on ways to make some tropical plants that may be found on pacific islands,I'm attempting my first pacific war dio and was hoping someone had some tips on making some realistic plants and stuff. TIA

Grizzly

Although I have not tried the technique, the Foliage Masterclass book says to cut these plants from aluminum drink cans. Seems feasible.

Patrick

I use aluminum foil and an exacto knife to make "leafy" fronds... if you want to make a nice palm tree, try using a stick, and wrapping it in a weave of thin cloth to create the spiral affect of the trunk... when finished, dip it n white glue to seal the wrap and to provide a consistant surface.

My "real" specialty however is trees... how come no one ever asks about trees!

Grizzly

Try going to a craft store, like a "Michaels" (i.e. a place that sells plastic/silk flowers, styrofoam, etc.). They usually have bags about the size of a large loaf of bread that contain many different types of little dried pieces of plants, in all colors of green and buff. These are natural plants that have been dried, (and in some cases painted). The material is perfect for modeling various types of brush, including some with a tropical shape. The bags are around $5. The bags contain various pieces in all shapes, sizes, and lengths. One bag will last you a good long time, and, there is no problem with storage.

Hey Guy's,

Thanks for all the info,never thought of looking through that part of Michaels.

Grizzly

You can also go to pet supply stores.In the fish and aquarium area,there are a variety of plastic aquarium plants.these can be substituted for model jungle plants.

Check out the "Making Palm Trees" article in the "Features" section on this site. I have seen a number of dioramas that had aquarium plastic plants in them and they always looked a little out of scale to me.

But maybe that's just me...

hey Keith.... how do you build your trees? Too big for a digital diamond? I for one would love to see your tips for this!

I'd like to second Plasticbattle's request... Keith, please tell us how you do your trees

For smaller tropical 'plants', I use(d) wire sandwiched inbetween two pieces of paper, cut to shape, painted then drybrushed.

You can see what I did on my Japanese Type 89 page.

HTH

Thanks,
Kevin Keefe
Mortars in Miniature

Ya, try a hobby store or Micheals.

I use natural plants.. There was a topic on this quite some time ago. Here it is: drying plants.

Hope it helps,
Mario M.

Try real plant like Maki said.

any helpfull sites on that? how bout from art papers?