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Ever evolvin dio. ft. 'THE INDESTRUCTIBLE TREE' as ft. on youtube.


Badder

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Here's the tree in its taller form.

OyVxxBB.jpg

I've given it a coat of brown and several coats of W&N Acrylic Satin Varnish in preparation for some washes and dry-brushing. The tree will have patches of moss growing on it, made using my Japanese Grit Paints. This work will have to be done before the foliage is added, so I'll need to protect if from a lot of handling.

 

TFL

Badder

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For those who haven't seen my Carry on Regardless diorama, here's a shot of half of it, featuring two of my scratchbuilt trees.

lQoOZMl.jpg

 

It was during this build that I came up with the fishing line method.

Afterwards, I had an idea for a slight improvement, and it is that modified technique that I will be using now.

 

First off, I needed to create the finer 'twigs' which hold the foliage. (whatever that foliage be made of) I thought of using wire, but then I came up with the idea of using fishing line, which I had plenty of in my tackle box. And rather than cut up lots of individual lengths, I realised I could save time by wrapping the line around my fingers to form a bundle of loops, and then cut through one side of that loop.

 

So, here's the bundle of loops. I found that 10 loops was about right.

PE1WwBA.jpg

 

Next, I had to secure the bundle, using a blood knot which you can see 'gripping' the loop directly between my index and middle fingers.g38vjrX.jpg

 

With the bundle secured I could snip off any excess in the knot area and tidy it up a bit. Here's the 'bundle'.

Aza4Cbx.jpg

BTW, I made a total of three of these. (I went as fast as I could and timed the three as totalling 1min 3 secs.)

 

I then bundled the bundles together and secured them using another blood knot. I then pulled the blood knots around their loops to gather them roughly in the same place.rSleGEc.jpg

 

And then I fixed this Megabundle on the end of a length of Gardener's Twine, simply by passing the twine through the loop, bending it back on itself and 'twizzling' the twine around itself.

5O8HKX9.jpg

5O8HKX9.jpg

 

TO BE CONTINUED.

 

TFL

Badder

Edited by Badder
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Just now, Gorby said:

Following your remarkable progress as ever. I noticed that you mentioned a punch for making leaves, you probably are aware of this product, but just in case:

 

https://www.scalemodelshop.co.uk/oak-leaf-maker-in-4-sizes-rp-toolz-rp-oak.html

 

 

Thanks Gorby, much appreciated,

And yes, I was already aware of the RP Toolz punches, for oak, maple etc and I am sorely tempted even at 9 quid or so a pop. I have been deterred however by my aversion to buying things over the internet. I suppose I could bite the bullet and ask the wife to do it for me!:D

In the meantime I am trialling a modification to my 'fishing line' and herbs technique.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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I then snipped through the Megabundle at a point roughly opposite the blood knots. This gave me a 'bow tie' shape of fishing line.MlZAlq6.jpg

 

In the past I would have bent the bow tie in half at the knots, holding everything in place by applying Medium CA at the knots/fold.

The resulting structure was what I used to make the twigs for my Carry On trees.

 

Now though, I carry out an extra step before folding the 'bow tie' in half. I gently heat the 'twigs' with a flame.

bYP368G.jpg

 

I heated the 'bow tie' rather than the folded 'bow tie' so that the two halves were more 'mirror images' and not all drooping/bending in the same direction.

 

Once this was done, I then folded the bow tie in half, applied CA to the fold/knotted area, and then teased out the 'twigs' to form the following structure:207146DSC09310.jpg

This structure is now the skeleton for the foliage. In this trial I will firstly be trying herbs. If that's no good I may try the paper leaves.

 

TFL

Badder

 

Edited by Badder
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Bart's Basil.

That is what I used as foliage for my Carry on Regardless trees, and it's what I'm going to trial here as well. I'm thinking that these more 'wiggly twigs' will encourage thicker and more random clumping of the foliage than the straighter twigs of those previous trees did.

First I will get a plastic sheet on which to dribble dollops of Medium CA and a sheet of polythene on which to pour a heap of Basil. It's then a simple case of grinding the fishing line into the CA and then dunking it into the basil.

This process can be repeated until a satisfactory result is achieved.

 

And the result....

M4BJsUO.jpg

 

Egd8Kwj.jpg

 

Not bad at all.

The heating of the fishing line is definitely an improvement on the original method and I'm thinking it may be a viable option for the full foliation of the tree.

So, for now I will continue on and see what happens.....

 

This single bunch of foliage will now get several coats of varnish. It's better to varnish small bunches like this while they are 'off' the tree and fully accessible.  I'm going to experiment with a couple of coats of matt varnish first, to dull down the fishing line, then a few coats of satin varnish to spice up the leaves.

