hand made model trees 00 gauge

[Kenneth West]

Hi was at a railway exhibition the other week and a chap was making model trees the trunk and branches were real twigs he did tell me what tree or bush he was using but I can't remember what it was he was using any help would be appreciated

Thanks

[Paulc]

Wasn't there but I've read somewhere that some use flower heads from climbing hydrangea (H petiolaris).  PD Hancock suggested heather stems but "..the only really suitable heather comes from the furthest reaches of the Cheviots, or else in the most remote and inaccessible parts of the West Highlands where the raging Atlantic storms have forced it to grow in suitable bent tangled and gnarled positions...." - !   :)

Don't think that either would make a particularly large tree though.

Paul

[Kenneth West]

Thanks for that, but this bloke was definitely using wood twigs he was getting all the kids to help then giving them the to take home my grandson done one very realistic and took him no more than a minute to do

[Tigger]

There are two distinct types of hydrangea and H petiolaris is a good example of the more useful of the two.  I have one covering my garage. H petiolaris takes a while to establish but then there's no stopping it! The scent in May/June is so strong it's almost 'heady'. Although I've not used the dried flower hears they do look useful.

[clayliner]

This doesn't really answer your query (!), but if you want a 'natural' product you might  want to try the dried stalks from bunches of grapes. You'd need to like grapes, of course (or know someone who does), but I've tried them recently and they do give quite a natural look, though the resulting trees are quite chunky but okay for 'fillers', I think.

Heather can be okay but in my experience you do have to look quite hard to find suitably bushy pieces, and the finer tips can be a bit fragile.

As always, keep your eyes open for suitable plants and don't be afraid to experiment (and if you are successful please share your experience with the rest of us!)

David.

[clayliner]

Here are a few I made earlier, using the stalks from bunches of grapes:


'grape' trees by clayliner, on Flickr

David.

[Kenneth West]

Thanks dave something else to think about

[Retiarius]

If it was the Spalding show the 'tree maker' was Roy Hickman. He was using a method similar to that shown here on http://www.model-railroad.tv by Nick Duxfield in the free films section on that site.

[Kenneth West]

Cheers