HO size Christmas trees
- Thread starter jerryl
- Start date
tomstockton
Tom Stockton
At most craft stores, you can find a product called bump chenille -- it looks like a pipe cleaner, but it varies in "thickness" (length of the threads twisted into the wire core) from thick to thin to thick to thin, etc. I've seen it in different sizes -- seems like the "thickest" I've seen is 6mm. If you can find a dark green bump chenille, that works best -- but black or brown will also work, depending on how much work you want to put into your finished tree.
Using wire cutters (or some such item), you cut the chenille in the height you want your overall tree to be. Then you poke the end of the chenille that will be the trunk through the hole in a hacksaw blade. Hold the "trunk end" over a lighted candle -- the blade will act as a heat shield, while the fibers on the "trunk end" will get hot and melt. If they catch fire, just blow it out. Be sure to let the trunk cool before handling...
You can use fine scissors to "trim" the fibers at the top of the tree to more of a point.
Depending on how pleased you are with your results, you are finished -- or you can put more work into the tree...
I use two tweezers for the next step -- hold the trunk with one of the tweezers, then coat the fibers with white glue (like Elmer's). You don't want to dunk the tree in the glue, but you want to apply enough to make the fibers together. Use the other tweezers to "clump" some of the fibers together into branches. Some types of chenille work better than others -- I think the fibers can be made of different materials, and some "soak up" the glue better than others. Wish I knew how to tell the difference ahead of time... so far, it's been kind of a trial-and-error process... When you're satisfied with the look, push the trunk into a block of styrofoam to let the glue dry.
If you want, you can "beef up" the trunk (to completely hide the twisted form of the wires). Mix a slurry of Durham's Water Putty and "trunk color" paint -- I usually use a dark gray with a little brown mixed in. You want the slurry at about milk shake thickness -- thick enough to stick, but thin enough to settle down into the wires. I usually mix my slurry in a small container, like the cap off of a soda bottle, using a toothpick to mix it. I then use the toothpick to apply the slurry to the trunk of the tree. Lay the tree on its side to dry...
Now, if you want to put a little more work into the tree, grab a cheapo paint brush -- I use the "ten for a dollar kiddie brushes". Choose your tree color -- I use the acrylic craft paints that you can get on sale for less than a dollar a bottle -- and paint your tree (this step is necessary if you've used a color other than dark green!). Work the paint into the center of the tree so that the wires don't show as bare wire. Again, set the tree aside to dry...
One final step you can do is to drybrush a lighter shade of green to highlight the ends and/or tops of the branches. You can vary the color -- sometimes, I add a little bit of blue to get more of a "blue spruce" look.
You can make a lot of trees very cheaply this way -- at least 85% or so of what you're doing is supplying the labor. But you can vary the finished trees' sizes, colors, etc. to suit yourself. You can't make very tall trees this way -- I've never found bump chenille that would let me make a tree more than 3/4" or 1" or so in height. But from what you've asked, I think this would be plenty tall for an HO-scale Christmas tree farm!
Besides model railroading, one of my other hobbies is "micro armor" - 1/285 scale tanks, etc. There is a company called GHQ that sells bump chenille in their Terrain section -- they have two colors, a dark green and a rather garish Kelly green. It's a little more expensive than the stuff I've picked up at the craft stores, but the fibers hold the glue better and make better looking "clumped" branches. I learned how to make trees from them. Then as I gained experience from working from their instructions, I figured out some of my own "tricks", which I've tried to note here...
Here's a picture of one of my wargaming hexes (4" on a side, 1/2" thick), which shows two of my evergreen trees. (The other trees are clumps of Woodland Scenics' Clump Foilage, stuck into toothpicks painted brown...)
Hope this helps!
Regards,
Tom Stockton
Using wire cutters (or some such item), you cut the chenille in the height you want your overall tree to be. Then you poke the end of the chenille that will be the trunk through the hole in a hacksaw blade. Hold the "trunk end" over a lighted candle -- the blade will act as a heat shield, while the fibers on the "trunk end" will get hot and melt. If they catch fire, just blow it out. Be sure to let the trunk cool before handling...
You can use fine scissors to "trim" the fibers at the top of the tree to more of a point.
Depending on how pleased you are with your results, you are finished -- or you can put more work into the tree...
