I’ve recently gotten into dioramas and I’m looking for a good technique for realistic-looking trees. I’m pretty proficient with the twisted wire technique, but struggle to find the best way to finish it, with a covering that I can transform into a tree that looks good in a diorama. I saw Terry Young’s trees in his Battle of the Bulge diorama showcased in the April 2011 issue of FSM, but he mentions using a 1:1 mixture of polyfiller and white glue. I’m thinking, “you mean the stuff you cram into pillows? How could you possibly apply such a mixture, as it would be too stringy to use on fine details?” 1:1 mixture? Is that by volume or weight? Terry, are you out there?
Anyone who has a material they use with satisfaction, I’d love to hear from you.
Have you tried some of the model railroad products? Woodland Scenics makes a wide variety of materials that will allow you to make trees, grass, and shrubs.
Actually I have. Their tree products, while they might look ok in HO scale, look pretty fake in larger scales like 1/35. I have recently used their foam crumb products and copper wire to make a pretty decent tree using a small branch of scrub oak for the trunk. However, the process is extremely time consuming, making small wire branches, painting, applying HobETac, sprinkling on the WS crumbs to get something that looks somewhat like a tree. See below for an example. King Tiger is for scale. However, getting small branches that look tree-like in shape is like trying to find a four-leaf clover. If I can create twisted wire trees and cover them with a reasonable covering is a better approach. Also, wire trees won’t break like a real piece of wood.
Any luck, Patrick? I believe it’s a dry material much like plaster, but with a little more ‘grain’ to it. I’m trying to make trees too, so I’ll look for some and give it a try.