My fictional On30 Great Northern Railway & Navigation Company operates in the North Cascades of Washington State and British Columbia. There are a lot of tall trees in that region, so the challenge presented itself of developing a relatively quick method to make tall trees that were a scale 150 feet in height or taller.
I want my trains to run through the trees rather than by them.
There are many fine model railroaders that have contributed excellent articles to the various periodicals, as well as clinics and videos to help the rest of us develop the techniques and skills to make great looking trees. My list of articles and railroaders includes the following:
Magazine Articles
Jack Work Model Railroader, April 1958
Bob Hegge Railroad Model Craftsman, April 1973
Boone Morrison Narrow Gauge Gazette, July/Aug 2001
Clinics
Ken Larson 2012 NNGC, Bellevue, WA
“Making Photo Realistic Foreground Trees”
Tom Beaton 2012 NNGC, Bellevue, WA
“Trees and foliage the way I do it”
Videos
Paul Scoles Advanced Techniques for Realistic Scenery
Darryl Huffman Trees, Trees, Trees
Stan Oxendahl Hangman Creek Lumber Company
Jim Smith
Tom Jennings
Jess Dozier
Brian Murphy
Article in process of formatting and having images added. Mark 9 12 19.
TALL TREES
What I will describe is my take on making what has been traditionally known as “Jack Work Pines”, or to use Tom Beaton’s phrase “The way I do it”. Hopefully some of my techniques will be useful to you or provide a start that you can further improve upon. If you do find better methods, please share them with me.
TRUNKS
I start with a clear cedar 2x2 acquired from the local home improvement store or lumber yard. They can be purchased in lengths from 2 feet to 10 feet, I generally by 10 footers as they are more cost effective that way.
I then chop it into the lengths I want for my tall trees. I usually cut them from 24 inch (96 foot tree height in O scale) to 36 inch (144 feet) or longer.
I then take the cut 2x2s to my table saw and rip them down to the diameter I want the trunk to be. For 24 inch lengths I find that if I rip them precisely in half and then repeat on the halved sections I end up with the making of four trunks that will be 11/16s inch square or a bit over a scale 2 ½ feet, which is about right for a 100’ Douglas Fir or Western Red Cedar.
At 36 inch lengths I will go with a width of 1 inch, 1 ¼ inch or more for trees over 36 inch. There is more wastage, unless you cut the remainders into shorter lengths for your younger, shorter trees.
At this point I tap the center of the base with a wood drill that will fit the size bamboo skewer I will insert into the base for planting the trees on the layout. I’ll drill the hole in the trunk 2 to 3 inches and leave about 2 to 3 inches of the skewer exposed pointed end down for planting securely into the layout. I use 2 inch thick foam for my layout base, so the skewer works well. I have yet to determine a method for planting in thin hard shell for mountainous scenery.
The next step is to take your “trunk” and begin to shape it into a round, tapered trunk. For that I use a regular plane, but a utility knife, spoke shave or other method of your preference can be used. Whatever tool you decide upon, follow the appropriate safety precautions. A trip to the ER for stitches is not a step I plan for in tree construction. I gather all the shavings from this step and save them for future use as fire starter material for my fireplace.
BARK DETAIL
Now that you have your tapered trunk, the next step is to take a sharp “V” hand chisel and cut deep gouges or “V”s into your trunk. Do this randomly the entire length of the trunk with the depth of the gouges getting shallower the further up the trunk you go.
I keep the length of the trunk flat on the work surface, cutting in the safe direction, away from me. Add the remnants from this step to your previous shaving pile for the intended later use.
At this point, there are two possible methods to take depending upon the bark pattern you want to develop:
The first is to follow up the vertical bark development with a coarse wood rasp, running it up and down the length of the trunk and then move onto a coarse wire brush up and down the length of the trunk. Finish up by grasping a cloth with leather gloved hand and firmly wipe down the trunk, removing loose wood fibers. The
leather glove is an important safety precaution as those leftover wood fibers can run a heck of a sliver into the soft tissue of your hand!
The second method it to use Golden’s Crackle Paste which is available from most art supply and craft stores. I use the Golden brand as it physically cracks while many of the other brands will give a crackle appearance, but no physical crack. I paint/trowel it onto the trunks in a heavy coat about 1/16 inch thick. As the paste dries it will crack and fracture giving a very satisfying bark platelet appearance to your trunk.
I have found that I can go from the square stock to finished trunk ready for color in about 20 minutes on the 24 to 36 inch trunks. Usage of crackle paste requires drying overnight.
