i'm doing a dio at the moment and it's gonna have my first ever tree in it, but what i can't figure out is how to attach leaves to it and also where i can get leaves for it that actually look decent.



stan

A cheap method of adding a leaf like substance is to use dried herbs. before you apply these "Leaves" I suggest you take a look at Treemendus Models and purchase a product they sell called "Canopy". This product allows you to create some bulk on your branches without it being and looking solid or heavy. Once you are happy with the shape,and the herbs are the colour you want or you can spray them after they are attached. You then want a spray bottle with a PVA and water mix which you mist over the canopy and drop the leaves onto the canopy.

I hope that helps.

Old tea bags allowed to dry make an excellent leaf mix, attachment is by a sticky white glue used by railroad modelers for their layouts.

thanks for the help guys!
stan

Stanley, honestly, you can not put individual leaves on this tree. It is basically ending with the branches (forget about the little branching out at the end).
You need a lot of finer twigs to hang leaves on (regardless which one).

You may only use it like Darren proposed, but then again you will end with a round ball on top of a small rod.

To get a decent tree, either you put one together yourself with lots and lots more branches and twigs or you twist yourself one with wire.

Don't take the easy route, a bad tree will kill your dio!

Cheers
Claude

Stanley

Do you have an old wintercoat lying around? Prefferably one of which the liner is damaged and is on the nomination to get tossed away? Often in those coats you have this white stuffing which looks a little like cottonswab but is just a bit different.
Rip off small pieces of the stuff and glue this on the separate branches of your tree.
It is an easy way to create the illusion of smaller branches and twigs on your tree and on this you can glue whatever medium you use for leaves. From herbs to the leaves of the AM producers

Hey Stan, another way to fill it out is to use furnace filter. Just pull apart and form to your idea of where you want the tree to fill out. Some tacky white glue will hold it nicely and spray paint it what ever color your tree should be. The herb way I find not too realistic and I use silfor leaves glued one at a time and then paint them. Takes quite awhile to do this way but you have individual leaves that look correct. Also you can purchase paper leaves in different types and season colors from Model Scene, which have the stems also. These will look alot better than the crushed herbs which look like crushed herbs. It does take a bit of time to create a tree that looks like a tree but then you get what you put into it. Just depends how far you want to go.

thanks for the help guys

Hi Stanley.
Another way, which looks way more realistic is to use a product called sea foam, which looks like small trees. Break of the little branches and insert into pin holes on your branch. The sea foam has a flocking material glued in place that looks like leaves. Its available from shops that do model rail roads.

An even better product (more realistic) is "Filigree Bushes, Summer" by Mini-Natur. Can be used as is for small bushes or break off pieces to use as branches and insert into small holes in your branches. Best on the market now for a fast, yet realistic tree. Its available from
El Greco Miniatures in the UK. Click on Mini-Natur on the left column. Unfortunately the online image there doesn´t do this product any favours. I have bought several packages of this stuff, just havent gotten around to using it yet!

Stan dig up some tree roots and allow them to dry out as the usually make the best tree armature.