 

TFL

Badder

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Oh, and before anyone asks why it was that I made three 'bundles' each containing 10 loops and then bundled them one on top of the other, rather than make one Megabundle of 30 loops, it's because I could join the 3 bundles in different patterns if I wished to. For instance, instead of laying one bundle on top of the other, I could make a figure of eight pattern, or a figure of eight with one bundle coming off the side, or middle. I'll show what I mean in later photos, just to clarify.

 

TFL

Badder

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10 hours ago, Badder said:

I don't know if you read some of my tips for making the moulds, so I'll just list them again.

1. Use plasticine or some other clay to build a 'wall' around the object you want to mould.

2. Pour only thin layers of latex and let every layer fully dry before pouring the next.

3. Don't be tempted to use heat to speed up the drying. A thin layer will dry pretty quickly on its own. Heat may cause the mould to shrink. I know my roof mould turned out 10 percent smaller than the original!

4. The more layers you pour, the better. Thicker moulds don't stretch, distort, bend, lift etc. They tend to stay flat and true to shape.

 

As for the FoG diorama accessories, no, I've not used any of their stuff. I've had a look at quite a few of them though. They aren't bad, but I find them a little quirky and slightly cartoony - there's a deliberate 'wonkiness' and 'quaintness' in the design of their buildings. They do have some excellent ideas for scenes though and make good reference material.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

 

Hi ,thanks for the advice .

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20 hours ago, Badder said:

I'm still pondering over the leaves though.

I think I'm going to have to try out two different methods and see which is best.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

 

I have used mixed herbs in the past, though whether they will meet your high standards....

(and they make the diorama smell nice)

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1 hour ago, Ratch said:

I have used mixed herbs in the past, though whether they will meet your high standards....

(and they make the diorama smell nice)

I think you'll agree that the results above aren't bad at all. Certainly it would be better to have accurate scale leaves, but gluing literally tens of thousands of them to a tree this size is out of the question. Possibly if the right paper punch were available you could glue a joined pair or trio of leaves in one hit, thus halving or 'thirding' the time it would take, but I haven't seen any such punch.

And yes, the dioramas do smell nice !:D

Rearguards,

Badder

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I've added moss to the tree, up the trunk and then on to the boughs and thicker branches. I used one of my green Japanese 'Grit Paints' which dries with a rubbery texture. It will be sealed with varnish and will get a variety of washes to impart some variation. I will also be adding creepers up the trunk. I have to do this before adding the first batch of foliage as it is best to start at the bottom and spiral upwards and obviously once this foliage is on it will restrict access to the trunk and boughs.pR12Nq9.jpg

 

Meanwhile, I have made up a batch of bundles of fishing line for the foliage. I will add the foliage and paint these before attaching them to the tree. vDQ1lO1.jpg

 

TFL

Badder

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I've leafed-up the bunches and bunched them all together here, just to show the effect.

ysNSMKq.jpg

 

I will be adding a bit more foliage to the bundles. Then I'll be applying several coats of varnish just to help hold everything together. As for the painting of the leaves I'm siding on dark green with a satin finish. As I said before, I will be painting each bundle before fixing it to the tree.

 

TFL

Badder

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Just now, kpnuts said:

Superb, you always have something to teach.

Thanks KP,

I've not seen anyone else use fishing line for trees before, so unless I hear otherwise I'll take credit for having invented this method! :cow6:

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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The tree armature makes a good place to store the bundles of foliage temporarily before they are painted. I've just draped them over the branches so they aren't positioned as best they could be.

nUBxAOQ.jpg

 

 

So, that's eleven bundles of foliage to fill this lower portion of the tree. I'm guestimating that it will take around sixty in total to fill out the whole thing.

I reckon I can get it completely finished in the next two days.

 

BTW, I saw a tree 2/3rds the size of this one on sale in the local 'model railway store' for 20 quid and it had that 'model railway' look about it.

I'm thinking I could maybe go into business!

 

TFL

Badder

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FIRST OFF..... FOR SOME REASON THE 'LIKE' BUTTONS ARE MISSING ON MY SCREEN, SO IF YOU HAVE COMMENTED AND NOT RECEIVED A LIKE, IT'S NOT BECAUSE OF ME IGNORING YOU AND IF YOU HAVE 'LIKED' ONE OF MY POSTS, I'M AFRAID I HAVEN'T SEEN IT, BUT THANK YOU.

 

 

Today I started adding the first bundles of foliage to the lower canopy.

If you imagine the game of 'Kerplunk' in reverse, that will give you some idea of the method of application. The lengths of Gardener's Twine (attached to the bundles of foliage) are threaded through the branches of the tree and then wrapped around convenient anchor points where they are then fixed with Medium CA.

I always start at the bottom and with the innermost foliage, (nearest the trunk) then work my way out. Once I am happy with density of the foliage, I can move either to the left or right and repeat the process. Once the lower level is completed I can move on up to the next.

 

Having had less time than I had envisaged today, I have completed only half of the lowermost level. And I've had to re-guestimate the number of bundles I'm going to have to make to complete the tree. No longer 60, but 80.

