Looks great. I made mine from Sedum "Autumn Joy" flowers that I harvested after they finished blooming. I dried them and after that it was a simple task to paint the trunks white, accented wit black, and painted the tops with different green colours. They look pretty good too.
Wow! . . . another brilliant tree tutorial! How many trees on the layout is that now Grant? This is also a great method for HO Scale if one needs trees for depth as well. Thanks for taking the time to share it. Cheers ~ Boomer.
Thanks Boomer. 3000 Fir and 100 Birch since I started back up. There are another 3000 or so on the layout that that I will likely be replacing. Fortunately as I move east on the layout I need less and less! Cheers. -grant
That was an excellent tutorial Grant, I would imagine it could be adapted to other tree types. Isn't the wax hot on your fingers, and using the blowtorch, didn't you hands get hot? Course you were working outside, so I guess it might of felt good ;-)
You have come a long way, with the layout, very nice, I have a question for you about your rubber band technic, to eliminate the lag on the n scale rolling stock, any help will be appreciated, thanks 😊
One of my subscribers is using white shrink tube. Depending on how many you need to do that could be a good alternative. I use the wax because I can pass the torch over it to get a good finish quickly and if it doesn't turn out.... Just re-wax and pass the torch over it until you're satisfied. Cheers. -grant
Hi Grant, Thanks for the tutorial. I've made some really authentic looking trees. Just a little bare; what would you recommend for the leaves? I'm colour blind so something from say Woodland Scenics; which I can get in Wales. Thank you. Also I would sign up; but the subscription is showing as £4.99p. Robin.
Hi Robin. Woodland Scenics makes a leaf material called Fine Leaf Foliage. Depending on the time of year you're modelling will depend on the colour you need. They have an autumn blend as well as a light and medium green. The medium green looks pretty good to me for summer leaves. Cheers. -grant
Hi Grant - This video is an excellent tutorial for anyone desiring to make their own Aspen/Birch trees. Your overall explanation is crystal clear and the end result is fantastic. Thanks so much for this well done video. Mike
Great tree making technique Grant, really enjoyed that and the those Aspen trees look so good, thanks for sharing. I guess you wear thick jumpers in the summer🤔😂 Cheers Grant, John
I like your style with all of the trees you have made, simple and clear tutorials with step by step instructions. These trees are a great improvement over your previous 3000 trees. I would find it very difficult to redo the old ones but that’s why your layout looks so good and we are watching.
Thanks Derek. The trees I will be replacing are 20+ years old, were built in a different style and have been on several different layouts. I feel a layout is never done. Techniques change for the better and our expectations grow along with them. Cheers! -grant
@@SouthernAlbertaRail Thanks, I know you make thousands of trees but I don't need more then 200 and a spool of 18ga. Copper is prohibitive. All the same beautiful trees, and fantastic job on the layout.
Hello. Your model train is beautiful!!! Thank you very much for your great tutorial, I used your technique for the trees, they are magnificent. I made them a little bushier than yours. (I made a Japan-type N scale train, the fir trees are bushier there) Sorry for my bad English, I'm French and I use google to translate. Thank you again 1000 times Mr. 🙏
I have watched loads of videos on making trees, but this is one of the easiest methods I have seen for creating really good looking trees. Its also not the usual green fir tree that everybody seems to do. Thanks for sharing your skills and knowledge with us all, it's very much appreciated.
Thanks for this - hugely appreciated - and completely outclasses the10 or so different batches of natural based lash ups I have been playing with! Just what was needed as a follow on to your pine technique which works brilliantly btw.
