:D

I'm just curious! I have half a dozen to do for my current project. I've splitting up cables - great fun! One of the cats has a real thing for copper wire, wanting to chuck the stuff around then chew it. Stupid animal also likes to eat foam ear plugs too :?

One of mine likes rubber bands, the other raids the dumpmasters at the back of the nearby supermarket… and proudly brings home his spoils at 3 in the morning.      

The individual wires in this earth wire I use are very small, maybe .3 or .4 of a mm, this means that I've got a lot to work with and can get down to single strands for the finer branches.

Another way to pollard would be to do just that, create a bunch of boughs branching from the same spot and then cut off those in the centre and bending the remainder in and up.

For those who don't want to build ,
DCCconcepts (& so Bromsgrove models may get them as well ) has the Willows, etc for these  type of prices $A. $1 = about 45 GBpence
As per my first post.
Dearest is the 220mm elm/oak/willow/ash - $25
the other sizes drop appx $3 per size downwards - the three smallest sizes take a significant drop to the point where the smallest are $3
 
etched palms $27.95 for largest, $14.95 for smallest.

These cost as advised by DCCconcepts.

BUT I do think more enjoyemnt will come from building them oneself.

Marty, can't wait to see this finished! What a great looking willow tree!
When I was a boy, my grandfather always had me over to trim out all the dead branches from their willow tree. The trunk was over three feet across, and he was afraid some of the dead branches would fall down on grandma while she was snapping green beans.
I would tie a rope through the handle of a crescent wrench and through it up and over a dead branch and pull hard, and down it would come. The only "work" I did as a boy that was "Fun"!!!

So don't forget to leave some "Dead" branches.

Wayne

Dead branches it is Wayne.  Means I won't have to add foilage to a couple

The multistrand earth wire looks fantastic for making trees, however, in the UK our earth wire is just single strand!  Does anyone know if this is available anywhere in the UK?
Ken.

Ken,
I reckon any small diameter wire would do as long as it is without insulation.
Cut as many pieces of the wire to a similar height as you think you need and twist them together as one.
A little more tedious than getting it all in one bundle but should still work.

You could also pay a visit to your local florist and ask them for a bundle of florists wire. Be careful though as the one kind is a ferrous material and rusts, thus eventually ruining your tree. Believe me I know.

Marty,
   The tree looks awesome.No wonder you can't wait to get cracking on your scenery.Looks like we've got another Mike.C. here!!
 :wink:
Cheers,John.B.

I wish John

Willow?

Friday nights after work seem to be the best modelling time at the moment, pity it interferes with my social life  :shock: … NOT :wink:

I made up another batch of my bark mix
Polyfiller
PVA glue
Water
Acrylic Paint
Mixed to fairly thick consistancy this time otherwise it takes to long to build the trunk up.

I had to lift the hanging branches back up again and spread them out to be able to reach the trunk and the branches themselves with the bark mix.
If I make another "droopy" branched tree, I'll do this first before  bending the branches down.


… and foilage added.
This time I used an artists spray fixative rather than hairspray and am happier with the result.
The glue was much stickier and as a consequence I used less, the room didn't smell like a hair salon and the foilage took to the branches a lot easier.
But, the glue had to be used outdoors as the pong was mind numbing.
Woodland Scenics Burnt grass fine scatter sprinkled gently from above.


You can see that the roots and some of the heavier branches have "sprouted" a good coating of leaves too.
The colour is also pretty one dimensional, bland and not quite right.

The trunk, branches and leaves got a wash of black acrylic paint, a sprinkling of green, yellow and brown pastels… and I scraped a bit of the fur off the roots to get this.


I'm not entirely happy with it… lacks a certain something, maybe someone will know?

Oh… it was fun and pretty straight forward to make too.

I think it needs more foliage at the bottom of the branches. If he turns it upside down and puts some more green stuff on it I think it'll work. I've made a couple of paper cones to go over the trunk so it doesn't get glue on it while inverted!
T

For me the first picture with foliage added is almost perfection. I'm ignoring the tree roots because they may look entirely different when the tree is planted. It's a real cracker Marty and you should be really chuffed with it. Any idea of how long it has taken? Yet another great addition to our Index.

Bob,
I hope I haven't overcooked it :!:  :evil:

Quite true about the roots, I'm hoping to plaster them into the river bank, semi-exposed, and have some in the water, when I pour it.
This one was pretty quick, if you ignore glue and paint drying time, maybe 4 hours all up. I'm getting quicker at it.

Great job, Marty!  STILL the best one I've seen  :)  I've also seen many living examples that have the same density of foliage [somewhat open]   From the photo I reckon the colour is very good.
  Mike

I can see that it would be a more time consuming than an ordinary upright tree so perhaps it's fortunate that as far as our layouts are concerned weeping willows are usually specimen trees and not found by the forest full.

Marty I understand what you mean about the colour being one-dimensional, but I know from personal experience of trying to paint them that they generally don't have much in the way of darks that you can use to suggest form. They're sort of sack-like, and they don't allow you to look into the shadowy depths, if you know what I mean. All you can really do with them [in a painting] is portray their habit. And you've done that.

 Mike

Yeah, 3 or 4 feature willows along the riverbank would be as much as I would want to do…. a forest full, OMG :shock:

Thanks Mike
the black wash over all was a bit of an experiment and probably one the I won't repeat.
I'll have a think about topping up the foliage lower down… maybe on the next one.

Perhaps a wash of plain water on the visible part of the trunk and then gently rubbed over with the thumb might produce a better result.

Marty,
I really like what your have done here. I agree with you though, something is not quite right. I wish I had a picture of an actual Willow tree to compare to, but I don't, so I will try and go with my memory. I know you've seen how my memory works, so please keep that in mind!  :oops:  :oops:

I would say, if you were to draw a line horizontally across the tree about half way up the branches, maybe even a little higher than that, and somehow, (don't ask me how), add more leaves above that line, you might have it. I seem to remember the tops of Willows being denser than what you have.

Just a thought! And if you did nothing, I'd still buy it!!!!!

Wayne

Very, very good Marty.
Yes, the next one or two or three, having variances in the amount of foliage between all 4 or more will look real as they do vary outside in the open.
Keep that up & you will be in competition with Richard Johnson from DCCconcepts :P

I know it is easier at times to buy  a commercial product but in this case I would think that it has given you a lot of satisfaction - I know I feel that way with my trackwoek.