Good Morning. [:D]
I would like to make stumps for a clear cut forest area. Any ideas Guys or Gals?
I’m too cheap to buy ready made.
Thanks
Lee
Just use sections from appropriate size tree branches. I cut them about 1/2 way thru on each side at slightly different levels & snap them off. Looks more realistic than just cutting them off flush.
You can buy stumps for N or Z scale for about 2 dollars a container at the grocery store in the spice section, which is usually in the baking supplies section with cooking oil, sugar and flour. However, they will not be labeled “miniature tree stumps.” They will be called 'WHOLE CLOVES".
I"m talkin’ ancient history here, but in the early 90s Dave Frary used to market a plaster casting mold for HO scale stumps thru Blue Ribbon Models. Unless I’m mistaken Dave Frary is still in the model railroad scenery business with Blue Ribbon Models.
regards, Peter
I do what Jerryl said. Depending on where the stumps will end up I do more or less to make them look “cut Off”. On these I didn’t worry too much as it is a background scene, but yes, small branches of many types of trees (these are from crabapple) work nicely to crate stumps.
Here is the finished corner hill:
73
If you want to depict a clear cut forest take a look at the the devastation left by strip-mining trees in Nova Scotia, there is nothing left at all, no stumps, trees, bushes, it’s a desert, then the government tells loggers to leave a row of trees along roads so you cannot see the the terrible damage done, just make the clear-cut a desert, it’s a lot easier and true to prototype.
With modern machinery, there is not much stump left, mere inches, at least in eastern forest where the trees are not really big. In the past, when logging was made with chain saws, loggers also tried to cut the tree as close to the ground as possible as it is where the diameter of the tree is the larger and that affected the pay check.
Higher stumps, let saw more than 6 inches, are related to handsaw cutting and is those times clear cutting was not common.
If I had to model a clear cut I would use pieces of wigs not more then 2/32", a scale 6 inches.
Real branches work great.
Not sure of your scale, but I use cut branches for logs and stumps on our Large Scale (1:22.5) layout.
If you want a little more flare at the bottom of your twig stumps, you can push them into a small blob of Sculptamold, then roughly shape it with your fingers. A little paint and ground foam to represent moss on the stump and a little grass around the stump and you should be set to go.
Good luck,
Richard
Thanks Guys.
I will try some samples to get the hang of it. The whole Cloves sounds like a great idea if I can find a box of big ones. The sticks and putty should make a nice stump but may be a little more work.
Thanks for the ideas. [tup] Scale is “HO” to “N”. Forced prospective, you know.
Lee
There are not many twigs or branches that have the sort of deep detail that a large tree trunk has.
The September 1957 Model Railroader had a terrific article by Jack Work – at the time one of the great masters of realistic scenery and in particular logging scenes – about making detailed tree trunks and stumps. I realize not many are likely to have that issue sitting around, but many of you might have the DVD of old issues and can look it up
Reduced to its essence, he would take a dowel of the right diameter and cut it so that it looks as though cut at two different heights each about half way in (so it falls in the right direction). He could then coat the dowel with plaster using a knife blade. Today perhaps we would use squadron putty - and rough in the roots. The details would be finished by running a needle working in the “bark” and drawing out the roots. He reminded his readers that often the soil erodes around the root structure and he modeled that as well.
A more recent article, but still more probably found for most of you on that DVD, was April 1970 where Robert Fink showed how he made six master stumps, then a metal mold using Cerro Bend, and then cast several stumps using rubber latex.
Dave Nelson