Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Anyone have any good examples of either how to make simple dead trees or where to buy them? Lots of healthy green trees available to buy but very few dead ones!

I'm thinking blasted forest/dead tree trunks like this...

Make a wire armature in the shape of the tree.. You can use 18 ga mild steel or copper for the wire since it is soft.. Build up the trunk with multiples of the wire and then start building your branches off with single or double pieces of the wire working out to single pieces of wire. Once happy with the shape, cover with plaster bandage.. Paint it the way you want once dry..

It will take a few trees to get the technique down, but you can make some awesome trees with it.. If you need a really fat tree, start off with a piece of pvc the size you want and build from that.. I will try to find a link describing this technique..


Automatically Appended Next Post:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOgWPAxoGO8&feature=related

Why not just go outside and find some old sticks and twigs and whatnot? Suitably dead and completely free.

I assume you mean "non-GW alternatives" because the GW plastic trees with the foliage bits left off are pretty "dead" looking, thought they have sort of a Tim Burton/supernatural feelthat some people don't care for:


I have a set of dead trees that are made from the Woodland Scenics trees with no foliage added. They arent really expensive and can be found readily at most train shops, hobby stores or via ebay/online retailers. You can see a few of them (conifer in this pic) behind the emplacement:



You can see more of the Woodland Scenics stuff I did (decidious type) in this pic:


I think armourcast also sold some fallen tree/old stump type terrain pieces at one time which you might be able to google or find on ebay?

Beyond that you could search for real pieces of branches from actual trees and base them, etc.

I think building a tree from scratch with wire or similar is far more time consuming then i care to spend if i needs lots of trees and not just one characterful tree for a diorama, etc.

Snap up some pencils and then GS some texture on the outside?

 CT GAMER wrote:
I have a set of dead trees that are made from the Woodland Scenics trees with no foliage added. They arent really expensive and can be found readily at most train shops, hobby stores or via ebay/online retailers. You can see a few of them (conifer in this pic) behind the emplacement:

Thanks for this!

I did originally think of using the WS armatures but I wondered how bendable they are - they looked kinda 2D. Do you think I could twist them into gnarled positions or would they just bounce back to 'straight'?

Maybe a combination of twisting those WS ones, and then adding bandage/etc???

 ArbitorIan wrote:

 CT GAMER wrote:
I have a set of dead trees that are made from the Woodland Scenics trees with no foliage added. They arent really expensive and can be found readily at most train shops, hobby stores or via ebay/online retailers. You can see a few of them (conifer in this pic) behind the emplacement:

Thanks for this!

I did originally think of using the WS armatures but I wondered how bendable they are - they looked kinda 2D. Do you think I could twist them into gnarled positions or would they just bounce back to 'straight'?

Maybe a combination of twisting those WS ones, and then adding bandage/etc???

Most of them have wire in the middle, and hold their shape decent..

You can use florist wire from a craft store and putty to make cheap armatures.

I second the woodland scenics route. A whole bag of them is relatively inexpensive, and making a bunch trees out of wire and putty would take a century.

 ruff wrote:

 ArbitorIan wrote:
I did originally think of using the WS armatures but I wondered how bendable they are - they looked kinda 2D. Do you think I could twist them into gnarled positions or would they just bounce back to 'straight'?

Maybe a combination of twisting those WS ones, and then adding bandage/etc???

Most of them have wire in the middle, and hold their shape decent..

Yep. I've found them to hold their shape quite well. A firm twist or two of the trunk is all it takes to get the full "3-D" effect, but you can fine-tune the positioning beyond that. There's even a decent bit of a texture to the trunk to pick up drybrushing/washes, but they're simple woodgrain grooves, and not particularly realistically scaled - you'd likely want to re-texture for diorama-grade pieces, but it's plenty for normal tabletop terrain.

I'd likely go the natural materials route for blasted trees, though, as nothing splinters like real wood like... well, real wood. For dead trees, though, Woodland Scenics will do the trick.

 CT GAMER wrote:


I think armourcast also sold some fallen tree/old stump type terrain pieces at one time which you might be able to google or find on ebay?

Armorcast is still alive and well, and growing. Dead trees are here:
http://armorcast.com/store/index.php?cPath=123_38&osCsid=deb085ccac04d0cfebf963640bb38c68

Tim
The dead tree "sculptor".