What To Make On A Cold Rainy Night!

[Jim Donovan]

I noticed there are not a lot of treads on scenery in the forum, yet scenery makes a layout come to life! I love working work on scenery while relaxing, say in front of a fire on a cold rainy night!  In April??? You have got to be kidding but three days ago I did.

Perhaps the reason there is so little said in this forum are there is a lot of video's on YouTube. Without a doubt the best I have found is:

http://www.bouldercreekrailroad.com/

Luke Towen produces well made video's showing a wide range of primarily scenery tutorials. If you haven't seen the site yet check it out. His wire apple tree is fun. I made the following using MOST of his ideas while sitting in front of that fire. In the first picture you can see apple trees often do look like the tree's in the Wizard of Oz. I took the picture in January near our home in Holland, Ohio.

Changes in techniques I made from video:

1) I shaped the branches to mimic local area trees, not all types of apple trees have the bent over look. I asked the people at the orchard (MacQueens Orchard has a store open year round) why the limbs are that way. They said it was pruning, some years the trees are so heavy with apples the limbs can break off if thin and pointed up.
2) I used Woodland Scenics latex, but diluted it with 50% distilled water. This allowed the latex to work into the cracks much better, provided a more uniform application and allowed better control.  As you use 14 strands of wire to start the trunk it can get too thick for scale realism. Even applying the 50/50 mix the truck is almost too thick. Next tree I will use 12 or perhaps 10 wires to start.  I plan to make a total of 6. Use ONLY distilled water any other will react with the latex and ruin it. It took three applications to cover the wire.
3) I applied two coats of paint with an airbrush of medium gray and then a light coat of dark brown to achieve color of local trees. I dry brushed a very little amount of white on the trunk. As it is mostly covered not sure that was worth it.
4) I used Woodland Scenics dark forest clump foliage rather than course turf shown in video. I did this as the leaves in the local area are dark and I happened to have the foliage on hand. I ground up the foliage to make it like the course turf and it worked fine.
5) Finally, as you'll see it does take time but the wire can be done literally while watching TV. I will make the other five needed in batch mode, latex painting and airbrushing are not TV friendly.

What you end up with looks nice. The apples themselves are big for the scale, more like the size of cantaloupe then apples but any smaller I doubt would work.
Enjoy the video and the pictures:

[Janbouli]

Thank you Jim.

[BandOGuy]

While I agree with the premise behind the post, on a cold snowy/rainy night by the fire, the best thing to make in my opinion is a double Makers Mark on the rocks.

[ReadingBob]

While I agree with the premise behind the post, on a cold snowy/rainy night by the fire, the best thing to make in my opinion is a double Makers Mark on the rocks.

Cheers to that!   

Thanks for the photo's and link Jim.  With no layout my scenery is limited to the dioramas I sometimes make.  Most times, I'm simply building structures.  But someday I hope to find room for a layout and will need to hone these skills. 

[Jim Donovan]

I posted late yesterday at night. Part did not load, the modifications I made. They are now included. I do like the idea of a double Makers Mark instead but Angel Envy is smoother. Both are fond memories!

[jerryrbeach]

Jim,

Thanks for the explanation, and especially the photos.  Modeling specific types of trees makes any layout not only look more realistic, but helps define it geographically.  I'll be referring to this thread when I make some apple trees for the D&N.

Not that it probably matters, but I prefer Evan Williams, as it has a little more edge.