Tips & tricks 9 :Making Pine trees

Hi everyone, let me show you how I make a pine tree.

For the trunk I use a ¼ inch wood dowel. The length is up to you but keep in mind that you need to leave about ½ inch extra to insert it on the base. The one I’m going to make here will be about 10 ½ inches long. Then I use a pencil sharpener to make the point at the top. Using a rotary tool with a coarse sanding drum attached I give the dowel some texture by passing it lengthwise on the surface. (You are looking for irregularity here so make random passes.) You can also use 100 grit sandpaper but the rotary tool is faster.

Next, measure the point of the lower branches. (I usually put mine at about the same height as the figure’s head but that really depends of the type of tree you are making.)
Using that as a starting point mark every ½ inch till you reach the top. You should end up with something like this:


Then start drilling small holes around the trunk at every mark. I drill 6 holes in the lower part of the trunk, 5 around the middle and 4 closer to the top. Now paint the trunk. Later it will be harder to paint it due to the branches.


For the branches I use “Caspia” branches. I bought it at Michaels many years ago but you should be able to find it at florist shops. If you can’t find it, anything with the same look will work. The branch will determine the size of the holes in the trunk.


Now clamp the trunk on something and start inserting branches in the trunk until you get the correct shape for the pine you are making. This is the most time consuming part of the project. Pine trees tend to be conical, so I start with the lower branches, as they will be the longest ones. Then you have to trim the other ones until you reach the top. Trim the Caspia branches from the inside and dry fit them to the dowel to see the shape; if you feel it’s the correct shape put a drop of white glue to the branch and insert it.


When you reach the top you should have something like this:


Now take a can of your favorite spray adhesive and give a coat to the branches, flock them with static grass and let it dry.


And there you have it; your very own pine tree.
Thanks for your interest

Ruben

Ruben
The tree would look much better with a bunch more branches, good work.
Panzer

Yes Panzer, but this is a small (juvenile) pine tree that I was making. Considering that pine trees can grow between 15 and 45 meters tall a full grown tree at 1/35 would be between 17 and 50 inches tall so I think the distribution is ok for a tree this size (about 10 inches). Here it is in the base...


But rest assured I'll take your advise into account for the next one.
Thanks for the input.

Ruben

I am waiting to see the next one.
Panzer

Do you happen to have a good recipe for Coconut Trees? This has been evading me forever.

Jon
Great question, I would love to see a coconut tree done well.
Panzer

If I recal, there was a SBS floating around at some point that showed using masking tape wrapped around a "trunk" to create the pattern of the bark, then they cut paper fronds.

I'll poke around when I get the chance.

Rick

http://ricklawler.blogspot.com/

Thanks, dying to do more Pacific themed stuff.

Maybe Rick is refering to this one:
http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=75

Hope this helps

Ruben

Palm trees we make so: http://dioramix-worx.com/BaseSites/Palme.html

Ruben,
Love the pine... All you need is a spray can of pine scent and it would make everyone happy...
Thanks again...
Now I have to make more Dio's.
Shawn