I am rapidly aproaching the time when my layout will be ready for trees and I already have plenty of low-detail background trees, as well as a woodland scenics tree kit. However, I have no high-detail foreground trees. What is the best way to model foreground trees? Should I simply buy foreground trees from my local hobby shop, or is there an easy (inexpensive) method for improving background trees for use in the foreground? Also, what is the best commercial foreground tree? Seeing as they are $10+ per tree, I want to get the ones that I will be most happy with if I go with them.
My personal opinion is that foreground trees help a lot in setting the locale of the layout. Whether or not I go with commercial or do-it-yourself is be based on several factors:
How good are the commercial models of the trees I am looking for? To some tree manufacturers, all conifers are alike; one model works for all. To me, a foreground coastal redwood should not look the same as a blue spruce which is not the same as a Douglas fir which is not the same as a Ponderosa pine. The differences in shape and color are quite noticeable in the prototype, even from a mile or two away.
Some model tree manufacturers do a much better job with some types of trees than with others. One company makes a very nice lodgepole pine - great for Colorado mountains. But a great oak or maple doesn’t help my Oregon-based layout a lot. OTOH, some very nice commercial aspen models would be hard to duplicate on my own.
Can I make a model tree that shows these distinctive characteristics? How much time and money to do so?
Charlie Comstock has successfully used commercial forefront trees to set the locale and mood on his Bear Creek & Jackson, while other trees in his forest may be less detailed but give the forest appearance desired.
I think I am leaning more towards the trees with wide flat leaves, as I already have a bunch of pines. I also think I want a handful of ready made trees versus a kit. Who, if anyone, makes good models of them?
Personally, I think the best pre-made trees you can get are the ones by JTT Trees (now a division of MRC).
I got some freebies at the National Train Show last year, and they’re awesome. Different species look like different species (even the evergreens). Many hobby dealers carry these now (thanks to MRC’s marketing muscle).
They look the best of any trees I have seen (unless they are the type that the person building them has taken hours per single tree)!
Our local Club has placed 3 of the SUPER VALUE PAK boxes of trees on our layout (300 to 400 per box) and they really make our old trees look trashy in comparison!
And they don’t take much more work than using the dried weeds we had used in the past.
I have several boxes purchased once I get far enough along to begin the foregeound trees on my home layout!
I am using Scenic Express Supertrees for the foreground. They look great! Try the beginning kit first. It makes about 40 trees. Then, if you are going to need more trees, you can purchase the material in bulk.[tup]