PAINTING
Now it is time to add color. My method is evolving, so take these ideas and use them and improve upon them. I initially used a two color process with a base stain of either gray or dark brown going onto the trunks. I would then dry brush a light gray onto the brown trunks and a medium brown on the gray trunks. To me the brown trunks with gray highlights represent Douglas Firs and the gray trunks with brown represent Western Red Cedars. As I have continued to develop my tree making skills I have found that several additional colors of brown and gray dry brushed on gives more highlight to the trunks and even better “Real Life” appearance. I encourage you to experiment and use the TLAR point for stopping you painting efforts (That Looks About Right).
Note: I have not discussed adding the detail of the root swell to the trees at this point because of the manner in which I drill the holes for the branches. I have tried adding the root swell before drilling for the branches, the benefit being that you are only painting once. As I will roll the trunk across my work surface as I drill the holes it is important to make sure the root swell is clear of the work surface or it will be damaged if it has already been added and painted.
DRILLING for BRANCHES
I start drilling holes for the branched at the top of the tree using a pin vise and start with a #65 bit or larger, after the top two inches I switch to a 1/16” bit chucked into a drill motor. I’ll switch again to a 1/8” and possibly 3/16” bit depending upon the size of the tree. The holes at the top of the tree are angled downward into the trunk. They then transition to straight into and then upward into the trunk. Tree branches initially grow upward, as they get bigger and longer further down the tree, gravity acts upon them causing them to droop downward. That transition from upward through level and then downward varies upon species, age and height of the tree. Once again, I recommend the TLAR method for determining where that transition occurs.
I recommend lying the trunk down on your work surface and rolling it back and forth as you drill you holes. It is safer for you and your trunk than holding it in your hand and drilling. You want to always be certain of what the drill bit is going to bite into if it penetrates the other side of the trunk.
Another thought for consideration as you are making your trees. It is possible to create a whole forest of perfect looking “Christmas” trees. If you look at nature there are few “perfect” looking trees. On the other hand if you model real trees exactly, you might have visitors to your railroad empire wondering about your scenery skills. It is a matter of striking a balance between perfection and the real world that will give your trees and forest the illusion of reality.
FOLIAGE
There are many types of foliage materials that can be used. I have tried many types in developing my tree making skills from dried caspia to plastic fern materials. The two types that I have evolved two are a synthetic fresh fern product available from Hobby Lobby and using preserved natural cedar boughs. The synthetic fern comes pre-flocked and has a nice color to it that does not require any further work for it to look good in my forest, the challenge I have found in using the material is cutting the pieces so they do not look all the same and preparing the point on the end that will fit into the trunk.
I have found several crafts stores sell preserved cedar branches, often identified as preserved cedar boughs, branches or tips. These are actual cedar branches that have been professionally preserved with a glycerin and florist systemic dye that will maintain the suppleness, color and aroma of the cedar branch. The best time to buy them is during the late summer and early fall as they tend to sell out fast for the craft community that is busy preparing decorations for Christmas holiday season. I have used them for tall trees in N scale as well as a 292 foot giant in O scale.
They look very natural – nature does a great job of representing nature in your scenery. I have used them without flocking with good results. Some I have flocked using the basic hairspray and ground foam procedure with good results as well.
For application of the branches to the tree I use a two part “super glue” produced by FastCap called 2P-10. “2P” represents “Two Part” and 10 referring to a setting time of 10 seconds. You can use the glue without the activator second part, which will give you a much longer working time and the glue will still cure. I primarily use it for the smaller branches near the top. Further down the tree the branches will generally make a good mechanical fit with the drilled holes; however, I still use either regular wood glue or Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue. I have starting using the 2P-10 for all my “super glue” needs. FastCap provides a 2P-10 Kit that provides 4 different viscosities, activator and debonder for $30.00, which seems to me to be a great deal when comparing “super glue” costs.
Density of the placement of your branches is yet again another TLAR point that can depend upon the particular type of tree or forest look you want to achieve. Nature shows us all kinds with trees that range from those with very few branches to trees that are densely covered with branches all the way to the ground.
DETAILS and OPTIONS
Root swell
On most trees the trunk widens or swells at the base where the trunk/root system enters the ground. Some trees will look like telephone poles driven into the ground while the root swell of others is hidden by vines, ferns and other ground foliage of the understory.
Durham’s Wood Putty has been the material of choice over the years for creating root swell. I found a product call Creative PaperClay does a very good job as well. It is a claylike paper product that will form the root swell nicely and can be pushed into the deep bark detail to blend with the trunk. It air dries overnight and can be carved, sanded and drilled once hardened. It also accepts paints and stains well. I have also used it for building stone walls for structures. This is a handy product to have in your tool box.