Thanks Nick, glad you like the vid. You'll have blast with these ones. A little more artistry involved and much more exciting than turning out a steady stream of green. Cheers. -grant
I model on the cheap. I make all my own ground scatter (flocking) out of either sawdust that gets coloured in the electric coffee grinder my wife gave me for modeling, or foam rubber done same way in the coffee grinder. That way you can control the colours and the granularity of your finished product. I also make my own iron oxide (rust) by soaking about 4 pieces of 0000 steel wool in a quart jar with white vinegar. After about a month sitting in the window, I pour the mixture into a large pan (I use my old 11" x 14" stainless steel photo fixer trays when I had a darkroom) or baking dish and wait for the mixture to completely dry (usually about 2 to 3 weeks). Then I take a single edge razor blade and pulverize the contents into a fine powder and store it in little tins. Each batch I've done comes out a little different in colour. Then you use the rust as you would any weathering powder or chalk. It looks real, 'cause it IS real rust! I also colour my own chalk with acrylic paint and food colouring. I never buy weathering powders. Instead, I go to the dollar store and buy women's makeup in the little plastic containers. For $1.00 you can get quite a collection of different colours and they adhere better than weathering powders. For trees, I use the Nandena bush after the little red berries fall off, it leaves a perfect tree trunk (armature). I also have a TON of lichen growing out back on the hill behind my house. When using the Nandena bush tree armatures, you can paint them whatever colour you want--even grey for aspen trees. Cover the armatures with lichen, seafoam or whatever you want, then add your own home-made flocking and you're done. For pine trees, I use florist wire (wrapped) doubled and bits of jute cut in1 to 1 1/2" laid in the wire, then using a drill, twist the wire while holding the other end in a pair of pliers.. I also use barbeque bamboo skewers with pig hair (horse hair) furnace filters (they're already green); have to paint the skewers first. And I never use spray paint since I use my airbrush for all my painting. I can use either acrylic or oil base paints; I usually use one airbrush for acrylic and the other one for oil base paints. Cheers from W Rusty Lane K9POW in eastern Tennessee
Great work, those trees look sooooo much better than the woodland scenics ones I’ve been using! Don’t like the idea of using the torch myself, but other than that, I’m fairly sure I’ll probably make some of these to replace the ones I’m currently using.
Thanks so much, they are a blast to make. You could skip the torch and try a heat gun... It would likely have the same effect just not as quick. Cheers! -grant
I think your forestry techniques are fabulous. A substitute for the propane bottle torch might be a butane torch lighter. It's not as big and only costs about $3-$4 dollars. I use them for shrink wrapping on electrical wiring connections. Don't know if the fuel is going to last for 💯 trees? But they are refillable.
Thanks Ron, great suggestion. One of those wee butane torches has been on my list of things to pick up for a long time.... unfortunately it's a mental list and is quite unreliable!! I do love my propane torch though. The number of birthday cakes it's lit is quite impressive. Thanks for watching and reminding me to check the mental list a wee touch more often!! Cheers. -grant
Amazing! Great tutorial. Lots of birch and pine in my prototype area so these tutorials will come in handy. I've previously used a similar technique for pine, (using stranded wire), and although the results were great, it was very time consuming. This will simplyfy things
Thanks, I appreciate the tip. I've tried Gesso before and it doesn't give the result I'm after. The wax is an almost instant dry and can be manipulated afterwards with heat. Cheers!
@@SouthernAlbertaRail just don’t get the gloss. Matte is best. It also ( when tinted) takes marker really well. I use brush calligraphy markers to add detail. It gives a very unique and randomness feel . It’s also cheaper, less messy and is more uniform. The bark on trees looks hyper realistic when used straight from the bottle And for aspen and smoother barked trees you can dilute it with water or paint to give to smooth texture. There’s hundreds of different varieties of molding pastes. I used them on base water features to build up ( using the gloss version to add depth, so when you add the water resin you only need a top coat. Saving possibly hundreds or thousands of dollars when used :) It also doesn’t crack or yellow since it’s meant for fine art painting
I recognize your crayon vessel….I guess not all your old Barista Pro components went to the dump…!
Great video mate!
Good eye Nick! Glad you dig the trees. Great seeing you during the week.
@@SouthernAlbertaRail thanks again for the hospitality Grant, it was awesome to see the layout in person finally.
Any time you're in town Nick.
Looks great. I made mine from Sedum "Autumn Joy" flowers that I harvested after they finished blooming. I dried them and after that it was a simple task to paint the trunks white, accented wit black, and painted the tops with different green colours. They look pretty good too.
I've seen them made that way and they do look good>. Thanks for stopping by and having a look. Cheers! -grant
Great work! Can't wait to try it, beautiful trees. Thank you.
Have fun Ted. Thanks for watching.
Nice
Cheers! -grant
I find your blond pony tails distracting, reminds me of a Swedish bar maid :)
For sure! Gotta keep the skull warm with the white stuff flying about! Cheers. -grant
Wow! . . . another brilliant tree tutorial! How many trees on the layout is that now Grant? This is also a great method for HO Scale if one needs trees for depth as well. Thanks for taking the time to share it. Cheers ~ Boomer.
Thanks Boomer. 3000 Fir and 100 Birch since I started back up. There are another 3000 or so on the layout that that I will likely be replacing. Fortunately as I move east on the layout I need less and less! Cheers. -grant
Great information for a beginner. The area I want to model uses Douglas Fir trees. Do you model those? Thanks. If not advice is much appreciated.
Thanks Robert. I have a video on fir trees as well. Search "Building a forest full of trees" and you should find it.
