Hey fellas,

I just finished my 1/35 Italeri Panther Ausf A. I'm almost ashamed to say that i used the provided Zimmerit sheets. i only did this because i trying to juggle being a modeller and my studies at school a well as a host of other things and spare time is hard to find. anyways i was wondering what i should do to get realistic tree branches to stick on my Panther, because it's a late Pather A operating in Normandy in the Bocage and i was thinking of more ways to help hide it in say a forest.

I've tried lychen but i could only get it in a sort of white colour. so i've tried painting some using a mixture of Tamyia XF58, white glue and dill leaves. but it became an even bigger disaster.

what should i do, i need a cheep, easy and above all convinsing way to make realistic branches and leaves

after i've completed my panther i'll try and post some pictures for you fellas to see.

Thanks

Here in the States we have those gigantic Hobby shops (mostly dediated to women's pottery and household knick knack stuff), but one useful item is a dried caspia. The end tips and perfect for what you want. You might find it in some bizzare colors, but I sprayed it green. Check in the dead/fake flowers section. H & K makes some pine branches that are pretty good as well.

the method i use is the wire tree branch one i picked up on this site it looks good, but remember to keep the branches thin if you are attaching them to a vehicle, its easy to make them too thick and overscale.

for the leaves i use silver birch seeds, painted the appropriate colour.
but that depends if you have those trees downunder!

hope that helps

joe

This stuff is cheap, I get it from a local park. It grows in sheets on the ground under trees where there's plenty of shade (a kind of moss I think). It scales beautifully and retains it's lovely colour even when completely dry.

Hetzer included in pic to show scale.