I'm about to paint the trees of my diorama, set in the Ardenes forest in winter.

What color are the trees? I was thinking of a brownish black but I'm not really sure. I haven't been outside my country.

I was thinking of achieving it by painting the whole thing with Tamiya Brown (since it's darker than usual) and washing it with a burnt umber/black wash. Then, I'm gonna be drybrushing it with a lighter brown.

Since I also added a few "leftover leaves" from fern so that it won't be too bare (leaves that were not shed during the autumn season), what would be its color? I was thinking of a light brown color.

I'm not sure though if I'm doing that right. So I need your advise.

Thank you.

Angela

PS - By the end of this month, I'll be laying the base and ground work on the diorama. Hopefully, I could post some pics.

Ola Angela

Maybe this link is something for you:
http://www.twenot.nl/ardennes.htm

This whole serie of pics is taken in the Ardennes. First you get buildings but scroll down and you will find a good collection of pics of the Ardennesforests

My guess would be to paint the trees in a Black/Green/Greyish with a little brown..mix

I hope this answers your question.

Thank you for the post, sir FAUST. This will really help.

Angela

As for color - go with FAUSTS site.

The process you plan to use sounds good and should produce nice results.

Hi Angela,

Please note, like you can see on the pictures, that 90% of the ardennes are pine trees and spruce trees.

So go easy on other types of trees, they are mostly in and around town centers (man planted).

Kris

Howdy Angela,

FAUST's kindly provided pics are excellent fodder for your tree painting quest. (must admit to at least a wee bit of envy of his trip there ).

But pay attention also to crossbow's comment...
" ...Please note, like you can see on the pictures, that 90% of the ardennes are pine trees and spruce trees.

So go easy on other types of trees, they are mostly in and around town centers (man planted)....."

Depending upon the size of your dio, what "man planted" means is; The trees are all in neat rows, so the spacing between trees is rather precise, not random.

Tread.

Gordon



No need to envy me. It are not my pics. Last time I was in the ardennes region I was really young and I slept in Houffalize. I was then totally unaware of what happened there and I had never heard of the so called Houffalize pocket and the battle for Bastogne.
The pics from the link are from a guy from Twenot who visited the Ardennes and took the pics.

Hi FAUST, Treadhead and Crossbow,

Thank you so much for the advice. I could truly use this when I build for the "Battle of the Bulge" campaign.

Actually, my present diorama is set in some area near, but not inside, the Ardennes forest.

Angela