Would this work for HO, or would the trees be anemic? Maybe heavier gauge wire, and more/longer sisal?
Absolutely. The trees would be thin but as you mentioned using slightly larger gauge wire and longer Sisal would thicken them up. Cheers. -grant
You forgot eye of newt and wart of toad! Great vid. Thanks for sharing
Couldn't get my hands on any! Thanks for watching.Matt. Cheers. -grant
That was an excellent tutorial Grant, I would imagine it could be adapted to other tree types. Isn't the wax hot on your fingers, and using the blowtorch, didn't you hands get hot? Course you were working outside, so I guess it might of felt good ;-)
I learned to keep both the hot wax and flame away from my fingers a tree or two ago John!!
Holy crap that tub of wire 🤣
Yah it's helped to make a few trees over the decades!!
You have come a long way, with the layout, very nice, I have a question for you about your rubber band technic, to eliminate the lag on the n scale rolling stock, any help will be appreciated, thanks 😊
Are you talking about introducing drag to eliminate the "Slinky" effect?
Is there an alternative you could recommend instead of wax?
One of my subscribers is using white shrink tube. Depending on how many you need to do that could be a good alternative. I use the wax because I can pass the torch over it to get a good finish quickly and if it doesn't turn out.... Just re-wax and pass the torch over it until you're satisfied. Cheers. -grant
I don’t know if any grow in Illinois but I have to try a couple now.
Piles of fun to build!
👍
Hi Grant, Thanks for the tutorial. I've made some really authentic looking trees. Just a little bare; what would you recommend for the leaves? I'm colour blind so something from say Woodland Scenics; which I can get in Wales. Thank you. Also I would sign up; but the subscription is showing as £4.99p. Robin.
Hi Robin. Woodland Scenics makes a leaf material called Fine Leaf Foliage. Depending on the time of year you're modelling will depend on the colour you need. They have an autumn blend as well as a light and medium green. The medium green looks pretty good to me for summer leaves. Cheers. -grant
Thank you. 'Foliage' ordered. @@SouthernAlbertaRail
Oh heck yes!!! These are some great looking trees. Thank you for sharing your technique.
Hey no sweat. Have fun!
Excellent tutorial! Thanks for taking the time to share with us. The result is amazing and you showed the process extremely clearly. Take care :)
Thanks Panzer! Had a quick peek at what you've got going on. I'll need to spend some time looking at your videos. Great looking work!! Cheers. -grant
Hi Grant - This video is an excellent tutorial for anyone desiring to make their own Aspen/Birch trees. Your overall explanation is crystal clear and the end result is fantastic. Thanks so much for this well done video. Mike
Thanks Mike. All the best. -grant
Fantastic tutorial Grant! Thanks for sharing your methods with us.
I’ve got 99 problems…but a birch ain’t one.
Made me laugh Ben. So Birch trees next for you??
@@SouthernAlbertaRail Not many birch trees along the Laggan west of Canmore. Just a zillion lodge pole pine/Engelman spruce.
What gauge copper wire is that?
18 gauge copper.
It always amazes me the ingenuity of Model Railroaders, and our willingness to share brilliant techniques. Thank you so much for this!
Happy to share. Piles of fun making these ones. -grant
Great tree making technique Grant, really enjoyed that and the those Aspen trees look so good, thanks for sharing. I guess you wear thick jumpers in the summer🤔😂
Cheers Grant, John
Thanks John. Love the jumper comment... I much prefer -30 to + 30!! Cheers. -grant
ingenious
And piles of fun to make. Cheers!
Amazing and so helpful. Thanks for sharing. Dave
Glad you enjoyed it Dave. Cheers. -grant
Very nice…
Thank you! Cheers!
These look super easy to do and batch them out with your methods. The crayons are a lot better then the liquid latex people use. Thanks for sharing .
Yup pretty straightforward. Have a go and have fun!
I like your style with all of the trees you have made, simple and clear tutorials with step by step instructions. These trees are a great improvement over your previous 3000 trees. I would find it very difficult to redo the old ones but that’s why your layout looks so good and we are watching.
Thanks Derek. The trees I will be replacing are 20+ years old, were built in a different style and have been on several different layouts. I feel a layout is never done. Techniques change for the better and our expectations grow along with them. Cheers! -grant
I didn't hear what size copper did you use?
I use 18 gauge Bob.
@@SouthernAlbertaRail Thanks, I know you make thousands of trees but I don't need more then 200 and a spool of 18ga. Copper is prohibitive. All the same beautiful trees, and fantastic job on the layout.
Thanks Bob, it's definitely a numbers game. Cheers. -grant
I was really looking forward to this tutorial. Does this ever look like fun! Thanks!