5vWhC44.jpg

You may be able to tell that I haven't gone the full hog with the dark green, and have applied light an medium sprays, in some places barely covering up the Basil. I think the variation is better.

Areas that are a bit stringy, with few leaves on them, will be dealt with.

 

TFL

Badder

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I wander in and out of this thread every so often and it's good to see the progress each time. That b****y ivy gets everywhere. I've got it all over the front corner of my house. Tree is coming on well but as for trimming your bush.....too much information!

 

John.

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Not sure if my likes are showing up for you or not, but I'm liking it all. Thanks

 

John,  I have eluded to this in the past.  Not right.

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3 hours ago, Badder said:
Just now, Bullbasket said:

I wander in and out of this thread every so often and it's good to see the progress each time. That b****y ivy gets everywhere. I've got it all over the front corner of my house. Tree is coming on well but as for trimming your bush.....too much information!

 

John.

Hi John,

Thanks for wandering in and out every so often and finding that my progress is good each time :thumbsup:.:D 

I sense that ivy is not something you wish to be growing all over your house. Get an axe and have a good hack at the stems near the ground. Don't worry about any hidden electrical cables because they have a protective rubbery lining and the axe blade will bounce off. If you don't have an axe (or a chainsaw) you could always move house.

 

The tree would have been finished by now, if it weren't for my tendency to fall asleep at the drop of a hat. But in my waking moments I do get a little bit more done. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of the week.

 

As for me giving too much information about trimming my bush, I can only say that this is quite a comprehensive WIP, but if you like I could delete the bush trimming commentary and replace it with more pictures? :D

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

Just now, RichO said:

Not sure if my likes are showing up for you or not, but I'm liking it all. Thanks

 

John,  I have eluded to this in the past.  Not right.

Hi Rich,

All okay now. It was a problem with an upgrade. It looks like the likes have been 'improved' with extra features.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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Work continues on the tree after a trip to the tackle shop to get some more 12lb line!

Hard to believe that with just the bottom 1/5th of the foliage done I've used something like 85m of line (allowing for the excessive wastage during knot tying)

Tomorrow I'm going to have to get more Medium CA, because I'm running out of that as well.

So scratch the 'business' plan. It's going to cost me more to make this tree than it would be to buy a good quality equivalent!

 

TFL

Badder

 

 

 

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Work accelerated today when I developed a quicker way of making the bundles of foliage. Not only that, but I also developed a quicker way of fixing them to the tree. Not only that but the overall effect looks better too.

 

The only problem is that I've used the entire 100m of line which I bought yesterday! I have also run out of Basil, and that's after also buying a new jar yesterday!

So everything has ground to a halt on the tree front! Grrrrrrrr

 

But here's the 'new improved, new improved' technique.

 

First off, I realised that the 'loops' of line were too round... so that when I cut the through them, the line splayed out into that 'bow tie' shape that I mentioned earlier. I then had to crinkle the line with heat and fold the bow tie in half to get a more realistic shape for the twigs.

But I then thought I could save a lot of time and shorten the process simply by CA'ing the loops at their base and squeezing them together, thus creating a more acute angle for the twigs in one easy step.

 

Here are the 'improved loops' glued at their 'base' with thin CA. Yes, I was prepared to get my fingers stuck together, but found that if I did it quickly I was okay.

BMeeTH4.jpg

 

As you can see, after twizzling the twine half an inch or so, I added another loop and CA'd the base of that one as well. Once the loops are cut the 'twigs' are held at a more natural angle. This will make the 'new improved bundle'.

 

With the loops cut:

rDs6ihS.jpg

 

Heated, dipped in Medium CA and then in Basil:

s33hkh8.jpg

 

Here's two of the 'new improved bundles' twizzled together.

LVVLj0S.jpg

 

And now two of the above twizzled together to form the 'new improved megabundle'

IHt8Ns6.jpg

 

The new 'Megabundles' are easier and quicker to fix to the tree than the several smaller ones used previously.

TFL

Badder

 

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And now a Megamegabundle.

iePzici.jpg

 

GXnH9lE.jpg

 

I made a couple of these 'megamegabundles' and fixed them to the tree, using the Gardner's Twine which was wrapped around one of the boughs and then fixed with Thin CA (Which soaks into the twine's paper outer and sets solid quickly) Then Medium CA was applied for extra hold. While this was drying I sprinkled Dil Tops over the top. This made the twine look like a natural part of the tree, with moss growing on it. Having said that, much of the inner core of the tree will be well hidden.

 

Here's the tree as it stands at the moment. I have found some 2lb line and I'm wondering if that will be okay to use. (It may be too thin and look too different from the 12lb line.) I'm also searching for some Basil. I'm sure I have an old jar somewhere.

0x9Thtr.jpg

 

 

TFL

Badder

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