Sage and Super trees by Kris Cutler

ACL1504 · July 12, 2015, 01:38:34 PM

Hey ya'll, this I the ACL guy. I want to show you two trees Kris Cutler made for me and the Atlantic and Southern RR.

I first met Bill and Kris several years ago when they were both removing the juke box and pool table from their family room. Yes, that room would soon become The Pennsy - Six Miles West of Altoona and More. I featured the layout here -
http://modelersforum.com/index.php?topic=313.0

Well, no grass has been growing under their feet either. Kris makes some wonderful looking trees and I want to get her out of her comfort zone and tell us how she make her trees.
Bill is a forum member and his avatar is PennsyJ1.

Here are the trees she made for me.

I'm asking forum members to comment on the trees and encourage Kris to post here the steps she goes through to make her trees.

Tom

cuse · July 12, 2015, 01:51:03 PM

Those are great. I bought a box of SuperSage just to model bare winter trees (or dead). I consider each one I place to have the value of a structure. You can examine the bark all day and they hold up.

Great stuff. Only thing better would be to have em in your backyard instead of paying Scenic Express (no offense to SE)

John

bparrish · July 12, 2015, 01:59:16 PM

Tom.......

This is the advantage of where one or another of us live in the country. Sage brush is a desert plant (not quite a weed) and is best from high altitudes (7000) feet where it gets freeze dried.

I have used sage brush for 20+ years and have done clinics on it.

It looks really great so do yours.

Thanx for putting this up.

see ya
Bob

ACL1504 · July 12, 2015, 03:03:21 PM

Quote from: Cuse on July 12, 2015, 01:51:03 PM
Those are great. I bought a box of SuperSage just to model bare winter trees (or dead). I consider each one I place to have the value of a structure. You can examine the bark all day and they hold up.

Great stuff. Only thing better would be to have em in your backyard instead of paying Scenic Express (no offense to SE)

John

John,

Thanks for checking in. Yes, I agree each tree is a structure and properly placed can really make the scene. You have done a fantastic job in the placement of yours. The photo below is of one on the layout of Cliff Powers. The placement of that tree sets the scene for a couple of feet in both directions.

Tom

ACL1504 · July 12, 2015, 03:06:32 PM

Quote from: bparrish on July 12, 2015, 01:59:16 PM
Tom.......

This is the advantage of where one or another of us live in the country. Sage brush is a desert plant (not quite a weed) and is best from high altitudes (7000) feet where it gets freeze dried.

I have used sage brush for 20+ years and have done clinics on it.

It looks really great so do yours.

Thanx for putting this up.

see ya
Bob

Bob,

Thanks for checking in. I tried to find some sage when in AZ and Denver back in 1998. I guess I wasn't high enough. High, as in altitude.

Kris really does a fantastic job on her trees.

Tom

bparrish · July 12, 2015, 03:34:51 PM

Tom...

I'm not sure what AZ sage brush would even look like. I think it is too hot and dry for it there. Although this part of the state gets about 12 inches of rain a year it is enough to keep it going. Perhaps there are different varieties.

Next time I'm up at some altitude I can snag some for you and send it if you want.

I use 3M 77 for a glue. That is like a spray contact cement and throw the ground foam on immediately. It works way better than hair spray. That stuff lets down when brushed at during operations. I needed something more durable for up close trees.

I spray it into a 5 gallon bucket to capture the over spray. Then I hold the sage upside down in a coffee can or something big enough and shake the foam up onto the wood. I can then reapply the glue and fill out a tree very quickly. You can make up a batch of trees really fast ..........but...........

Once you put out the first tree it yells for a thousand more.

Below are two sage brush tree photos.

see ya
Bob

gnatshop · July 14, 2015, 08:38:53 PM

Yeah, I agree, fantastic trees!!
Come'on, Kris - post some how-to's for for us Dumb-Butt Railroad Men (emphasis is on MEN)!!

See, I know how to get a woman's attention!

PennsyJ1 · July 15, 2015, 03:26:39 PM

Quote from: gnatshop on July 14, 2015, 08:38:53 PM
Yeah, I agree, fantastic trees!!
Come'on, Kris - post some how-to's for for us Dumb-Butt Railroad Men (emphasis is on MEN)!!

See, I know how to get a woman's attention!

Thank you for the nice comments Gman. I will try and put something together soon. Also I bet you do

Kris

ACL1504 · July 15, 2015, 04:17:31 PM

Bob,

Thanks for the input and your trees still look really good. The technique you used back then is still good to use on the trees today. However; there have been many changes in the use of the sage for trees and many new ways to make them look more natural.

I've seen Kris' technique and would very much like for Bill or Kris to explain and show the forum how it's done using the material available today.

Tom

GPdemayo · July 16, 2015, 09:42:00 AM

Hey Tom.....get Kris to do a bunch for the A&S.

I got to see them in person and she does great work.

ACL1504 · July 16, 2015, 11:29:03 AM

Quote from: GPdemayo on July 16, 2015, 09:42:00 AM
Hey Tom.....get Kris to do a bunch for the A&S.

I got to see them in person and she does great work.

Greg,

Kris is knee deep in tree branches for her own Pennsy - 6 Miles West of Altoona. Dang it!

Tom

MAP · July 26, 2015, 07:48:33 AM

Wow! Definitely great looking trees. I've bought some of the Scenic Express super trees as well, but have not tried to "grow" any of them yet. A how-to tutorial would be great!