Piles of fun Chris...
Fantastic tutorial. Thanks for sharing this will be perfect for my next model project. Liked and subscribed
Happy that you found it helpful. Have fun! -grant
Great video. Would you use the wax technique to pine trees?
Yes, absolutely. Any tree that has an exposed trunk would benefit from the wax technique.
Great looking trees. I will have to try that method.
Thanks. They are a lot of fun to build. Have fun!
Just Beautiful my friend!!! What a great looking tree! Thanks so much for the tutorial.
Thank you! Cheers!
Great tutorial, neat methods for recreating a decent batch of trees fairly quickly, the wax trunk is new to me, interesting!
Thanks James. The wax is nice to work with. Hides the twisted wire well. Cheers! -grant
Thanks Grant. Excellent description.
Glad you enjoyed it Scott. Cheers.
Very nice. Thank you for sharing your techniques.
No sweat Sean, hope you found it helpful. Cheers!
Looks amazing
Thanks Nick.
Hello.
Your model train is beautiful!!!
Thank you very much for your great tutorial, I used your technique for the trees, they are magnificent.
I made them a little bushier than yours. (I made a Japan-type N scale train, the fir trees are bushier there)
Sorry for my bad English, I'm French and I use google to translate.
Thank you again 1000 times Mr. 🙏
Merci! Glad you had success. -grant
Can't thank you enough for posting this video. Much appreciated
You're very welcome! Cheers.
I have watched loads of videos on making trees, but this is one of the easiest methods I have seen for creating really good looking trees. Its also not the usual green fir tree that everybody seems to do. Thanks for sharing your skills and knowledge with us all, it's very much appreciated.
My pleasure. Glad you found it helpful. Cheers. -grant
They look good Grant and they look good in the scenery. Bob
Thanks Bob. The yellow definitely stands out from the sea of green. Cheers. -grant
Nice easy process and gives an awesome result. Nice. 👍
Thanks William. Piles of fun to build as well. -grant
thanks!! The Sharpie is perfect for the Birch trees! I have been pondering how to do that!
Thanks Ted. Glad you found it helpful. Cheers.
Thanks for this - hugely appreciated - and completely outclasses the10 or so different batches of natural based lash ups I have been playing with! Just what was needed as a follow on to your pine technique which works brilliantly btw.
Thanks Nick, glad you like the vid. You'll have blast with these ones. A little more artistry involved and much more exciting than turning out a steady stream of green. Cheers. -grant
Good thing the weather in Calgary has been great for doing such projects.
For sure. Just made the most of today and got another 50 finished up... Cratering tomorrow I hear. Cheers.
I model on the cheap. I make all my own ground scatter (flocking) out of either sawdust that gets coloured in the electric coffee grinder my wife gave me for modeling, or foam rubber done same way in the coffee grinder. That way you can control the colours and the granularity of your finished product. I also make my own iron oxide (rust) by soaking about 4 pieces of 0000 steel wool in a quart jar with white vinegar. After about a month sitting in the window, I pour the mixture into a large pan (I use my old 11" x 14" stainless steel photo fixer trays when I had a darkroom) or baking dish and wait for the mixture to completely dry (usually about 2 to 3 weeks). Then I take a single edge razor blade and pulverize the contents into a fine powder and store it in little tins. Each batch I've done comes out a little different in colour. Then you use the rust as you would any weathering powder or chalk. It looks real, 'cause it IS real rust! I also colour my own chalk with acrylic paint and food colouring. I never buy weathering powders. Instead, I go to the dollar store and buy women's makeup in the little plastic containers. For $1.00 you can get quite a collection of different colours and they adhere better than weathering powders.
For trees, I use the Nandena bush after the little red berries fall off, it leaves a perfect tree trunk (armature). I also have a TON of lichen growing out back on the hill behind my house. When using the Nandena bush tree armatures, you can paint them whatever colour you want--even grey for aspen trees. Cover the armatures with lichen, seafoam or whatever you want, then add your own home-made flocking and you're done. For pine trees, I use florist wire (wrapped) doubled and bits of jute cut in1 to 1 1/2" laid in the wire, then using a drill, twist the wire while holding the other end in a pair of pliers.. I also use barbeque bamboo skewers with pig hair (horse hair) furnace filters (they're already green); have to paint the skewers first. And I never use spray paint since I use my airbrush for all my painting. I can use either acrylic or oil base paints; I usually use one airbrush for acrylic and the other one for oil base paints. Cheers from W Rusty Lane K9POW in eastern Tennessee
Can't go wrong using natural stuff Rusty. Cheers. -grant
Great method for mass production.
