This is more of a test than anything else. A friend of mine is building a layout based on the SP between Salinas and Gilroy, including the Monterey Branch. Like a dumb , I volunteered to research and build signature foliage for the area. Signature trees for the area include Monterey cypress, Monterey pine, Coast live oak and eucalyptus (multiple species with different appearances).
Mind you, up until recently, I’ve never even tried my hand at scenery, let alone trying to duplicate the appearance of a specific species. Oh well, into the valley of death rode the 600 and all that.
Even as a complete duffer, some of my trees turned out reasonably well, but I have no pictures and the good stuff is in the hands of tthe layout owner. Anyhow, in addition to learning how to make trees, I’m learning how to take photos of them on the iPhone, get 'em downloaded to the computer and (if the wind don’t blow and the creek don’t rise) hopefully to present them to all and sundry for commentary. Hopefully, that won;t include hoots of derision, but you never know.
So here goes. The mini-cypress and a real world example
Seriously, you have really captured the essence of the real thing. I for one would like to know how you did it. Cyprus trees aren’t growing anywhere near where my layout is situated, but there are lots of wind blown pines for which your technique would work extremely well.
The armatures are cut from the dead branches of manzanita, which grows in abundance here. Depending on the color of the wood, I may or may not paint the armature to gray it out depending on how bleached it is. The manzanita can be anything from a dark red to a light brownish gray (close to the actual color of cypress bark).
The foliage is made from Woodland Scenics foliage mats http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/category/GCFoliage which are stretched to shape. For this one, I had to use the medium green (F52) rather than the F54 used on earlier ones as I had run out. I need to take a sample of both and see which color is closer to reality. The little one on the clothespin was a spur of the moment decision as it was a remnant from trimming a piece on a different tree and I had seen something similar to it when driving from Monterey to Pacific Grove the long way round by the ocean.
Nice work Andre! By your avitar it sez you’re from Maine and California. With Manzanita available locally, tha’d narrow it down to Cal, huh? I have it locally here in Bend, OR too. It’s a beautiful plant, and handy for scale scenery. Dan
Great work on the trees! Making trees is easy and enjoyable. I find that replicating ones typically found on a layout requires a bit of research. Given that mine is in VA, there’s plenty of options.
Not at all, Steven. This particular tree was a spur of the moment thing as was photograping it. I just had a left over piece of manzania scrap and it had a shape that reminded me of a low growing tree I had seen.
We have 3 of our 4 grandchildren through Christmas, so I won’t be doing any more work for the next few days. I’ll bookmark this thread so I can return to it with new stuff when I get a chance to return to work. As I mentioned in the OP, I’m a complete newbie to this (started a couple of layouts that never got beyond Plywood Pacific) and I’m really pleased with the way things are going despite the fact that I have turned out some less than stellar examples. It’s a learning process
What has really floored me is how enthusiastic I’ve become. If someone told me even a month ago that tree making (and by extension - scenery in general) would become something really interested in, I’d have said that person is nuts. I’m continually looking at flora (not just trees anymore) and trying to figure out how to reproduce it. It’s weird.
I have a friend building a layout based on the SP between Salinas and Gilroy with a second level dedicated to the Monterey Branch. I’ve always been fascinated by the Monterey cypress as well as eucalyptus trees, so I volunteered to make some (as well as Monterey pines and Coast live oak). It’s something I can work on at home (another member of the group scratchbuilt some fantastic renditions of the buildings along the tracks at Fort Ord based on drawings obtained from the California State Railroad Museum).
Anyhow, I’ll try to keep this thread updated over the next weeks. May even change the thread topi
Went out with the grandkids today. Went through Carmel. Caught this funky little house on Scenic Drive. It’s only peripherally related to the topic (although the trees behind are on topic). I’m still learning how to get pictures from iPhone to here.
