I am to the point in my layout construction that I would like to start building some trees. I have seen the Woodland Scenics Fine Leaf material (very expensive, I think) and the Noch leaf material (hard to find and not cheap either). Today I came across JTT Scenery Products Foilage Fiber Clusters at Hobby Lobby (love that 40% off coupon). The stuff looks very nice and seems to be a bargain especially with the coupon. I was wondering if anyone out there has had some experience with this item and other JTT items and would be willing to share that info?
I have one package of the Noch “Profi-Line” leaf material and I think it makes a very nice “detail” on my trees. A little goes a long way.
Several manufacturers use different names for the same things… or vice-versa.
Seems to me that fiber clusters are similar to Woodland Scenics “Foliage Clusters” (ground foam in a floss base) where you stretch and pull to cover the tree armature.
Not the same thing as the leaves.
The leaf material is like tiny bits of confetti and all I do is slightly dampen the finished tree with a bit of cheap hair spray then hold the tree over a box or container to collect and reuse the leaf material. Only a little is needed on each tree to give it a leafy look.
I’m pretty sure I got my Noch leaves from Scenic Express.
I’m not familiar with the products mentioned, but how detailed do your trees need to be?
I use polyfibre stretched over natural twig armatures, spray with cheap hairspray from a pump-type dispenser, then dust-on various shades of Woodland Scenics finely-ground foam…
I work on the layout room floor, and apply the spray over newspaper spread on the floor. Each colour of foam is applied over its own spread of newspaper, allowing what doesn’t stick to the tree to be collected and re-used.
I apply the darker colours first, both from the bottom and top of the tree, then apply lighter colours mostly from the top - this suggests sunlight on the leaves, which helps to compensate for the low lighting levels over many layouts…
Wayne, very good tutorial and some fine looking trees. I am going to give your method a try as well as the one Pelle Soeberg described in the current edition of MR. I’ve gotten my best results using Supertrees, painted, sprayed with adhesive, and sprinkled with either WS or Noch ground foam. They are a little brittle for trees at the front edge of the layout so I use WS armatures with lichen stretched to form the canopy and again ground foam applied.
Other than the brittleness of the Super Trees, the other problem I see is that you can create some very large trees with unrealistically skinny trunks. That’s why I think Pelle’s hybrid method might be a good option.
For the background trees, puffballs suffice for me. I don’t think it is worth the time or money creating individual trees when all you really see are the tree tops.
Depending on where the trees are growing, and on the species, tall trees with relatively skinny trunks aren’t necessarily inappropriate. This often occurs where an area is clear-cut, and the new growth is all competing for the same sunlight. It’s a race to see which ones survive and crowd out the others. The survivors may “fatten-out” later, but some fast-growing species don’t, as they may have a shorter life span.
I’m not familiar with the article, but lone trees on layouts, especially if they’re tall, do look better with thicker trunks.
While I’m not completely satisfied with my representation of this Elm tree, I used several natural twigs to create both a thicker trunk and a wider branch structure. I wrapped them together using florist’s tape, but should have painted it, too…
I agree, and I have a lot of background trees to create. I used some insulation (I think that it may be rock wool), cutting it into strips, then tearing the strips lengthwise to create jagged edges which I hoped would represent the treetops.
I’ve tried all sorts of different flocking materials and for me the old-school coarse foam works better than most of the newer stuff. I do really like Super-Leaf from Scenic Express though. I throw in some Noch leaf too but it doesn’t work quite as well for me.
I use Supertree material to create trees, bushes and undergrowth and use different flocks for variation. I flock odd looking Supertree material and lay it down to simulate woodsy undergrowth.
The ivy in the bottom pic is made using Wayne’s method with the polyfiber stretched over a plaster wall.
Where are you located Doughless? I am also in GA (Augusta) and there is not much model railroading going on around here. I order most of my scenery materials from Scenic Express because very little is available locally.
That’s a great idea using insulation and one I’d have never thought of. The good thing is I have some leftover insulation from when my house was built 16 years ago and being a pack rat I never throw anything out because I know I’ll eventually find a use for it. I am in the process of constructing my branchline which will run down both sides of a center peninsula with a backdrop down the middle. I’ll need lots of background trees. I probably need about 25 linear feet of background trees with an average depth of 6 inches. This could prove to be a huge time saver if I can get the hang of it.
Or you can buy cheap trees on Ebay from Chinese dealers. If you spend so time looking, some of their trees are quite nice. They’re a fraction of the cost of Woodland scenics, making your own, etc, etc
Thanks guys for the compliments. I did a lot of experimenting a few years ago before settling on methods for trees and vegetation. Wayne you might remember helping me along back then.
To the OP, suggest that you try various methods and materials. Depending on the size of the layout, the look you want, budget considerations and “patience level” there are a whole lot of different approaches. I am not familiar with the stuff from Hobby Lobby that you are referring to but suggest that you give it a try and let us know how it goes.
For what its worth here is the method that I worked out for Supertrees. They come out of the box in a mat and here is what a typical “tree” looks like.
First I straighten the trunk by applying heat with a soldering iron at strategic spots and then trim the branches and pull out un-natural looking leaves using tweezers. Here is the same tree after straightening and pruning.
Next is spray painting the trunk and branches. Rustoleum satin granite looks the best to me.
I’ve tried all sorts of adhesives for the flock but find that the glue that comes with the Supertrees works best for me. But I don’t spray it on. Instead I mix up a batch per instructions and pour it into what looks like a plastic sub sandwich tray. A couple of these trays came with my first Supertree starter kit. I roll the tree branches in the glue trying not to get much on the trunk. This gives really good coverage on the branches and is a lot neater than spraying. Here is the same tree after applying the glue.
I hold the tree upright over a plastic tub and drop the flock on. What doesn’t stick drops into the tub. Then hang it to dry. Here is the same tree to the right after flocking with coarse foam. The tree on the left was flocked with Superleaf. The different materials give a slightly different look and texture.
Once the glue is dry I give them a coating of hairspray to seal, and when the hairspray is dry then the trees a
great looking trees, thanks for your info and especially the pics. My thanks to all wo have commented. The variety of responses gives me much to ponder and I will be doing some experiments with different methods. If anyone else has additional info I will be watching for it. Thanks
