That tree is going to be brilliant :D

Marty

The height of your tree is not that it is to tall, its that most model railways the trees are shorter than one finds in the real world.

Our expectation of model tree heights is therefore not "real"

BLG

(The member formerly known as Bryan  8) )

Marty I take it you've measured the tree and know what height it represents. It looks like it'll be a very elegant specimen.
 Yes Bryan I agree with you that very few layouts actually have scale-height trees.  It takes courage to have them  :!:   More courage than I have, I must admit. Even my layout's landmark tree doesn't measure up.  It's really only a fifty footer. I should've made it at least half as high again.
 I need only look out the back door to be reminded how big they really are.

 Mike

The trouble is that because of our perception a large tree can dominate the scene.

My landmark tree as are all my trees are bought ready made one.



I fancy one day replacing it with a large Yew which you would traditionally find in a church yard.

BLG

(The member formerly known as Bryan  8) )

I think this is another case of if it looks right then it is right. The eye doesn't seem to notice about the discrepancy in height because there are so many different height trees in real life so we accept that our modelled trees are ok. Which they are of course. :wink:

As the poet said, 'Only God can make a tree' – probably because it's so hard to figure out how to get the bark on.
Woody Allen (1935 - )

Thanks for the feed back all,
I was a little worried that I'd messed up my math and had created a monster. So went back and checked again.

I've confirmed that Elms reach a 90' height from several sources.
Hickory 128', Hemlock 126', Beech 96' and Chestnut 128'
At 2mm to the foot that means these champion trees are between 180 - 256mm tall.
My Elm is about 200mm.

I've always felt the model railways in most instances don't model trees big enough and I'm quite prepared to have a go at some big ones. Not too many big ones as these figures above are for exceptionally tall trees and the majority would be smaller.

After all, I choose N gauge to allow the railway to blend (might that read disappear) into the scenery.

Yesterday in Perth it reached 41.7 deg C.

During the evening, about 7.30pm, a cacophony of cracking, crashing and thumping resounded through the house from somewhere in our backyard. The dog decided that the world was coming to an end and shot off under the bed while both cats, wild eyed and low to the ground, disappeared in different directions for any refuge they could find.

A tall gum tree in our yard had shed one of it's major branches, the fallen limb straddling the fence at one end and resting on the neighbours garage on the other.

Surprisingly there was little damage, some chips in the top of the fence and a dent in the tin roof of the garage. An hours work with a bow saw and we can now see a lot more sky to the west and there is a pile of timber and leaves waiting for a skip bin.

After that there was nothing for it but to continue the tree theme into the evening and I was lucky enough to have T join me in a tree building session for the layout.

We decided to try and make trees a little less lofty than The Elm and I think we were fairly successful.
The first coating of "bark" was add to a couple too.

The picture below shows the 4 "normal" trees, 3 of them with the first layer of bark mix applied.
The bark mix is made up of roughly 4 parts "Polyfiller", 3 parts PVA, 3 parts water and then acrylic paint to colour as required. The bark mix is stored in the little jar for subsequent coats.



If the bark mix works I'll apply it to The Elm.

The twisted wire still shows under the first layer of bark mix in this picture, this is Ts' first tree, might be an Apple? … nope too big… maybe a young Oak




Not really sure what the next two are meant to be…. tree like I guess.




This one is a bit smaller and has two coats of bark mix applied.



 
Maybe a Plain tree or a Beech, I got a bit carried away again and it's pretty tall.




I DO like this one, took me about an hour to twist up.

A close up of the twisted wire structure before the bark mix is added.






I've deliberately avoided using coconut fibre because I feel that it will be too large for N scale.

Your tree is very tall but not overly tall. I'd do a few more to go with it of various heights and place them where you can 'lose' the train behind them :D

That's what I'm hoping to achieve Vinnies, Fangorn Forest here we come :!:  :!:  :!:

I hear the Ents 'whoarrumble' in complete agreement :!: But let's not be too hasty… :wink:

       
I wonder…. it's very tempting…. I wonder if I could model one :shock:

Those trees are off to a great start.  Looking forward to seeing some in leaf.

 Mike

Me too... going shopping for scatter today.

Looking Good Marty, I'll be keeping an eye on this thread!

Wayne

The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.
Moliere (1622 - 1673)

Unfortunately I think I hurried the growth of these, they are not quite what I wanted, and I can see room for improvement.

However… I'm happy to share the process.

I thought this one might be a bit Silver Birch… ish

Lower foilage first, a test drive of the teased out plastic scourer. Trunk still base brown.




The trunk painted and the rest of the lower foilage added, sprayed with hair spray/lacquer, sprinkled with Woodland scenics fine scatter - burnt grass, sprayed again, more scatter, sprayed again… until it looked Ok.




Upper foilage added and then a fine coating of Heki summer grass added to highlight and represent tip growth.




Hmmmm…. might be a Swamp Gum that's been through a bushfire :shock:
Still…. lots of fun.    

NEXT….

Tracy's Tree got "the process" but in a different shape.




Well…. it's tree… like.

NEXT….

I'm not unhappy with them.
Working through the process was worthwhile.
I think that the trunks need to be a bit thicker and that I need to use a lighter coloured scatter for the new growth rather than the flock.

To make it look like a particular species is going to take a bit of care obviously… any thoughts, comments, suggestions appreciated.

PS The featured GWR Cattle Wagon is the result of the weathering challenge in the Lineside Section.

Well for starters the wagon looks very good indeed alongside the tree  :!:

 You've made great progress with the trees.
 I do agree with you though about the thickness of the trunks. Personally I'd like to see them thicker, but modelling in N is totally foreign to me. I think with a thicker trunk that first one in particular would look fine.

 As for actual species  - I reckon I might be able to do local trees like gums and figs for example, but European species would be so hard to model from here.


 Some coconut fibres are more like hair in thickness, so I'm sure you could use some for branches, but it would get fiddly selecting and glueing the right ones.

 I'm sure you'll keep going with them and find ways to refine them.  I'm looking forward to reading all about it.

 Mike

Marty, I've never tried to build a tree. All I can say is I hope my first try looks half as good as yours! I agree with you about the trunk diameter though, it needs to be thicker.

Wayne

Mike this is from the forum Index and gives you the shapes of British trees, as well as others, if you ever fancy having a go.

British Trees.

Great looking trees Marty !!

Don't worry about the species - trees are trees - some are "bushy", some are "long and lean" and others spread.  Mix 'em up and you've got a natural forest.  Unlike nature, when humans plant forests, it's only pines - down to the cost/return factor again unfortunately.      

A question - on your earlier photos, there were what looked like very handy blue drawing pins holding the track in place - what are they and will they stay put or be removed when you ballast ?  I'm pinning my track but would prefer something temporary (that trains could pass over) until I get to the ballasting stage.

Petermac

I use Peco track pins or any small nails/tacks that come to hand, just don't hammer them right down.

Marty i think your trees are ace,agree about the trunk , :D but really good