Ola

Lately I've been messing with the idea to try my skills in tree making. Most people don't even bother trying, cause it's pretty hard to achieve anything worth showing or even close to the original. This is mostly because a tree has a lot of elements which are hard to imitate, so creating a realistic looking piece can be kind of tricky.
Because I like challenges I've decied to give it a try:) Of course the main part of the tree is it's trunk and the stuff that covers it, bark. I've came up with a simple yet effective knife+brush technique which works great if used correctly (after looking at the tree techniques in the osprey terrain making book I was pleased to see that the same technique was used there:)) Here below are some shots of a test piece showing an imitation of bark, different angles:













I plan to make a small floral terrain piece in the near future, which will probably include a dead tree and so would like to know your opinion on this piece. Thanks in advance for any comments/criticism:)

Cheers,
dsc.

Gday Tommy boy
This is looking terrific!
The texture really shows through with the lighting, and this is before washes/highlights... I think your craftiness will turn this into a winner
Cheers
Brad

The texture is very good and your technique is a success. There is a nice parallel yet random affect. Very good.

Hello Tom:

I'm really interested in finding out what your experiment-
ation with creating a scratchbuilt tree will produce. So
far I feel you've really created a natural bark look that
"projects" the illusion of reality, big time. I've tried a
small experiment to create a trunk with limbs from a
copper wire armature for limbs and Aves Apoxie Sculpt
two part putty for the trunk and limbs. But put it aside
to work on a fig painting. Your pix has regenerated my
interest.

Please excuse this rather basic question. I read thru
your thread twice and I don't see that you mentioned
the material the tree is made from. I presume that is
copper wire, which bends easily and some form of
apoxie putty? And I am reasonably sure that you fashion
the bark pattern into the putty while it is still soft? Is
this correct? Hope you'll post more pix when you get
further along with your experimentation, Doctor!

Nice texture work Dsc. The only minor addition I would include is some partial roots at the base. Wouldn't need to add that much as they will only be partially seen. Not major though as you could always surround your nicely done trunk with grass.

Good morning Tom,

you said


In my opinion, if you do not intend to show a specific tree, i think that a lot is possible and always close to some original, as in nature all tree looks different, so this should not be an obstacle for people to try.

That said, i think you did a wonderful job on the bark. I own the book also and you are really close to the pics inside.

Cheers

Claude

That is a nice work Tom, it looks very natural.

Your first test piece is definitely very succesful. Very nice texture. The variation in the texture looks very natural.

Tom, I am pleased so far with the results you have come up with. I myself have made many stumps/ fallen trees...etc from sculpey and have to say your bark texture is some of the best I have seen. It is much better than what I have put out in the past and gives me something to strive for. I have to agree with CK though it would be nice to see some roots shooting out from the trunk. You are off to another great start as you did with your tower. I look forward to your next steps. Cheers Kevin

The texture is nice. It would benefit from some character, using roots as was suggested, but I think you've nailed the bark texture really well. Good job!

Ola fellas

A HUGE thanks goes to everyone who took some time to respond. I bow down low before you:)

The whole piece is just a test to see how my technique works. There are no roots cause I was just trying to achieve a realistic bark imitation.
The wire inside is a 2mm diameter copper wire I had laying around somewhere, I added it just to make the whole sculpt movable without destroying any bark detail. The green stuff that creates the trunk is plasticine, a sort of modelling clay, which stays soft all the time, so you can see why I've added the wire. Any touch can destroy the details and frankly this material is the worst you can use, the only thing it's useful for is test pieces:)
The whole method of creation is really really easy, it took me less than 3 min from start to finish and it goes like this:

Materials: modeling clay, modeling knife and a hard bristle brush (the thinkness of bristles should be around 0,5mm)

Method: shape your trunk around a piece of wire (you can use a lot of wire to create the basic shape and than cover it with modeling clay). When finished, take the knife and create vertical lines on the surface of the clay, you can sometimes create angled lines to break the verticaliness:)
After that take your brush and use it to add some texture to the clay, remember to make long vertical strokes (you can also dab the brush against the clay to create some holes in the bark, which can be often seen on trees).

That's basically it:)

Again thanks a lot for all your replies, it really motivates me and keeps me going. I will try to order some better quality modeling clay and will try to work with that, so stay tuned for an update:)

Now grab your knives, brushes and start creating trees people!!!:)

Cheers,
dsc.

Great job! The texture is very similar to the Armand Bayardi line of resin tree stumps. You've got a winner technique going, there.

Hello again, Tom:

Well, ah guessed correctly on the copper wire, but
dude, ah was way off on the sculpting material.
Plastacine? Oh my I haven't used that very wonderful
modeling clay since college. Who would have thunk
it?

But AJ is right, your work looks as good or better than
the Bayardi tree stumps that I paid all that bread for.

Sigh, . . . oh my, . . . . we live and learn. Thanks for
the reply to answer the mystery. I never would have
thought of Plasticine clay. I am stinkin' that you can
paint that stuff. Right? And it is like permanent as long
as you don't put it in the microwave.. . . eh? :-)

Ola

It's strange cause I can't see AJ's reply. I've seen it yesterday, but now it's gone, what's up with that?

Anyway to answer your question Rick, plasticine is the crappiest clay you can find:) It is good cause it's soft, but the worst thing is that it doesn't harden. Just a simple finger touch and away goes your detail. That's why I want to try my luck with Miliput or Magic Sculpt, those things are soft for like 3 hours and then they dry rock hard.
Instead of buying stuff try this simple technique of bark making, I guarantee that you will like it:) Go on then, go go, grab your brush, plasticine and modeling knife and go create:)

Oh one more question: did anyone had any contact with Miliput or Magic Sculpt? If so please share on the quality of those materials, their properties and stuff like that.

Cheers,
dsc.

I've used Milliput for a variety of purposes, filling, reworking pieces, building cactus, etc. It has a good shelf life, but like all epoxy, it crusts over in time (before mixing). It comes in 2 or 3 textures. During working time, it can be smoothed with water and clean up is with simple soap and water. Much more economical than Tamiya's epoxy putty. I haven't used Magic Sculpt. I once found a really good epoxy putty called Black Magic several years ago but have not seen it since.

Tom,
You can also use airhardening clay, like DAS Pronto.
It is workable like plastilin but gets rock hard in a few hours.
The advantage over Milliput and family is the price and it is not a two component mixing thing.

Cheers

Claude

Well durn burn it;

It is a crying shame that you modelers outside the
borders of the USA can NOT order Aves Apoxie Sculpt.
I've mentioned it on this site many times. The cost for
postage for people outside the North American
continenent is cost prohibitive, unfortunately. I've had
the first batch I bought in two tubes. The hardener and
the white goo for over five years. And it is still just like
the day I first opened the two tubs. No foolin. It is a
shame that guys outside North America can not get
this super two part putty.

Ola

First of all I had AJ hidden by mistake and that's why I couldn't see his posts. I've unhidden everyone and it's ok now:)

AJ: I've heard that you can add water to make it softer. You are saying that it becomes more crumbly over time. Is that because it's exposed to air and light or it happens even when well packed and hidden from light?

Claude: I wasn't able to find anything close to DAS Pronto here in Poland, that's why I'm thinking of trying my luck with Milliput or MagicSculpt.

Rick: Here in Poland it's hard to get most material that you guys in the US or UK use often. It's not great, but it makes us scratchbuild more stuff:)

Thanks a lot for your help guys:) You are great!!

Cheers,
dsc.