To The End (Revisited)

 A couple of months ago I mocked-up of a concept to expand one of my micro-dioramas 'To the End'. There is some background to this scene in Diorama Developments - To The End back in 2021, but to summarise it started life in 2016 as a 140 x 70mm scene, later expanded to 220 x 70mm. With it's home in the display cabinet no longer available I have started work to develop a larger scene. 

My initial though had been to go up to the 15" x 6" (375 x 150mm) format of 'The Headshunt' and 'Beck Bridge', but it has actually ended up a little smaller in order that it can fit into a 9 litre 'Really Useful Box', with an available height of 210mm. 

The new base is largely recycled and offcut materials, very much in the style of my 'Up-cycle' projects of a few years ago. On the underside of the board the constructional style can be seen, the corner pieces came from a pre-cut set of parts cut for a diorama board some time ago, but had to be slimmed down to suit the new board size. The extra block of timber along the top edge corresponds with a block on the surface and together are intended to provide a solid area of timber to drill to accept a wire-framed low-relief tree. 

The original diorama had not been fixed in place in the first picture and as can be seen below was shifted in location a little before the final fixing, just to give things a little more room to "breathe". Landscaping is now under way with corrugated card (cat food box) doing most of the work at this stage to create the layers. The track has been extended off the original scene and to ensure there was continuity between old and new I actually replaced the rails up to the existing cosmetic fishplates. The new track required packing to level it using some thin card.

DAS clay was used to smooth out the levels in the landscape and where possible start the blend between the old and new. I accepted that I would lose some of the existing ground cover as part of the process of blending in the new, indeed a lot of the hanging basket liner grass was trimmed right down to accept new materials on top. Having gone to great levels to create new levels in the ground, a lot of it isn't hugely apparent in the end but I am happy in the knowledge that it isn't flat! At the top of this image the area for the tree to sit in is the flat patch where the plywood is showing through.

More soon...

Colin

Twigging On

A few weeks ago I posted a picture of a twig pretending to be a tree as part of my sketching out of the scenery for 'odsock Corner. Shortly afterwards I started to rework the twig into a tree using some old Hornby wire foliage branches (from the Skale Scenics range 10-15 years ago), removing their lumpy foliage and supergluing them in place on the adapted truck.

At this point I did propose to use another twig to make something a little taller and narrower to better fit this location. It had only taken a couple of hours to get to this stage and I planned to store this  for future use elsewhere. However I then decided to make changes to the existing frame by pointing the branches upwards rather than outwards, and twisting in some extra smaller branches at the extremities. I then used modelling clay to smooth out the joins between the twig and the branches.

To further blend the wire branches to the trunk I mixed up some of my remaining scenic mix of paint/PVA and added in some tile grout to stiffen the mixture, I had hoped this would be a good basis for bark but it dried quite light.

Contrary to popular opinion, tree trunks are not brown, more a grey-brown-green mixture and to create this effect I started with grey primer and Humbrol brown spray paints, spraying uneven coats of them both to create a mottled effect. The brown can was splattering quite a bit and gave up shortly afterwards, another one to add to the shopping list!

To blend the colours together and add shadow into any recesses I gave the tree a wash of black-grey all over and when this was dry I dry-brushed grey-green over the lower trunk and branches, getting as far up as I could angling the brush between the branches. This gave a very pleasing effect and I had one of those "stop" moments before I went too far!

After all this work to the armature I feel that I have achieved a much better shape than I had initially created and a very satisfactory colour. It is now ready to add the foliage in due course before planting it in place on the layout alongside the modified Hornby tree (which requires a few further changes) and the recently purchased fir tree.

More soon...

Colin

Skale Tree Surgery - Revisited

I've been tinkering with trees again, not the 'tree two' I referred to in a previous post but certainly a second tree. This was last seen back in April 2021 in Skale Tree Surgery, being a new generation Hornby Skale Scenics tree reworked with new foliage. At the time I was pleased with the outcome but after the success of the half-relief tree I decided to revisit it again as with hindsight it wasn't the result I wanted, now finding that it looked a bit too "straggly".

April 2021 - the first attempt at new foliage

So, I again stripped back the foliage (luckily stuck with water soluble PVA), and started again. I was going to use Woodland Scenics medium green foliage again, but feared my supply was low (I had to restock to complete this tree first time around). Whilst drifting to sleep one evening I remembered that I had an unopened pack of Skale Scenics foliage from the original range, on checking the following day I discovered it was R8833 light green, medium foliage fibre clusters. Having had reservations about using similar material on the half relief tree as it had looked bit too flat, on opening the pack these drifted away and I set to work. 

There are no progress photos, I just dug straight in and got on with it over a series of sessions, this is the result.

Having deployed many of the tricks used on the half-relief tree, such as layering material and stretching it further, I am much happier with the result over last years effort, the foliage is much fuller and has much better shape, even if the other side is definitely the back!

From the top I used a trick in Gordon Gravett's book, spreading a single, teased piece of foliage across all of the top level branches, and trimming it back prior to adding further layers.

I think it is likely that this tree will be retained for a future 4mm scale project rather than 7mm scale, but we shall see...  

Colin

Tree One - Completed

The half relief tree, also known as 'Tree one' is now complete.

It was a surprise to find that I have used a whole packet of foliage on 1/2 a tree! Towards the end I was getting worried I'd run out as the edge of the foliage mat was quite thick, rubbery and unusable. However, I was able to get all the foliage in place, including additional layers where desired for both appearance and to cover any gaps

The whole tree was then given a waft of hairspray and the loose contents of the bottom of the packet of foliage were sparingly sieved over to add a final layer to the foliage. I was very careful here not to overdo it. A light coat of matt varnish was then used as extra security and to remove any hairspray shine from the trunk, branches and foliage.