Thanks Peter. Cheers.
that is pretty simple. hard part be setting everything up, so once ya got that done might as well make lots of them
Absolutely! I try to do at least 50 at a time.
Great techniques; I'll certainly be giving it a try.
Thanks Jeffrey. Have fun!
Cold...what cold? You Canadians are a different breed. God save Canada!
Hahaha. If we let a wee touch of snow slow us down nothing would ever get done David! -grant
@@SouthernAlbertaRail That's not even cold and snowy enough to cause you to lose your snowblower on your roof!
A great tutorial, looking forward to future learnings
Hey thanks Tim. Always working on new vids. -grant
Fantastic video, thank you
Glad you enjoyed it. Cheers.
That is amazing!! Thank-you for sharing👍😁.. snow & a t-shirt! Lol True Canadian!👌🏆🇨🇦
Would never get anything done if I worried about a wee touch of snow!! Glad you liked the video. Have fun.
So simple yet so effective! Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure Gary. Have fun! -grant
Just found your channel along with tree tutorials.. excellent, easy way simplified . Thanks for sharing
Welcome Ed, glad you found the tree vids helpful. Feel free to poke around the rest of the channel! Cheers. -grant
Nice!
Thanks John!
Great work, those trees look sooooo much better than the woodland scenics ones I’ve been using! Don’t like the idea of using the torch myself, but other than that, I’m fairly sure I’ll probably make some of these to replace the ones I’m currently using.
Thanks so much, they are a blast to make. You could skip the torch and try a heat gun... It would likely have the same effect just not as quick. Cheers! -grant
Nice trees and a very nice video
Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful video make trees friend
Thanks for visiting
Thanks for sharing your technique! It's going to be a huge help modeling southern Wyoming and northern Colorado.
Glad it was helpful! Have a blast!
Just watched this and the fir tree video. So simple if you know how to do it and I love the results.
Thank you. Hope you found them helpful. Cheers. -grant
Beautiful 🌳🌲 trees
Thank you! Cheers!
Very clever! Great outcome!
Thank you! Cheers!
I love how you did that. Going to try to find a way to size up just a little for a diorama.👍👍👍
Thanks! These are a blast to make and should look good scaled up. Cheers, -grant
Nice job! Great trees!
Thank you! Cheers!
That’s great! Looks like fall aspens to me!
Thanks!
Fantastic trees
Thanksyou very much. All the best.
I think your forestry techniques are fabulous. A substitute for the propane bottle torch might be a butane torch lighter. It's not as big and only costs about $3-$4 dollars. I use them for shrink wrapping on electrical wiring connections. Don't know if the fuel is going to last for 💯 trees? But they are refillable.
Thanks Ron, great suggestion. One of those wee butane torches has been on my list of things to pick up for a long time.... unfortunately it's a mental list and is quite unreliable!! I do love my propane torch though. The number of birthday cakes it's lit is quite impressive. Thanks for watching and reminding me to check the mental list a wee touch more often!! Cheers. -grant
@@SouthernAlbertaRail at Menards by me, they have them in a bin by the checkout.
No Menards up here but I'll poke around at Home Depot. Thanks again.
Wow!!! Great!! Thank you!
Thanks so much! Glad you liked it! -grant
Great work! Thank you.
Thank you Alaina. Cheers! -grant
Amazing!
Great tutorial. Lots of birch and pine in my prototype area so these tutorials will come in handy. I've previously used a similar technique for pine, (using stranded wire), and although the results were great, it was very time consuming. This will simplyfy things
Glad it was helpful!
Fantastic trees! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for visiting Mike.
Instead of wax , try gesso or better acrylic molding paste. You can tint or color them with whatever color of your choice Just dip and let dry
Thanks, I appreciate the tip. I've tried Gesso before and it doesn't give the result I'm after. The wax is an almost instant dry and can be manipulated afterwards with heat. Cheers!
@@SouthernAlbertaRail just don’t get the gloss. Matte is best. It also ( when tinted) takes marker really well. I use brush calligraphy markers to add detail. It gives a very unique and randomness feel . It’s also cheaper, less messy and is more uniform. The bark on trees looks hyper realistic when used straight from the bottle And for aspen and smoother barked trees you can dilute it with water or paint to give to smooth texture. There’s hundreds of different varieties of molding pastes. I used them on base water features to build up ( using the gloss version to add depth, so when you add the water resin you only need a top coat. Saving possibly hundreds or thousands of dollars when used :) It also doesn’t crack or yellow since it’s meant for fine art painting