I start by wetting down the trunk with a fine mist of water and then pinching pieces of PaperClay onto the base. I can then fair the clay into the upper portion of the trunk that will help lessen the shaping and carving I have to do once it is dried.
Once dried I use a dental pick or Xacto knife to finish fairing the swell into the trunk and add additional bark detail.
Dead Branches
Adding dead branches to your tree adds additional realism. They are often located below the last of the healthy branches, but can also be found throughout the entire tree. I’ve used pieces of caspia, sage brush and other natural plants and sticks that seem to give the right look.
Multiple Trunks
This is just a matter of taking two of your trunks and gluing them into a third.
I recommend adding the trunk detail through the wire brush step, leaving the last inch or two near the bottom square and free of detail so you can better glue all the pieces together. Once the glue is dried you can finish up the detail to the joined trunks.
Other Possibilities
Nests
Tall trees are often home to the large raptors, so an eagle’s nest high up in the tree is a nice detail to add.
Nursery Trees
Plant a tree or two in a large old stump, using your trusty PaperClay to form the root system around the stump
Lightning Strikes
Tall trees will attract their fair share of attention from lightning. It could be a dead top, or series of dead branches on one side of the tree. The tree at left was a Noble Fir over 100 feet in height when it was completely shattered by a bolt of lightning.
Snow Laden Trees
To give the lower limbs a look of heavy snow accumulation I coated the cedar branches with a layer of Gorilla Glue on the top sides. The glue expands as it cures, bulking up the top of the branch. It sometimes takes a few coats to get the right “snow load”. A quick coat of flat white primer to the top of the branches gets rid of the yellow color of the cured Gorilla Glue. Then add you laden branches to your trunk with holes drilled upward into the trunk so the limbs hang down due to the weight of the “snow”. Flock in the normal hairspray manner. The snow flocking from Scenic Express come with some sparkle material in it that gives the visual impression of ice crystals glistening in the sun while the Woodland Scenics snow does not.
That is my take on making tall trees and the products I have found useful and I hope you might find it useful as well.
If you are able to add any further insight or have better methods to share, please let me know.
Have fun “training”!Making Tall Trees
By Mark Allen
My fictional On30 Great Northern Railway & Navigation Company operates in the North Cascades of Washington State and British Columbia. There are a lot of tall trees in that region, so the challenge presented itself of developing a relatively quick method to make tall trees that were a scale 150 feet in height or taller.
I want my trains to run through the trees rather than by them.
There are many fine model railroaders that have contributed excellent articles to the various periodicals, as well as clinics and videos to help the rest of us develop the techniques and skills to make great looking trees. My list of articles and railroaders includes the following:
Magazine Articles
Jack Work Model Railroader, April 1958
Bob Hegge Railroad Model Craftsman, April 1973
Boone Morrison Narrow Gauge Gazette, July/Aug 2001
Clinics
Ken Larson 2012 NNGC, Bellevue, WA
“Making Photo Realistic Foreground Trees”
Tom Beaton 2012 NNGC, Bellevue, WA
“Trees and foliage the way I do it”
Videos
Paul Scoles Advanced Techniques for Realistic Scenery
Darryl Huffman Trees, Trees, Trees
Stan Oxendahl Hangman Creek Lumber Company
Jim Smith
Tom Jennings
Jess Dozier
Brian Murphy
TALL TREES
What I will describe is my take on making what has been traditionally known as “Jack Work Pines”, or to use Tom Beaton’s phrase “The way I do it”. Hopefully some of my techniques will be useful to you or provide a start that you can further improve upon. If you do find better methods, please share them with me.
TRUNKS
I start with a clear cedar 2x2 acquired from the local home improvement store or lumber yard. They can be purchased in lengths from 2 feet to 10 feet, I generally by 10 footers as they are more cost effective that way.
I then chop it into the lengths I want for my tall trees. I usually cut them from 24 inch (96 foot tree height in O scale) to 36 inch (144 feet) or longer.
I then take the cut 2x2s to my table saw and rip them down to the diameter I want the trunk to be. For 24 inch lengths I find that if I rip them precisely in half and then repeat on the halved sections I end up with the making of four trunks that will be 11/16s inch square or a bit over a scale 2 ½ feet, which is about right for a 100’ Douglas Fir or Western Red Cedar.
At 36 inch lengths I will go with a width of 1 inch, 1 ¼ inch or more for trees over 36 inch. There is more wastage, unless you cut the remainders into shorter lengths for your younger, shorter trees.