I do rather like that gap through the leaves where the big branch is exposed. I may have to consider adding wildlife of some sort here, maybe a couple of birds or even a squirrel. By some unplanned act this same area is actually visible from above too.

One final addition was a run of ivy up the trunk, this uses MiniNature oak leaf foliage carefully PVA glued in place and then sprayed with matt varnish to kill any shine. I've tried to be economic with material as it isn't cheap, but also to not overdo it.

I'm rather pleased with it, I was asked by family how long it all took, and I have no idea, but somewhere between 10-20 hours would be right including the original frame creation last year. Unlike the original build that lived on a shelf in the workshop, the Mk2 version has been swiftly placed in an adapted box ready for future use.

As for 'Tree two', that may have to wait until the layout progresses and the foliage is restocked!

Colin

Tree Painting and Foliage

I have now worked up the colouring of the tree from the base colour of the DAS and bark mix. Sorry there is no step-by-step pictures but the process was fairly simple:

• Overall wash of Citadel 'Nuln Oil', with a spot of water added in places to help it spread out. This darkened the tree to a dark grey, and was left to dry overnight.
• A misting of Humbrol dark brown (29) from an aerosol, this isn't that dark, but a misting adds a nice beige effect to the mix.
• Dry brushing with a mix of Vallejo colours, notably grey-green, London grey and WW1 beige. This varied in different areas of the trunk and branches.
• Stippling with a stiff brush and the colours above, especially on the smoother branches to give an effect of texture.
• More stippling concentrating grey-green and additionally yellow and off-white into those areas that might have a high traffic of birdlife, creating the effect of moss and guano!
  
  

The next step was to start to think about adding foliage, where I felt that I would need to improve on the original to add more depth to it. The original had used Hornby Skale Scenics mid-green foliage and despite having removed this for reuse the stiffness it now has from hairspray meant that it would not be reusable on this tree. New material from the same pack  was used but having got around several of the lower branches I was not too happy with the result, feeling it looked too flat and matted. I ended up taking it back off again and having a rethink.

Posing some Woodland Scenics mid-green material on some of the branches this looked a lot better in terms of texture but was a lighter colour than I desired. I quickly ordered in some dark green material from Broughton Rail via eBay and applied this as a test over a few branches. I suppose in theory each branch should have it's own bit of foliage, some do, but others share with a neighbour depending on how the mood takes me. Material is teased out and trimmed of excess fibres before being glued into place with a run of PVA down the branch.

Working in short sessions the foliage has started to spread around the tree, by the close of play on Good Friday the lower branches of the tree all had cover. Taking a tip for a friend who has been making trees for the Railway Museum layout at York I have added extra layers of foliage in places which does accentuate the texture of the foliage.

A couple of further sessions saw the next layer of branches covered, working methodically around the tree to try and avoid any issues with not being able to access some areas once the foliage is in place in others, though being a half relief tree you can sometimes sneak in around the back!

With any luck the next time the tree appears here it should be all but completed.

Colin

Tree Construction Continues

I'm making progress with the half-relief tree. I've bulked up the trunk using DAS Stone modelling clay, I still need to adjust the branches and then apply bark mix all over the exposed bits of wire frame to match the existing, and also to cover the DAS.

After a couple of days to dry out I was able to mix up a brew of my bark mix and apply it to the tree where required. The mix is formed of grey tile cement, PVA glue and light brown emulsion paint, with a spot of water added during application to keep the mixture liquid enough to apply.

The mix was applied over all new main branches that had not been included in the DAS stage, these were largely wire with some Araldite on them, the mixture blending everything together. The mix was also applied to all the new minor branches, both those added to existing branches and the newer ones, including the Hornby branches incorporated in the upper part of the tree.

The mixture was then thinned again slightly to work over the DAS areas, mostly on the major branches and the trunk. Here I was able to use a stiff brush to add some texture to the bark by both dragging and stippling. It is very subtle but can just be made out here.

The next stage will be to enhance the colouring, using the existing colour as a base and subtly working up from there. I keep having to tell myself that this is going to be a background item and not to look too closely at it, but it is difficult to do that when it is right in front of you!

With this tree now progressing thoughts have been turning to how a second tree could interact with it to disguise a fiddle yard exit, but I have to remind myself to take one step at a time...

Colin

A spot of Tree-cycling

Just over a year ago I constructed a wire-framed tree as something of an experiment, inspired by, but by no means anywhere as good as the writings of Gordon Gravett. 

Mooching around in the workshop at the weekend my eyes fell upon this tree in its resting place on a shelf. I was never quite happy with this, for it's size it didn't really have the bulk it should have and even adding in a couple of extra (not very well secured) branches didn't help. As it was collecting dust and showing some signs of decay I opted to strip off the foliage for potential reuse and cut my losses... except that as I stripped it back I started to wonder if with a little re-arrangement of the existing branches it might have enough bulk as a half-relief tree.

There was only one way to find out and having stripped back a lot of the old bark mix I was able to re-manipulate the branches to suit the half relief style. The two add-on branches had fallen off but were re-configured in new locations with much more secure attachment. New branches were also added in a similar fashion and everything secured with lashings of Araldite.

Feeling there still wasn't enough branch density I had a rummage in the scenics box and found some Hornby R8857 'Wire foliage branches'. The foliage was no great shakes and what there was of it was removed. I then unwound the bottom end of the branches and re-wound them around the branches, again securing with Araldite. These branches are the yucky brown ones in the image above. I also opted to add more fine wire branches to the existing branches to again improve the density.

The result feels a lot more satisfactory than the original arrangement, the next job will be to re-finish the trunk and work back up all the branches, I am intending to use DAS Stone for this, prior to a new mix of bark paint going on.

Colin