Skale Tree Surgery

In my last posting I mentioned my disappointment with the current generation of Hornby 'Skale Scenics' trees compared with the older, now obsolete range. I had asked for a couple of these as a birthday present last year, largely on the basis that the buyer could get them directly to me via a well known internet platform. Both are the larger ones in the range to be more suited to 7mm scale. On the face of it, as advertised by Hornby they look pretty good (left), but what actually arrived was less satisfactory (right), squashed into the packaging and with over-zealous application of very clumpy foliage.

Having unpacked the tree (a R7221 Lime) my impressions were still not good, the old Skale Scenics trees were either a wire armature or stamped metal armature depending on whether 'Pro' or 'Eco' ranges. These trees have a plastic armature, but on the plus side it is quite detailed, as we will see... The leaf foliage itself isn't too bad, and I suspect this is actually a rebranded or sub-contracted Noch product. 

Deciding to try and make the most of what was in front of me I decided to strip back the foliage and see what I could do. I found that rubbing the leaves made them fall off, so as many as possible were collected in a tub for potential re-use. Underneath the heavy leaf cover was a sort of polyfibre material, which could be pulled away from the armature. Some wouldn't budge so I soaked what was left in warm water and this loosened off the remaining material, leaving the bare armature.

The armature is painted brown, far too brown for realism and needed to be repainted. I opted to prime the armature with grey primer as I wasn't convinced acrylic paint would stick without it. I then used a matt brown spray to get the basis of a tree colour. I did then paint the trunk and branch areas with my own blend of colours to get the effect I wanted.

New foliage was added using Woodland Scenics medium green foliage fibre added to the branches using PVA. My supply ran out before I was finished so another packet was quickly sourced via eBay. The new packet completed the job and allowed some patching up where I had been a bit stingy stretching out the old pack! Once all was in place and dry I sprayed the foliage fibre with ultra hold hairspray and then sprinkled on the original leaf foliage material via a tea strainer. Just as I finished the hairspray ran out...

Finally I gave the trunk and branches a coat of Humbrol aerosol matt varnish, to overcome the gleam created by the hairspray on the painted surfaces. Guess what? I now need a new can of that too...!

Overall, I am pleased with how this has turned out, this will certainly find a place on the new layout once it gets underway. The another tree received at the same time awaits similar treatment, and I am weighing up the options for a couple more trees for the project.

Colin