Thursday, February 23, 2012

Lodgepole Pine part 4 - Time to branch out

Got all the base work done.  One more thing to prep - I took a short deck board (heavy enough to be stable) I had and drilled 1/2" holes (size of the trunk) most of the way through (allowing me to pick up the board without the trees slipping through).  This allowed me to put the tree into the holder at any time and not have to worry about breaking off branches.

There are two methods people I read about used.  Top down or bottom up.  After doing it once I prefer the top down method.  I also prefer the dental pick over a drill as the branches I am inserting various diameter branches and did not want to fight that.

To glue the branches to the trunk I am using "super glue" because it sets quickly.

I started with the grey trunk and took the dental pick and pressed into the trunk near the top of the tree.  I quickly found out it is quite easy to split the trunk.  After pulling out the needle out of my finger and doing a bandaid run, I decided to use less pressure near the top of the tree and not put my finger directly behind the stick.

The split is not a bad thing if you take it easy as you can put a couple branches right at the top with the split.  Another oops to my advantage.....

So the basic process is to  stick the pick slightly into the trunk and wiggle it a little to make a depression for the branch to come.

Next step is to pick a branch about the right length. If a little long I trimmed it to the length I needed.  I gently held the branch and dipped the cut end into the CA.  Then positioned the branches (location and angles) holding still for 10 sec.  If the branch is still loose, I repeated the process.  I rotated the trunk to a spot that looked like it needed a branch and repeated the process.

The finding locations to put branches and what length/fullness are much easier if you have multiple pics of the type of tree you want to make.

One goal I wanted is to have a small stand of these trees with the track going between the trunks (branches above the train cars). 


More scenery tips next posting.

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