I use two tweezers for the next step -- hold the trunk with one of the tweezers, then coat the fibers with white glue (like Elmer's). You don't want to dunk the tree in the glue, but you want to apply enough to make the fibers together. Use the other tweezers to "clump" some of the fibers together into branches. Some types of chenille work better than others -- I think the fibers can be made of different materials, and some "soak up" the glue better than others. Wish I knew how to tell the difference ahead of time... so far, it's been kind of a trial-and-error process... When you're satisfied with the look, push the trunk into a block of styrofoam to let the glue dry.
If you want, you can "beef up" the trunk (to completely hide the twisted form of the wires). Mix a slurry of Durham's Water Putty and "trunk color" paint -- I usually use a dark gray with a little brown mixed in. You want the slurry at about milk shake thickness -- thick enough to stick, but thin enough to settle down into the wires. I usually mix my slurry in a small container, like the cap off of a soda bottle, using a toothpick to mix it. I then use the toothpick to apply the slurry to the trunk of the tree. Lay the tree on its side to dry...
Now, if you want to put a little more work into the tree, grab a cheapo paint brush -- I use the "ten for a dollar kiddie brushes". Choose your tree color -- I use the acrylic craft paints that you can get on sale for less than a dollar a bottle -- and paint your tree (this step is necessary if you've used a color other than dark green!). Work the paint into the center of the tree so that the wires don't show as bare wire. Again, set the tree aside to dry...
One final step you can do is to drybrush a lighter shade of green to highlight the ends and/or tops of the branches. You can vary the color -- sometimes, I add a little bit of blue to get more of a "blue spruce" look.
You can make a lot of trees very cheaply this way -- at least 85% or so of what you're doing is supplying the labor. But you can vary the finished trees' sizes, colors, etc. to suit yourself. You can't make very tall trees this way -- I've never found bump chenille that would let me make a tree more than 3/4" or 1" or so in height. But from what you've asked, I think this would be plenty tall for an HO-scale Christmas tree farm!
Besides model railroading, one of my other hobbies is "micro armor" - 1/285 scale tanks, etc. There is a company called GHQ that sells bump chenille in their Terrain section -- they have two colors, a dark green and a rather garish Kelly green. It's a little more expensive than the stuff I've picked up at the craft stores, but the fibers hold the glue better and make better looking "clumped" branches. I learned how to make trees from them. Then as I gained experience from working from their instructions, I figured out some of my own "tricks", which I've tried to note here...
Here's a picture of one of my wargaming hexes (4" on a side, 1/2" thick), which shows two of my evergreen trees. (The other trees are clumps of Woodland Scenics' Clump Foilage, stuck into toothpicks painted brown...)
Hope this helps!
Regards,
Tom Stockton
Nice ideas you guys came up with, Tom and Willis. For instant gratification, check out the Hecki N scale pine tress at http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/product_p/338-306.htm. Not a bad deal at $16 for 30 of them.
Perhaps a point or two of information is worthwhile regarding the shipping of Christmas trees via the real RRs. Of course, you can overlook this if you're modeling such simply for the "fun", or basic holiday aspect added to the layout.
Christmas trees were usually individually, or in small numbers, tightly baled before shipping, so as to reduce their volume and allow a greater number to be carried per car. Most often, Christmas trees were shipped in standard box cars in the eastern U.S. (by Great Lakes freighter in the upper midwest!), sometimes on flatcars but not usually in open gondolas, which would carry only a relatively limited number of trees. Several excellent articles regarding the rail shipment of Christmas trees during the post war era have been published in recenty years and are worth a look.
NYW&B
Christmas trees were usually individually, or in small numbers, tightly baled before shipping, so as to reduce their volume and allow a greater number to be carried per car. Most often, Christmas trees were shipped in standard box cars in the eastern U.S. (by Great Lakes freighter in the upper midwest!), sometimes on flatcars but not usually in open gondolas, which would carry only a relatively limited number of trees. Several excellent articles regarding the rail shipment of Christmas trees during the post war era have been published in recenty years and are worth a look.
NYW&B
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4Starcstms
Member
You knwo its funny you bring up Xmas tree's. .. This months Walthers Flyer highlighted a scene that featured xmas trees on a flatcar
http://www.walthers.com/exec/page/flyer november flyer, pages 4-5 should give you a few ideas as well as some products that'd work
http://www.walthers.com/exec/page/flyer november flyer, pages 4-5 should give you a few ideas as well as some products that'd work
