Using plastic imitation flower parts to make armatures.

G'day all,

Just had a few windy days at the cemetery last Friday and I was out picking up rubbish, fallen branches and decorative plastic flowers. Most of these flowers are tossed out as I have no idea what particular grave they blew off. Looking closely at these few bunches I noticed that some parts could possibly be used as armatures for trees and shrubs. Below is afew pics of the flower bunches and the various pieces that are used in the bunches.




Below is the bunch above pulled apart to various pieces.




Below is the usable parts from the flowers. Note that some of these parts are not from the bunch shown above. From left to right the sections are : flowering section, stripped down flowering section with balls removed from top. The white topped pieces are flower armatures, useful as small branches or shrubs. The 2nd row has two types of flowering sections, as is and seperated sections. The 3rd row shows a few fern like armatures, also with them stripped down. The brown armatures come in a variety of shapes and the last is centre flower sections (almost out of shot).



Below are some close ups of various parts,




Above and below. Fern leaf, each of the leaflets on the right of each photo could be used individually as a pine tree branch armature.



Below is various shapes of flower stem armatures. These range from 90 - 140mm in length. Would be useful as general trunk/branch armatures.




Below is 'rose foliage' and in its stripped down form on the right. Possibly useful as a shrub (gathered together and trimmed) or tree branch armatures (on the end of the above pieces).




Below are some small flower sections. Once cut down as on the right, they could be painted and flocked to represent sapplings etc.



I hope this is as useful to you as to me. I'll eventually post some pics of trees/shrubs I have constructed using this method.

Cheers, Gary.

Looking forward to seeing those Gary.

I doubt they'd appreciate my gathering "windfalls" from graveyards here - even if I did tell them they were for my model railway ………….:roll::roll::roll:  They're nearly all chrysanthemums in France - that's why you never, ever take a "Pot Mum" to your dinner hostess ………..

They look very useful bits and pieces Gary. :thumbs

I agree, they look dead good!

Well atleast I know that whom the flowers were intended for won't complain… I guess that they won't 'wake up and smell the roses anytime soon', afterall they are plastic… the flowers that is…!

Cheers.

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

I doubt they'd appreciate my gathering "windfalls" from graveyards here - even if I did tell them they were for my model railway ………….:roll::roll::roll:  They're nearly all chrysanthemums in France - that's why you never, ever take a "Pot Mum" to your dinner hostess ………..

They look very useful bits and pieces Gary. :thumbs

Its the same in Japan - and yes we found out the embarrassing  way :oops:

On the same subject, I've used parts from a childrens' anatomy toy for the same purpose.
The plastic bones from the forearm, for example, are ideal.
Bits of kidney have been used in dioramas as rocks etc.
Some interesting piping, too!

Do your dioramas need to be kept in a fridge DD ?  I could see our dog having some fun with that one …………:shock::shock::shock:

I've made reasonable trees from Cake decorations. I replaced the plastic trunks with stained tooth picks, then sprayed the trees with thin water-based glue, dropped them in a plastic bag with suitable scenery stuff, shook the whole lot and then laid them out to dry.

RoyLow :)

We need pictures, Roy.

Pictures.   

Send the pictures to Max - I'll take the cake !!!