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

[Badder]

On 4/22/2021 at 6:01 PM, Pig of the Week said:

The bushes look very Mediterranean somehow....!

Dry and with very small leaves you mean? lol

 

[Pig of the Week]

3 hours ago, Badder said:

Dry and with very small leaves you mean? lol

 

Ha!....not that so much, just an impression, you can imagine them amongst the rocks on Crete or something.

[Badder]

On 4/24/2021 at 1:32 PM, Pig of the Week said:

Ha!....not that so much, just an impression, you can imagine them amongst the rocks on Crete or something.

Yeah, so dry with small leaves lol

 

Edited April 25, 2021 by Badder

[Badder]

One of the advantages of using fishing line to make this tree, is that it's extremely resilient to almost everything but fire. I knew that I could, if I was determined, remove all of the 'foliage' from the tree and replace it. That would be a long and at times fiddly job, but it would be possible.

As I said, it was MEANT to be a deciduous tree, but for some reason I thought sprinkling Dil tops on it made it look better. What it actually did was make it look like a coniferous tree. That would be fine for this diorama, but it would be even better for a winter dio.............. um................. yes I'm in the process of making a winter dio! lol. So guess what?

 

Yes, you've guessed it. I'm going to switch this tree over to the Pit Stop diorama and continue work on it there. I will obviously have to make  a new tree for this dio and I will do just that. It will be far easier, and quicker, to start a new one rather than try to 're-leaf' this one with deciduous leaves anyway.

 

So, say 'good bye' to this tree.................

 

 

As you can see, there are lots of 'blobs' of 'foliage' to be seen, which I've never been happy with, so in my 'breaks' I'm crushing those blobs into powder with a pair of pliers. .

 

 

BYE BYE TREE!  

If you want to see further progress on this tree, switch to my Pit Stop dio.

Meanwhile, I will start progress on the new replacement tree with paper-punched leaves. I've decided to use the same punch as was used to provide the 'ivy' on the walls of the building, but this time cutting the 'snowflakes' up into individual leaves, plus a different punch which punches out similar, but smaller leaves.

 

TFL

Badder.

 

Edited April 25, 2021 by Badder

[Badder]

There's been a change of mind on the 'Tree front'.

It would be silly to 'move' this tree to the Pit Stop WIP.  The tree started life as a 'nut' here, and so it should reach its maturity here. Otherwise, readers in 2250AD will miss out on seeing the finished article, what with the 'Great Deletion' of 2249AD and the loss of inter-connectivity between WIPs.

So, I shall continue posting progress of of the tree here.  Thinking about it, when finished, it might be worthy of its own RFI?

Then I can swap it over to the Pit Stop diorama and add snow to it. lol

 

The tree has been mostly 'de-blobbed' and a lot of the overly-thick foliage has been removed by crushing. The tree is now much more 'open', which does raise a few issues in that the upper trunk and boughs are more open to view. With the original thicker foliage much of this didn't need to be 'beautifully made'. So I will have to address that. I will do that by adding branches and foliage to the bottom-most areas of er... branches and foliage

Otherwise, the tree is looking much more realistic in form and interesting.

 

 

TFL

Badder

[Badder]

The trunk is short of touching the bottom of the jar by about 20mm BTW. I may shorten it and thicken it up a bit, making it more gnarly and interesting, with ivy and whatnot.

 

I must confess it's great to be able to work on some 'greenery' for a while, as opposed to stone, bricks and mortar.

 

TFL

Badder

[RichO]

Greenery and stone go hand in hand where I'm from.  Nice tree.

[Badder]

9 hours ago, RichO said:

Greenery and stone go hand in hand where I'm from.  Nice tree.

It's the same here Rich, including moss, algae and lichen on our cottage's once white walls and mold on the inside walls! lol. The drawbacks of living in the countryside in a cheap house made for 19th Century labourers. Still, I have woods almost at 'the bottom of my garden' a great source of inspiration and moss! I am really going to try and up the amount of greenery in this dio and get the undergrowth, hedgerow and tree(s) looking much more realistic. Imagine Hobbiton lol. 

