Hi all,
I've had a chance lately to spend some time playing with the iconic Aussie gum tree (eucalyptus) models that I'll need several hundred of for both a home layout, and also a new exhibition project. Many modellers here in Australia have used Sedum "Autumn Joy" dried flower stems (a succulent plant), as fairly good representations of our common tree. The dried armatures are quite typical of the limbs of many gums, and the dried flower heads bare a good resemblance of the gum tree's canopy. Commonly, I have seen them used, where modellers might just dust the top of the flower head with some green flocking material, and then call it done...but there's so much more to a gum tree than that.
One of the things about a gum tree that has always fascinated me, was the wide colour pallete they use. The trunk can vary from black, burnt umber and smoky greys within th eolder barks, to the fleshy new bark skin which can be nearly white, through to beige, muddy browns, greys, to almost pastel greens, and then stained with sap leaks that are deep gooey rusty colours almost. The foliage varies from a bold basil green, to burnt off browns, oranges and then fresh lime green tips. Brown trunk with green leaves not! I wanted to try and get a bit more of a better representation of what my local backyard landscape really looks like.
So here's the forst experimental batch...a few quick shots from a recent railway exhibition where I was working on them.
Cheers,
Dan
Dan,
Those are beautifully done. When your'e done with your clinic, care to do an SBS here, on how to make them?
Marc
Thanks Marc,
I intend on doing a clinic on my tree's for an NMRA convention here in Melbourne next year, so yes, I will elaborate on a more detailed SBS in the near future. I need to remember to take pics of all the different stages of construction, so you lot can be my lab rats ;D
Busy end of the year of course, so the modelling time is a bit limited, but these first trials have got me inspired to produce more of them, as well as much bigger Mountain Ash tree's (the pictured ones are just 40' babies compared to a 200-300' Mountain Ash...now thats an intimidating tree to model, but I have made one!).
Cheers,
Dan
Quote from: danpickard on December 11, 2010, 02:32:56 AM
Commonly, I have seen them used, where modellers might just dust the top of the flower head with some green flocking material, and then call it done...but there's so much more to a gum tree than that.
One of the things about a gum tree that has always fascinated me, was the wide colour pallete they use. The trunk can vary from black, burnt umber and smoky greys within th eolder barks, to the fleshy new bark skin which can be nearly white, through to beige, muddy browns, greys, to almost pastel greens, and then stained with sap leaks that are deep gooey rusty colours almost. The foliage varies from a bold basil green, to burnt off browns, oranges and then fresh lime green tips. Brown trunk with green leaves not! I wanted to try and get a bit more of a better representation of what my local backyard landscape really looks like.
This is what separates the good modelers from the rest: Being observant of the details.
very, very wel done. Are you also showing the peeling bark seen on so many gums.
Jacq
Hi Jacq,
I do have some peeled bark to work with. The tricky part is getting it to peel well. It is actually a bark material, sold in sheet rolls in the garden section of the hardware, and intended as a liner for plant hanging baskets. Its like a papar bark material, and one side of it flat papery sheets, while the other side is made up of long fibre strands, which will be suitable as the peeling bark on my trees...I'm still working lifting the fibres to get decent lengths to play with. I certainly intend to use a lot of this sort of bark material scattered around the tree base, mixed in with leaf litter and long grasses. I have tried the peeling bark with paper strips before, but the real bark has a much more natural look to it, for obvious reasons I guess.
I need to get out for a bit of a hike and gather a few of my own reference shots...once it stops damn raining though. Not really having much of a typical hot Aussie summer just yet, just thunderstorms and flooding!
Cheers,
Dan
PS; hows the "funny fingers" problem going with you?
Dan,
with the daily excercises my thumb is slowly returning to it's normal abilities. It is still a delicate balance and a new experience of living with the limitations.
The pink will take much longer, if ever, to regain the sense of "fabric" touch again. Touching an object I sense, but do not feel the sort of material and
surface status, like smooth, wet, warm, wood or steel, etc....
Modeling is luckily possible again and last night I enjoyed working more than three hours on a new set of disconnects.
Tonight I get help setting up the landscape modules so I can start finalising the next couple of weeks a lot of items for an exclusive serie of photographs for Russ.
Progress photo's for the forum will not be forgotten.
Jacq
Those are great, Dan! I some California one's right outside my window.
Dan,
Those trees are looking really good.
Like Chuck We have a bunch here on the place.
The Southern Pacific Railroad Company is responsible for bringing the
Blue Gum and Red Gum to California.
