Hi everybody

Im building a diorama thats based around a country lane, with a t-junction, i have the basics laid out and would like to put a large old oak tree on one side. My question is how would you make such a large tree - milliput? wire? any ideas would be much appreciated.

thanx all

alpha :-)

Hi alpha,

A while ago Gen. Faillure (Jan) wrote a feature article about making trees, here is the link, I think that this will help you out

Making Trees with Wire

thanx for that roadkill, ill check it out.

alpha

Think about tree trunk diameter when considering using wire. It will take A Lot of wire to get a good size tree trunk. You can use a piece of dowelling or wood or old sprew to 'take up space' in the middle of the trunk.

I found a woody stemmed plant pulled it out of the ground roots and all let it dry out a bit, then flipped it over trimmed a bitof the roots and left about 6 inches of the plant. next step would be to spray white glue on the roots and roll it around in some oregano and basil for leaves. Cheap easy and it will make your diorama smell good (If you don't like it would make an excellent stir stick for spagetti sauce) #:-)

I tested the wire-tree concept several times, and it works well. You need about half a roll of commercial wire (1/2 mm thick) to make this work. You don't need extra support to thicken the trunk, since the trunk thickness is the sum of the individual wires that are used for the branches. I'll try the same technique with finer wire soon. I'll post my experience in the diorama section or in the "splash" campaign pages.

I have done 5 or so trees with wire and the technique is great. It just takes sooo much wire to get a thick tree. I have been experimenting with shortining up the process by using a bit of filler. I am still wrapping the filler with wire (two or three good layers), you just dont' have have to use as much. You get the advantge of the wire just not as much used for bulk.