 

Rearguards

Badder

 

 

 

[PlaStix]

Hi Badder. Hope all is okay with you. Just been checking out the videos on your YouTube Channel. Great idea - and great to see the your extended project on video. Very well done. It's all looking very impressive.....as usual!

Take care.

Kind regards,

Stix

[Pig of the Week]

On 28/04/2021 at 12:34, Badder said:

The trunk is short of touching the bottom of the jar by about 20mm BTW. I may shorten it and thicken it up a bit, making it more gnarly and interesting, with ivy and whatnot.

 

I must confess it's great to be able to work on some 'greenery' for a while, as opposed to stone, bricks and mortar.

 

TFL

Badder

That looks like a real plant in a jar !

[Badder]

On 4/29/2021 at 4:48 PM, Pig of the Week said:

That looks like a real plant in a jar !

Thanks Pete,

There is now a Youtube video showing how I made it, and what I'm doing to it now as I 'tidying it up'. I'm marketing it as 'the INDESTRUCTIBLE TREE, and I think most people will be shocked by what I do to it in the vid lol.

For those who don't know, there's a little clue as to where to find the vid at the bottom of this post.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[Badder]

Still in the process of removing some of the bad bits, and improving some of the not-so-bad bits. The tree is much more open now, and the last of the worst of the Dil Top blobs are being crushed with pliers. Once that's done, the bits I've removed and improved, will be re-attached to the tree armature.

 

I will then have to think about what to do with the foliage, if anything. If I were to decide that this is DEFINITELY a Yew Tree, it may in fact be fine just to leave the leaves as they are and give the tree a few sprays with some very dark greens. The dark greens will have only slight differences between just to highlight the leaves exposed to direct sunlight, and those in shadow. I can then move back to the trunk, boughs and larger branches making them a more orange/brown colour.

 

I dunno why but this photo makes the tree appear taller and thinner than it is.

 

 

TFL

Badder

Edited May 1, 2021 by Badder

[Badder]

Ok peeps, the tree has been given a good raking over to remove those unsightly blobs of Dil Tops. In so doing I've also been separating strands of fishing line which were glued together by those blobs, and have been able to splay them out and take up a bit more room.

I have removed 2 large 'foliage-twig-branch' assemblies in order to clean those up, and at the same time give me room to get to foliage deeper within the tree canopy.. So, all is going well. This is the kind of job one can do by feel alone, so I've done most of it whilst watching films lol.

Now though, I'm at a stage where I'm almost ready to replace those 2 large assemblies and call this tree done..........................

 

Except that I am going to improve the trunk and lower boughs now that they are exposed.

I will be using the same garden twine as before, to make the bark, but will be making the trunk MUCH more Yew-like. I suspect I'll be using some No More Nails as a 'filler' as well. Reference photos will be used for.....er..... reference.

 

Hopefully I will be at a stage to post photos later.

 

TFL

Badder

[Badder]

Work is still in progress, but I thought I'd show what this tree looked like before I started re-working it, and then a series of photos showing progress right up to the present moment...................

 

So, how it looked a couple of years ago, after I had 'ruined' it by adding Dil Tops.

 

How it looked after the removal of some branches and a lot of the Dil Tops.

 

 

More branches removed removed for cleaning.

 

And the current state of affairs:

 

 

 

 

There are still a lot of Dil Top blobs to remove, but I am getting there.

Once done some of the cleaned parts will be replaced and I'm going to improve the trunk add some branches around the bottom of the canopy.

 

TFL

Badder

 

 

Edited May 3, 2021 by Badder

[PlaStix]

Impressive looking shrubbery Badder. Always thought this tree looked realistic for your project. 

Kind regards,

Stix

[Badder]

19 hours ago, PlaStix said:

Impressive looking shrubbery Badder. Always thought this tree looked realistic for your project. 