Later
Rick
Hi Dan,
very nice trees! I really like the bark detail that you have achieved. I will look for the bark you mention for when I get to building my mountain ash forest
I have been making 7 large River Redgums for a river scene on my new layout but at the moment there isn't enough hours in the day to get them finished
Cheers
Murray Scholz
P.S. like you I wish summer would arrive
G'day Murray,
I'd encourage you to join this thread and put up a few pics of the river gums you have pieced together as well, as I'm sure others here would be appreciative of your scenery modelling style. I may be giving your wire trunk river gum methods a go in the future, as I have plans for a few large weeping twisted monsters to be hanging over a creek section of the home layout.
Good to see you face around here mate.
Cheers,
Dan
PS; you got any land left up your way, or are you growing a new lake as well?
Hi Dan,
thanks for the invite. I am keen to see how you are making your trees.
I haven't worked out how to upload photos yet so here is a link to my blog which has a few photos http://bogonggeehirailway.blogspot.com/
The scenery is not complete in them because I have been regauging the track.
Your almost right about the new lake, we have been flooded 4 times in the last 8 weeks. We are trying to get our harvest off but it is so wet that it is making life very difficult
Cheers
Murray
I think I have worked out how to post photos!
Here is a picture of my layout showing one of my gum trees. It is about 15' tall and is made from wire, das clay and yarrow flowers. In later trees I have substituded sedum flowers for the yarrow.
Cheers
Murray
That tree is terrific! The layout looks good too.
those are really nice trees would like some of those on my on30 modules
Hi all,
So its been some time since updating this thread, but have been still playing with these trees. Will be presenting a clinic on the process at my local NMRA Convention, here in Melbourne in about a month. Finally got the clinic notes finished, which ended up being 16 pages of notes on how to make one tree! I will say the notes were fairly extensive, in the attempt to cover all questions and details that are likely to be faced by anyone else trying to make trees this way. Certainly took a whole lot longer to write the clinic than it does to make one, and trying to shoot the SBS pics without getting glue, paint and clay all over the camera was challenging.
There's a couple of extra images here. If anyone is interested, I can also forward a copy of the clinic notes (PDF, 10.4MB), just send me a private email and I can forward the file.
Cheers,
Dan
Nice, the peeling bark looks very authentic.
nice work on the bark. It looks just right, although I haven't seen a gum for the last decade. Now you have to capture that charactertic vertical hang of the leaves!
Ahh the hanging leaves...someone actually pulled me up at an exhibition a while back about my leaves all pointing up, instead of hanging down. Of course it was one of the other exhibitors that had wandered over from his "plasticville" layout that was there on display (you know, bright green grass, glossy plastic trees etc) to point out the flaws in my efforts ;D
Unfortunately, I will eventually be needing to build enough trees to fill about 30+ feet of scenery (fairly densly too), so I'm not going to be doing some of that super finescale tree modelling and apply individual leaves, all hanging in the right direction. I'll have to hope that people are distracted by the colour, shape and texture of the trees instead. Still, I reckon the upright leaves are still a better effect than balls of ground foam.
Cheers,
Dan
Perhaps you could build the trees upside down .... -- ssuR
Technically speaking Russ, they already are...to you. ::)
Dan
I think the overall effect is fine. Ultra detailed scenery is problematic especially for a large dio or layout.
Just trying out this file sharing link, for those that are interested in a copy of the clinic notes for these trees. I've emailed a number of copies so far, but hopefully this public link will make things a bit easier...
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43315560/GUM%20TREES%20CLINIC.pdf
Cheers,
Dan
That works just fine Dan. Thanks.
Jerry
Thanks for the link Dan. Those are very nice trees. It's kinda sorta interesting that different countries seem to have different types of hanging basket liner. You have the bark material, we only have coconut fibre, the Brits have a version of wool carpet underlay. What do garden centres in the US sell?
Dan
My wife and grandkids where at a zoo in South Jersey yesterday. And walking through the forest they have trees and place cards on what they are. We came across this Black Gum tree now would that be the same as what you have down-under???
Jerry
Hi Jerry,
Don't think so, following a quick google look. Aussie gums are of the eucalypt family. There is hundreds of different names for them (many based upon colour...white/snow/ghost/grey/red/blue gum etc), but I can't say I've heard of a Black Gum, except for following a bush fire ;D
Cheers,
Dan
Gum tree is the common name for the Eucalyptus in Australia and the Black Gum or Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica) in North America.
Nyssa sylvatica, commonly known as black tupelo, tupelo, or black gum, is a medium-sized deciduous tree native to eastern North America from New England and southern Ontario south to central Florida and eastern Texas, as well as Mexico.