I have some Super Tress and need to make them straight. Went to K-10 Model Trains to pick up some Matte Medium and much to my dismay the LHS was closed! Seems Ken the owner changed his hours and is not open on Friday any longer.
What might I find around the house I can use instead of Matte Medium? Could I use white glue deluded with water? Can I get Matte Medium at a art store and do they use the same name for the stuff?
Thanks for the up coming answers.
Cuda Ken
Ken,
Yes, you can use diluted white glue. I prefer matte medium. You can buy it by that name at any Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, Jo-Ann Fabrics & Crafts, etc.
John Timm
Ken,
If you have a Michael’s or Hobby Lobby in the area, they both carry Matte Medium. I believe Michael’s carries Mod Podge brand.
Don Z.
Wal Mart sells Mod Podge matte medium back in their craft section. Get ready for a sticker shock. It’s gone up to almost $7 for 16 oz.!!!
John, what ratio should I use with the with glue?
Far as the $ from Wally World, about the same from LHS. Luther, what is the ratio with it?
Thanks for all the quick answers I will add.
Cuda Ken
Ken, here is what one fellow did. I’m looking for other sites and tips.
http://www.fcsme.org/bcarl/how_to_make_scenic_express_supertrees.htm
Great site!!!
Mainetrains[banghead]
I use a ratio of 50/50 white glue and water. Avoid the Elmer’s school glue.
Ken,
I don’t dilute it too much–about 25%, which looks to be about the same consistency as matte medium. You can experiment a bit. Without dilution, white glue seems just a bit too thick.
John T.
Thanks for all the answers folks and thanks for the link Crandell.
Now I am just a little confused what the Matte Medium does?
Does soaking or boiling the Super Trees in water make them ply able and after drying they will stay straight. Matte Medium just holds on the ground cover? Or does the Matte Medium keep the super tree straight?
If it is just to hold the ground foam on, my hair spray works fine.
Cuda Ken
I didn’t straighten mine, so far they’ve gone in nicely. What I have done is spray paint them different tones to represent different species of trees; gray, brown, and white trunks. I also use the Noch leaves on some instead of foam, I like the leaf look better to be honest, but the variety is key.
I just used a white glue, water, and denatured alcohol mix in a spray bottle for mine, seems to work pretty well.
You can see in this picture a variety of them with different foliage “solutions” in place.
I used Modge Podge. I like to buy supplies like that when the craft stores have the 50% off coupon. I get the Michaels ones with the newspaper. AC Moore has them online.
Someone on the board once commented that Modge Podge will yellow over a few years time. I have no experience with that happening but is a non-issue for super trees presuming you are painting them.
Chris
edit - I didnt have much luck getting them to straighten… I will have to try out the boiling idea.
I have not had a lot of success straightening them out either. However, unless the bend is extreme, keep in mind that most trees are not perfectly straight. I kept some of the imperfect ones the way they were and planted them in a group. It turned out much better than I expected.
I went through quite a few of the super trees some I straightened some I left. The ones I straightened I let soak in warm water then hung upside down with clothes pins at each end.
For attaching the leaves I used hairspray.[8D]
Again, thanks for the answers but, my last question was not answered. So I will try to straighten some trees with out the matte medium, what do I have to lose anyway? I will let folks know what happens.
Cuda Ken
I don’t know if soaking them makes a difference, or is needed. After seeing this post though, I may try a few in the future that way. I would presume that the matt medium would help seal the natural material, and water would not.
I have another picture for you that shows unstraightened supertrees, with a variety of covers.
Hi Ken: According to the instructions that come with the SuperTree starter kit, the Matte Medium is supposed to apply adhesive for the foliage, and to encapsulate the tree in acrylic to preserve it. Like some of the other posters, I’ve had some success straightening some of the bigger trees, not so much with smaller ones. So, some of mine are straight, some are not.
Grampys Trains, thanks again for showing off your great art work again, it is all wise stunning!
All so thanks to all that answered.
I finally have my answer the hard way, I had at it. I soaked the tress in hot tap water for 20 minutes. They became very soft and would not break as I bent them. On the larger tree’s I did, I bent some of the limbs to the point the limbs collapsed at the bend point. Hung up side down and added clothes pins to the high end of center of the tree, then clothes to the limbs I bent. Tonight I pulled them down and they stayed in the same position as when weighted. Smaller trees I did the same thing, bent the trunk some then hung up to dry. On the little more difficult ones I used 2 to 3 clothes pins.
So the answer is at this point Matte Medium is used only to hold the ground foam on. We will see with time.
Thanks Again, Cuda Ken
Ken–
I’m in the midst of replacing all of my old WS fall deciduous trees with SuperTrees, and what I’ve done is what is recommended by the other posters–soaking them in warm water for about 20 minutes, then hanging them upside down to straighten.
I’ve been using cheap hair spray as a bonding agent for the leaves–give the bare tree a heavy coating of the stuff, then dipping it in the foilage material, shaking off the excess, then giving it another good heavy spray to fix the leaves on. Works really well for me. I really like the SuperTrees, they don’t look as ‘clumpy’ as the WS. And once you get used to them, they’re really easy to work with.
Tom [:)]
Thanks Ken: Here’s a tip you can use, if you want. IMHO, there is one little problem with Super Trees. If you have a single tree somewhere, the trunk is a little too thin. I had a few near some buildings, so I cut a short section out of a bigger twig, measured the trunk of a single Super Tree, and drilled a hole in the twig, then CA’d the Super Tree into the hole, then used Squadran Green putty to taper the joint. Then, I sprayed the whole trunk with gray primer. Here’s a couple of examples. These were my first attempts, If I were doing another, I would make the taper longer. Just an idea.