Kind regards,

Stix

Thanks Stix,

In the process of stripping off the Dil Tops and thinning the canopy out, I've realised why the canopy was so thick. There are  bits in there that are NOT fit for viewing lol. I am having to tackle those issues now. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to chop the top 1/3rd of the tree off and re-build it. It's really not as drastic as it sounds though.

 

As Les Dawson might have said 'All the parts are there, but not necessarily in the right order'.  

 

TC

Rearguards,

Badder

[Pig of the Week]

On 05/05/2021 at 13:33, Badder said:

 

 

As Les Dawson might have said 'All the parts are there, but not necessarily in the right order'.  

 

 

Nah..Eric Morecambe to Andre "Preview"....! 

[Badder]

On 5/6/2021 at 8:32 PM, Pig of the Week said:

Nah..Eric Morecambe to Andre "Preview"....! 

DOH!

Silly me!

Les Dawson did the proper piano-playing and then threw really duff notes in here and there. lol

[Badder]

With 95 percent of the 'Dil blob' removal having been done, I was ready to start improving the trunk and the joints between it and the boughs. Previously when all of this was hidden by dense foliage, it wasn't an issue, but now it is. So I had to gain access to the trunk, boughs and branches by removing entire clumps of foliage. In all 6 clumps were removed. This wasn't 'carnage', the clumps now existing exactly as they were, but just separate from the tree. This also has another benefit, because I can now spray those individually with adhesive and much more precisely when it comes to reapplying the foliage.

 

 

 

First then, I CA'd lengths of twine from the bottom of the trunk up to the joints with the boughs and slightly beyond. The excess lengths were then formed in and around the boughs to improve the joins and 'No more nails' was used as a filler. I used the same to smooth over any branches that were obviously made from twisted twine.

 

 

I continued working my way up the tree, colouring the bark as I went.

 

I then reached the 'heart of the canopy' where most work was required. I had to remove more of the tree in able to 'get in there'. However, the chunks which were removed, are again 'whole and undamaged'.

 

 

Once work on this 'heart' has been completed, it will be a simple case of adding foliage to the clumps and reattaching them to the tree. Here are some 'leafless' clumps dry-fitted to the tree..........

 

 

 

TFL

Badder

Edited May 11, 2021 by Badder

[Badder]

I left the top half of the tree detached so that it would be easier to sprinkle herbs on the bottom half.  Previously I gave the tree sprays of dilute PVA using an old trigger-action window cleaner bottle, this time I'm using an aerosol glue used for picture and photo-mounting. It's pretty vicious stuff and once dry will produce a really strong bond. Unfortunately, it's also a bit 'rubbery' and has glued many of the individual 'twigs' of fishing line together. Now worries though. I shall pull those clumps apart once fully dry. To do it now would mean much handling and this would crush the herbs into flat mats. 

So, patience is required!

 

In retrospect ,I should perhaps have sprayed the twigs with the glue, then separated any clumps before they dried. Then the second coat of glue wouldn't have caused the twigs to clump together and THEN I could have applied the herbs. Oh well.

 

The effect as the two halves of tree sit on a radiator isn't bad to be fair, and it's certainly better than the original. Again, I've learned something and my NEXT tree, a pine tree, WILL be a corker! lol

 

 

TFL

Badder

 

Edited May 14, 2021 by Badder

[Badder]

It should be fairly obvious that I'm not one of those people who keeps their mistakes, mishaps and silly decisions a secret. No one is perfect, especially we modellers, and things do 'go wrong'.  So, it's confession time. LOL.

 

This tree had been sitting on a shelf on the book case for a couple of years, not looking how I wanted it to look. So I thinned it out. But there was a reason for it looking the way it did, and that was mostly to hide the 'not-so-good' internal structure of the tree. In removing the Dil and thinning the tree out, it exposed that bad structure, which I had forgotten about over the years. So, I've attempted to improve it.

