"Shoo-Fly" Free-moN Module (2'x6')

[M.C. Fujiwara]

So here's the polyfilled oak:
 


Word of advice from the future (now): in regards to the density of the polyfil I applied, and in the immortal words of Beck's "Loser," I "went crazy with the cheeze wiz."
 A bit too much / dense.
 Next oak I'd go 2/3rds or 1/2 (you'll see!)
 
Misted the fluff with Grimy Black to tone it down and make it more branch-like:
 


So a bit better.
 
After some hairspray, WS "Dark Green" coarse ground foam, some "Weeds" and "Medium Green" fine ground foam sprinkling on top, it "blossomed" into a mighty oak:
 


But a darn-tootin' FULL mighty oak.
 
I actually started pulling polyfil & foam off here & there, and completely off a couple branches to bare them.
 Helped a little.
 
And then planted it on the layout in the corner of the cow pasture to see how it looked:
 


It's not glued in, and there's no dirt around the base.
 Gonna let it sit for a day or so to see if I like the tree enough to permanently plant it.
 
[cont.]

[M.C. Fujiwara]

So here's some shots around the module for your consideration:
 








Sorry for all the clutter in the background.
 
If anyone has any suggestions, especially how to improve the oak itself, I'm all ears.
It looks a bit full to me.
I might try pruning around the bottom a little, and make some more room for the cows.
Or I'll plant this one on the hill and build another for this space.
Hmm..
 
Thanks for looking.

[wazzou]

It looks pretty damned Hundman like to me M.C.   

[GaryHinshaw]

It looks damn good to me MC, and I'd be quite delighted to have it on Tehachapi.    In the first shots, I was tempted to say that the green was a little too light, but in the later shots I think it looks just right.  When you say too dense, I assume you have in mind something like this:



I don't think you're that far off - maybe thinning the lower branches a bit more?  FWIW, the SoCal oaks seem to be a bit denser (and smaller).  The broad rounded shape is excellent though.  Now that you have the steps down, how long do you think it would it take you to knock out the next one?

[C855B]

Bloomin' amazing, M.C. Beautiful. Now I don't think it's too full (reiterating Gary's SoCal reference), but it certainly does dominate the scene. Maybe that's a good thing?

My wife fancies herself a layout scenery critic ("Everybody's damn trees look like bottle brushes! Or lichen on a stick! I can do better than that!"). So I called her over to the screen and said "Look! This is how you do it!" She agreed.

Any many thanks for the step-by-step. You are an artist in the highest sense, and I certainly appreciate your sharing techniques.

(Gary, I was thinking of you when M.C. posted that. It sure looks like that tree at Caliente!)

[MichaelWinicki]

Great looking tree M.C.!

For grins you might try WS "Grass Blend" for your next one.

No wonder well done commercial trees cost as much as they do.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Thanks for all the kind words.
 All the comments and suggestions are much appreciated.
 
Just a couple of details to add:
 I started with 3 stripped lengths about 7-8 inches long:



 Probably ended up trimming about 1-2 inches by the end, but I figured it's easier to cut away than to add on
I'd have liked a few more wire branches (and so less polyfil), but as this one is pretty big, the same amount of wire should be fine for the rest.
 Maybe 6-7 inch lengths.

 This tree ended up about 4" tall and 6" wide:





 [I kinda like how the Mt. Coffin & Columbia River layout is now proving useful as a "backdrop" diorama]

 I intentionally made it large as it's a single oak on this side of the module and compositionally (counter) balances out the hill and future trees on the opposite / kitty korner side.
 The rest (on the hill and one between the vineyard and river) will probably be about 3" tall and 4-5" wide.

 The bamboo skewer does make the trunk a bit straight, and I'll be using shorter ones for the rest.
 The sawdust / glue does a good job of making knobs & bumps in the trunk, and I planted this tree at a slight angle (you can see it leaning right).

 I'm definitely going to trim the bottom a bit, maybe expose more wire branches by pulling the polyfil/foam completely (or nearly) off.
 That should reduce the "puffball" appearance and show off more of the nifty trunk as well as the cows lounging in the shade underneath.
 Once I plant it I'll spread some more dirt & make it look more "lived in".
 Should be a very moo-ving scene.

 Thanks for all the ideas, suggestions, and comments!

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Now that you have the steps down, how long do you think it would it take you to knock out the next one?