At this point I tap the center of the base with a wood drill that will fit the size bamboo skewer I will insert into the base for planting the trees on the layout. I’ll drill the hole in the trunk 2 to 3 inches and leave about 2 to 3 inches of the skewer exposed pointed end down for planting securely into the layout. I use 2 inch thick foam for my layout base, so the skewer works well. I have yet to determine a method for planting in thin hard shell for mountainous scenery.
The next step is to take your “trunk” and begin to shape it into a round, tapered trunk. For that I use a regular plane, but a utility knife, spoke shave or other method of your preference can be used. Whatever tool you decide upon, follow the appropriate safety precautions. A trip to the ER for stitches is not a step I plan for in tree construction. I gather all the shavings from this step and save them for future use as fire starter material for my fireplace.
BARK DETAIL
Now that you have your tapered trunk, the next step is to take a sharp “V” hand chisel and cut deep gouges or “V”s into your trunk. Do this randomly the entire length of the trunk with the depth of the gouges getting shallower the further up the trunk you go.
I keep the length of the trunk flat on the work surface, cutting in the safe direction, away from me. Add the remnants from this step to your previous shaving pile for the intended later use.
At this point, there are two possible methods to take depending upon the bark pattern you want to develop:
The first is to follow up the vertical bark development with a coarse wood rasp, running it up and down the length of the trunk and then move onto a coarse wire brush up and down the length of the trunk. Finish up by grasping a cloth with leather gloved hand and firmly wipe down the trunk, removing loose wood fibers. The
leather glove is an important safety precaution as those leftover wood fibers can run a heck of a sliver into the soft tissue of your hand!
The second method it to use Golden’s Crackle Paste which is available from most art supply and craft stores. I use the Golden brand as it physically cracks while many of the other brands will give a crackle appearance, but no physical crack. I paint/trowel it onto the trunks in a heavy coat about 1/16 inch thick. As the paste dries it will crack and fracture giving a very satisfying bark platelet appearance to your trunk.
I have found that I can go from the square stock to finished trunk ready for color in about 20 minutes on the 24 to 36 inch trunks. Usage of crackle paste requires drying overnight.
PAINTING
Now it is time to add color. My method is evolving, so take these ideas and use them and improve upon them. I initially used a two color process with a base stain of either gray or dark brown going onto the trunks. I would then dry brush a light gray onto the brown trunks and a medium brown on the gray trunks. To me the brown trunks with gray highlights represent Douglas Firs and the gray trunks with brown represent Western Red Cedars. As I have continued to develop my tree making skills I have found that several additional colors of brown and gray dry brushed on gives more highlight to the trunks and even better “Real Life” appearance. I encourage you to experiment and use the TLAR point for stopping you painting efforts (That Looks About Right).
Note: I have not discussed adding the detail of the root swell to the trees at this point because of the manner in which I drill the holes for the branches. I have tried adding the root swell before drilling for the branches, the benefit being that you are only painting once. As I will roll the trunk across my work surface as I drill the holes it is important to make sure the root swell is clear of the work surface or it will be damaged if it has already been added and painted.
DRILLING for BRANCHES
I start drilling holes for the branched at the top of the tree using a pin vise and start with a #65 bit or larger, after the top two inches I switch to a 1/16” bit chucked into a drill motor. I’ll switch again to a 1/8” and possibly 3/16” bit depending upon the size of the tree. The holes at the top of the tree are angled downward into the trunk. They then transition to straight into and then upward into the trunk. Tree branches initially grow upward, as they get bigger and longer further down the tree, gravity acts upon them causing them to droop downward. That transition from upward through level and then downward varies upon species, age and height of the tree. Once again, I recommend the TLAR method for determining where that transition occurs.
I recommend lying the trunk down on your work surface and rolling it back and forth as you drill you holes. It is safer for you and your trunk than holding it in your hand and drilling. You want to always be certain of what the drill bit is going to bite into if it penetrates the other side of the trunk.
Another thought for consideration as you are making your trees. It is possible to create a whole forest of perfect looking “Christmas” trees. If you look at nature there are few “perfect” looking trees. On the other hand if you model real trees exactly, you might have visitors to your railroad empire wondering about your scenery skills. It is a matter of striking a balance between perfection and the real world that will give your trees and forest the illusion of reality.