Cutting the tree in half was a good idea in that it opened up my options with regards to restructuring, but it's still been rather difficult. In fact, I've capitulated.

Or rather, I've given up on trying to alter, or add to what's already there.

 

But it's not a complete disaster.

I have the materials, I have the trunk of the tree and lots of indestructible clumps of foliage.

I CAN START AGAIN!

 

So, the tree is going to get completely dismantled and rebuilt. It shouldn't take long. In fact it will be done within a day or two.

 

 

TFL

Badder

[Badder]

OFF WITH IT'S HEAD, AND ARMS AND EVERYTHING REALLY!

 

After making a few replacement branch and twig structures - the kind of thing you can do most of whilst watching a film: really... .winding fishing line around your fingers, trapping it with twine, applying a bit of CA and then snipping the loops, isn't hard. A blind person could do it - I decided to forgo the 'frazzling the ends of the fishing line' bit.

Frazzling the ends of the fishing line was an idea I came up with when I was dabbing the fishing line in herbs, as it broadens the surface area of the 'clump' and gives thicker foliage, which is what I wanted at the time. This time, I don't. So the line is staying straight and I think I have an idea as to how I'm going to apply the leaves.

 

Whatever, I've been making loads of loops at the ends of pieces of twine, and have then joined loads of those up to make 'branch and twig' assemblies. When I've enough of these they will be affixed to the real branches and boughs of the tree armature. I had some suitable bits of branch/twig in the 'log basket' which I gathered last autumn and 'fired' in the microwave. Those are currently being trimmed to fit the tree. All of the old clumps of foliage will be re-used.

 

The tree, truncated. lol And some new bits of 'bough'

 

Two new 'branch and twig' assemblies. I will need about 10 in total. They only take 10 mins each to make.

 

The hardest bit is getting the arrangement right: lots of test-fitting, snipping and re-test-fitting of branches etc. At this point I am considering a test-run for adding the foliage............... I have been experimenting with using paper leaves and a static-grass applicator. So far I haven't been able to get it to work in the way I want, but I'm hopeful.

 

TFL

Badder

 

 

Edited May 19, 2021 by Badder

[Pig of the Week]

The truncated tree looks like a 50s sci fi monster !

[Badder]

On 5/19/2021 at 9:09 PM, Pig of the Week said:

The truncated tree looks like a 50s sci fi monster !

It certainly did...................... or possibly a Triffid.

Shortly after that photo was taken it ended up just being an upright log.

 

 

[Badder]

 

Things in the 'twig and branch' department were halted for a while, as I experimented with various ways of adding foliage.

 

I had hoped that a static-grass applicator could somehow be used to 'sow' the tree with leaves, but I still haven't managed to get it to work. I did think that the wire-cored twine in the branches would help, but it appears not to be the case.

 

I also experimented with laying the fishing line on a steel ruler, sprinkling it with paper leaves, connecting the applicator clip to the ruler and passing the sieve over the top to get the leaves to stand upright, but that didn't work either. I'm sure there must be a way to do it. If anyone has any ideas please let me know?

 

 

Work has resumed on the tree itself.  'Bundles' of fishing line are often splayed out into a fan formation, but sometimes a bundle will be split in two where it connects to the end of the branch. A bundle though, consists of 20 strands of line. There are 74 bundles so far. meaning that there are 1,480 separate fishing line 'twigs'. I reckon this lot here is about 1/3rd of what will be needed. I don't fancy gluing leaves separately to any of them, let alone 4,500 of them! lol. So, it's going to have to be the old 'spray and scatter' method again.

 

I've just tried making the leaves using a paper punch and tin foil. That absolutely does make the leaves jump about, but they don't stand upright like static grass does. I will try adding adhesive to a fishing line twig and placing it amongst the leaping leaves. Maybe SOME will stick to it in the 'standing up' position.

 

TFL

Badder               

Edited May 21, 2021 by Badder