Free Trees 2

Steady progress on the sedum trees, the top picture shows the first three stages, the bare twig on the left, with added masking tape on the central one. Bound round the trunk and once bulked up the last strip of masking top put on vertically running up the trunk to reduce the visibility of the tap bound round the stem. The last picture on the right shows the trunk and branches with PVA and sand applied a number of times. I did think about spraying the seed pods on the top with a PVA and water mixture, but in the end went with the less subtle method of dunking the top into neat PVA in a small tub.

The middle picture shows more PVA applied directly to the top of the tree, which is then spread out with a paint brush, then covered with a scattering of saw dust. So fare its worked quite well. Once dry I'll spray the trees with grey primer paint and then the top part with the saw dust I'll spray that bit black, then it will be down to dry brushing on a number of different shades of green. Then its down to thinking about how to base them.

TTFN

Airhead

The Old Town 2

Down town old Asmara finally taking shape, after posting the original design sketches in January 2010, how can it be that long ago? well they do say time flies when you are having fun. I still need to add some more detail, such as outside steps and more clutter to the roofs. I also need to have a look at creating the roof inserts from the original sketches, to bring the buildings into the 21st century, with sat-alight dishes and air-conditioning units. The next stage will involve moving on to the shanty town section of Asmara.

Trees for free!

A great idea I came across about 3 years ago on the Gentlemen's Wargames Parlour forum. Posted by a member going under the name of "jaeger". Trees made from a plant named Sedum Telephium. Which we have growing on the estate. This year I finally got around to harvesting the dead sedums before the weather totally trashed them. Just got to them before the snow arrived, I did keep the link to the post on GWP but the pictures have gone, with just the dreaded photo bucket icon in their place.

The harvest has been gathered in and is currently in storage drying out. The very rough outline of the technique involves using 2-3 stems glued together, or in my version bound together with masking tape and covered in PVA and sand. I think I'll then spray them with a water and PVA mixture all over to strengthen them some more, and then I'll experiment with saw dust and PVA past applied to the seed pods at the top to create the leaf cover of the trees.

These trees will be a key part of my French India Wars skirmish project in 10mm scale, and the idea is to produce a board with lots of tree cover, the sedum trees being the biggest, but also involving some pine trees based on this great tutorial from the invaluable Matakishi's Tea House. One of the best gaming resources out there. Finally a big thanks to Jaeger for posting the original idea.