Thanks for the picture, Gary.
I'll be trimming the underbranches to get more space down there, like in that photo.
NorCal oaks are a bit bigger and have a little more sprawl than their SoCal sisters (probably has something to do with the smog down there  )

Now that I know what to do (and not to do), I'll probably do them in batches of 2-3, as twisting all that wire is a PITA.
Should take 2-3 days of 1-2 hour sessions each.
The wire twisting and the attaching the polyfil "branches" to each wire take up the most time.

Luckily the rest of the oaks will be a bit smaller (2-3") than this 4"x6" puffball mutant.

[JSL]

The oak tree looks great. I wouldn't change a thing. Looks just like the oaks back on the homestead.

[DKS]

The oak tree looks great. I wouldn't change a thing. Looks just like the oaks back on the homestead.

+1, emphatically!

[GaryHinshaw]

It's definitely not a puffball mutant!  Thanks again for posting all the details, this is definitely the approach I'll try when I get to this stage. Bookmarked.

BTW, this must be a pretty sturdy tree at the end of the day, with all that wire & glue, no?

[lashedup]

Ah, Jos' tree building technique...

http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23011

I've always loved his stuff and have a small tub of fine sawdust powder that has been sitting for over a year now waiting to try this technique. Turned out quite well for your first try and I think it looks great. Far too often the trees just aren't large enough for N scale so I think that throws you off a bit when you see this.

I want to make a few signature trees for my Franksville module that are similar. I've used primer grey as a base for the tree bark color and hit it from a distance with some black to speckle it. Then I follow up with washes of roof brown and india ink to bring out more bark detail.

Great stuff!

-jamie

[Dave Schneider]

Thanks for the link Jamie. I had seen that before and lost it. Does anyone know how to PDF a 32 page thread! Lots of great stuff there but how to archive it?

Best wishes, Dave

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Yes, Jos is the tree master.
He's probably an Ent.

He also uses that cut-up European aquarium filter stuff that'd be fun to try.
Until then, I's got me polyfill.

I pulled some foliage off some lower branches & trimmed some others:
 




Not a huge difference but a little lighter & airier underneath so you can see the trunk, roots & future cows better.
 
Anyone see the latest addition to the module in those last picts?
 It's super tiny, super detailed, and a super "selling" addition to the model:
 


That's right!
 A super backsaver turnout throw detail by super David K. Smith & NZT. (still needs some weathering)
 
Just showed up in the mail today (Monday) from Chuck at Feather River (ordered it on Saturday, too: dang Chuck's good!) and had to go on the module lickity split.
 (Though now I'm having second thoughts about adding a super-fine (and a wee fragile) detail so early in the game. Oh well!)
 
The SP tank car showed up in the same box as well.
 Heck, if you have to pay for shipping, you might as well...

Ok, tomorrow I'll string the fence.
 Promise.
 Really.
 Unless work gets busy.
 Or I build another oak.
 Or...

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Moo-ving right along.
 
Spent this afternoon blowing my eyes out while stringing a wire fence with E-Z Line:
 


There's Bessie, laughing at my efforts after an hour.
 (That's what it took to figure everything out and do the lower wire all the way around the cow pasture)
 
Luckily, I figured out how to do it much faster, so the second wire took only about 15-20 minutes.
 Then I decided to share my new-found wisdom and make a video (first one on my iPhone), so the third wire took about an hour (15 minutes without all the video broo-haha).
 
So here's me rambling for about 8 minutes, along with a rising-crane-helicopter-seagull-on-speed shot of the completed fence:
 

[Hmm... picture's not quite as clear as before exporting to YouTube... Will figure it out!]
 
As my little doohickey to attach the iPhone to the tripod hadn't arrived yet:
 


And for those of you who wisely bypassed the blather, here's some shots of the finished fence:
 




Haven't quite figured out what I'm going to do with the wire that runs off-layout.
 Stiffen it and hope it stays?
 Posts?
 A place for cows to escape?
 Hmm...
 
Not sure if you can see, but I also planted that oak & fixed some dirts around the base.
 The roots look cool.
 I'll see if I can't get a close-up tomorrow when the glue dries.
 
Anyway, my eyes are shot, so I'm going to take a break and play some Wii with my son.
 Or take a walk.
 
Thanks for looking (and listening, if you dared).