal twine cut into 2" pieces then unraveled to individual fibers. After spinning you end up with a long brush, that you cut to various length for different size trees. My other favorite tree is the "shish-ka-bob" tree made with a bamboo skewer and chunks of furnace filter material skewed and glued. Just trim and treat as above to make an inexpensive "Lodgepole Pine" forest -post reply afterthought- I just wanted to add a thank you for bringing back the memories of the helping hobby shop. When I was starting in the hobby, our locol toy and hobby used to have these how-to clinics once a month. I would beg my mom to take me, saying I needed some more "lychen" for bushes or something, and she would drop me off while she went shopping. I learned the bottle brush tree at one of these "Hobby Shop Clinics". [ 25 February 2002, 15:58: Message edited by: pray59 ]
I am going to try this sometime soon. I need a couple hundred trees for my layout. Thank you for posting this with pictures. It is amazing how helpful step by step pictures can be.
Good article Jerry, Thank you for for posting it . Its good to get a little exposure every now and then. I hope to be able to carry out my promised layout construction clinic this year after all the problems encountered last year . Just noticed the post tonight as we have been reviewing the plans for our new house which we will be constructed starting in April . The basement (Mine!) is 49ft x 36ft (Mine!!) and is designated by both me and my wife as "Terry's Private Railroad Domain" (It's All Mine!!!). Have a great one and Happy Modeling! Cheers! Terry