FOLIAGE
There are many types of foliage materials that can be used. I have tried many types in developing my tree making skills from dried caspia to plastic fern materials. The two types that I have evolved two are a synthetic fresh fern product available from Hobby Lobby and using preserved natural cedar boughs. The synthetic fern comes pre-flocked and has a nice color to it that does not require any further work for it to look good in my forest, the challenge I have found in using the material is cutting the pieces so they do not look all the same and preparing the point on the end that will fit into the trunk.
I have found several crafts stores sell preserved cedar branches, often identified as preserved cedar boughs, branches or tips. These are actual cedar branches that have been professionally preserved with a glycerin and florist systemic dye that will maintain the suppleness, color and aroma of the cedar branch. The best time to buy them is during the late summer and early fall as they tend to sell out fast for the craft community that is busy preparing decorations for Christmas holiday season. I have used them for tall trees in N scale as well as a 292 foot giant in O scale.
They look very natural – nature does a great job of representing nature in your scenery. I have used them without flocking with good results. Some I have flocked using the basic hairspray and ground foam procedure with good results as well.
For application of the branches to the tree I use a two part “super glue” produced by FastCap called 2P-10. “2P” represents “Two Part” and 10 referring to a setting time of 10 seconds. You can use the glue without the activator second part, which will give you a much longer working time and the glue will still cure. I primarily use it for the smaller branches near the top. Further down the tree the branches will generally make a good mechanical fit with the drilled holes; however, I still use either regular wood glue or Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue. I have starting using the 2P-10 for all my “super glue” needs. FastCap provides a 2P-10 Kit that provides 4 different viscosities, activator and debonder for $30.00, which seems to me to be a great deal when comparing “super glue” costs.
Density of the placement of your branches is yet again another TLAR point that can depend upon the particular type of tree or forest look you want to achieve. Nature shows us all kinds with trees that range from those with very few branches to trees that are densely covered with branches all the way to the ground.
DETAILS and OPTIONS
Root swell
On most trees the trunk widens or swells at the base where the trunk/root system enters the ground. Some trees will look like telephone poles driven into the ground while the root swell of others is hidden by vines, ferns and other ground foliage of the understory.
Durham’s Wood Putty has been the material of choice over the years for creating root swell. I found a product call Creative PaperClay does a very good job as well. It is a claylike paper product that will form the root swell nicely and can be pushed into the deep bark detail to blend with the trunk. It air dries overnight and can be carved, sanded and drilled once hardened. It also accepts paints and stains well. I have also used it for building stone walls for structures. This is a handy product to have in your tool box.
I start by wetting down the trunk with a fine mist of water and then pinching pieces of PaperClay onto the base. I can then fair the clay into the upper portion of the trunk that will help lessen the shaping and carving I have to do once it is dried.
Once dried I use a dental pick or Xacto knife to finish fairing the swell into the trunk and add additional bark detail.
Dead Branches
Adding dead branches to your tree adds additional realism. They are often located below the last of the healthy branches, but can also be found throughout the entire tree. I’ve used pieces of caspia, sage brush and other natural plants and sticks that seem to give the right look.
Multiple Trunks
This is just a matter of taking two of your trunks and gluing them into a third.
I recommend adding the trunk detail through the wire brush step, leaving the last inch or two near the bottom square and free of detail so you can better glue all the pieces together. Once the glue is dried you can finish up the detail to the joined trunks.
Other Possibilities
Nests
Tall trees are often home to the large raptors, so an eagle’s nest high up in the tree is a nice detail to add.
Nursery Trees
Plant a tree or two in a large old stump, using your trusty PaperClay to form the root system around the stump
Lightning Strikes
Tall trees will attract their fair share of attention from lightning. It could be a dead top, or series of dead branches on one side of the tree. The tree at left was a Noble Fir over 100 feet in height when it was completely shattered by a bolt of lightning.
Snow Laden Trees
To give the lower limbs a look of heavy snow accumulation I coated the cedar branches with a layer of Gorilla Glue on the top sides. The glue expands as it cures, bulking up the top of the branch. It sometimes takes a few coats to get the right “snow load”. A quick coat of flat white primer to the top of the branches gets rid of the yellow color of the cured Gorilla Glue. Then add you laden branches to your trunk with holes drilled upward into the trunk so the limbs hang down due to the weight of the “snow”. Flock in the normal hairspray manner. The snow flocking from Scenic Express come with some sparkle material in it that gives the visual impression of ice crystals glistening in the sun while the Woodland Scenics snow does not.
That is my take on making tall trees and the products I have found useful and I hope you might find it useful as well.
If you are able to add any further insight or have better methods to share, please let me know.
Have fun “training”
Making Tall Trees
by Mark Allen