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Seafoam Trees & Foliage

Seafoam Trees and Foliage

While taking part in the Panther/Jagdpanther campaign I used some sea foam foliage attached to the sides of my Jagdpanther build and I was asked to write up a short article on how I did it. This method is simplicity itself and the results in my opinion are very good. This process can be used to make trees, bushes, or branches and because of this some thought needs to be put into your selection of the seafoam as it can be used stand alone, and for trees of about 30ft and taller if used in conjunction with a substitute tree trunk.

Materials:
• Seafoam
• Scatter
• PVA glue
• Water
• Spray bottle
• Polystyrene/ clay/plasticine/multi-hand tool
• Matt/Satin/Gloss varnish

If you want to stay in the “bosses” good books you will need to have some old newspaper on hand to cover your work space, or do what I did on this occasion and did the dirty work outside.

Construction:
Select the seafoam that you want to use for your foliage (mine came from Joefix), most packages contain pieces of various lengths and bushiness’. You then need to pluck out any leaves/seedpods that have remained in place during the time the seafoam has dried out as these leaves/seedpods will spoil the overall effect if viewable. To accomplish this task I use a fine pair of tweezers. You can see by the number that I removed from this one piece that you need to look carefully.

This next step is a matter of choice; seafoam when dried is very light tan to red in colour and you may wish to spray paint the seafoam to more suit your colour need. If you decide to paint the seafoam you must allow the paint to set fully before moving on.

You now mix PVA glue with water at a ratio of about 50/50 but this is a matter of choice, you will need to make sure the PVA is thoroughly mixed with the water. Place this solution into a spray bottle, the spray bottles I use are the empty containers most cleaning products are packaged in these days with a trigger operated pump.

Now use a couple of old Chinese takeaway containers or similar and place your chosen scatters into them, pick two complimentary scatters, which for me are a dark and a light shade, or a mixed blend scatter which I feel works best.

You now spray your PVA/water mixture over the seafoam and either dunk it into the scatter or add it by hand, remember to add the dark colour scatter first and the give the seafoam another light spray of the water/PVA mixture and add your lighter colour scatter if using two colours. You now insert the stem of the seafoam into Polystyrene/ clay/plasticine/multi-hand tool and allow it to dry.

Last step for me is to spray either a Matt/Satin/Gloss varnish onto the tree/bush/branch which serves two purposes which are: to set the scatter in place which prevents Autumn taking place on your diorama, and secondly your chosen varnish also gives the impression of a wet, damp, or dry environment or season. Once dry you can put the finished items to your chosen use.

If you want to use this method to make tall trees I suggest using the dried stems from last year’s fuchsia plants which you then drill into and insert the seafoam branches. If you are going to try this remember to only use scatter of the top surface and sides as there are no leaves on the underside of branches.