How to Make Miniature Trees for Dioramas and Model Railroads

[SailorBarsoom]

Well, I said I wanted to make some trees, so I looked around and what do you know!

Thanks, man. My trees would have to be a bit bigger since I want them to go with 25 mm scale figures, but then maybe I won't do it at all lol.

[epicfantasy]

@SailorBarsoom lol, yup here I am again. You go for it!

[CirnetheCanuck]

Another alternative to scenic cement to seal the foliage to the tree is hairspray. I find it works really well.

[C4PEfilms]

@CirnetheCanuck Brushing them with a coat or two of watered down PVA glue does the trick pretty good.

[AntTzZor]

@AdamSavage88 do you get to drive?

[dubblestein]

Great vid

[Eshayzbra96]

are you sure you aint making your own pot plant out of hydro?anywayz good vid

[Kenkoyful]

just take dead leaves and cut any shape of a bush or any nature stuff and glue them on your diorama for stop motions or contest and more more stuff.

[TheBassguitarfreak]

I use toilet paper and paperclips:Very very realistic and not cheap(except glue, but probably u got a liquid glue)

[faedrie]

Great idea with the scouring pads! What other materials do you use for foliage?

Thank you!

[darmanbuttermilk1137]

im doing a diorama of ww2 and im wanting a bunch of logs and sand bags

[JAGDPANTHER20]

@cockjoke I bet yer momma wont recognize you when I get done with you.

[haloman332]

thts prty cool

[OMGITSI]

or you can use broccoli (SMELLY)

[JAGDPANTHER20]

@cockjoke why dont you pull that dildo out your butt and wipe up the ass blood?

[JAGDPANTHER20]

@cockjoke what are you fucking gay???

[bombbutt]

Hey man thanks for the idea :D

[clubbythe]

Instead of those trees you could just get a twig and stick the leaves on it.

[darkkclovers]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

[BLAZEX09]

Thanks thats a great idea!

[epicfantasy]

I have purchased a bunch of materials for a new diorama. It will be a WW2 battle scene. Series of tutorials coming for that. Keep an eye on my vids! Thanks for watching :)

[deekid311]

cool, thnx!

[Brian567899]

i love your tutorials but can you upgrade to an hd camera so we can better see?

[epicfantasy]

thanks! Yup, these earlier videos done on regular screen size. I have an hd camera now so all my more recent vids are hd!

[Brian567899]

@epicfantasy No prob dude i see your newer vids they are real nice. Im taking a break from my nile river diorama and when im done ill put up what it looks like. Iwouldnt know what to do if you didnt have tutorials.

[epicfantasy]

Nile River diorama? That is awesome. You have got to send me pics.

I am probably going to Egypt in the upcoming year so after that I will be doing some Egyptian dioramas. Will be fun.

[Brian567899]

Sure i just uploaded it now so i just have to wait for it to process i have to do 2 or 3 more things and i will upload it when that's done. The video ison my channel so you can use that on your site or whatever. lol i also have to tell woodland senics or scene-a-rama i have it uploaded. their channel is schoolprojectguru they said they would like to see it. lol

[BigAndTall666]

This mean that you get miniature wood? :-D

[epicfantasy]

LOL!

[skaterdude297]

dude this vid is awsome its sooo helpfull im gonna hopefully try to make a diaroma of a ww2 battle for gaming.umm how long did it take u to make one of thoes little sets in the vid?

[misterownage1]

you dont have to have thos dead trees for an other idea you could use wire like pipe cleaner wirer that works my freind sells them that way looks amazing

[petekilde]

I collect different ever green leaves from the woods,dry them and then pulse them in a food processor briefly.The resulting small fragmrnts make by far the most realistic leaves I have come across so far!

[grandtheftauto4123]

crushed parsely also works. i use it as an alternative.

[hamburglar328]

what would you use for a road in a diorama

[101specialforce]

what do u use to make the leaves i cant understand

[epicfantasy]

I use a foliage material from a company called Woodland Scenics.

[petee18]

i found out that you could cover the wire with plaster of paris.................and it would make it look more like a tree trunk

[letshavewhat1111]

Sir may I ask what do you call the material you used as leaves for the tress? Just wandering....

[metalcore4lyf]

Looks like a big bag of pot LOL

but awesome video mann , pretty interesting :)

[iddn]

Do you paint on the wire directly? I've read somewhere else that some people coat the bare wire in fire cement (I think!) and paint on that.

[EvilKorbinDallas]

:S lol what im doing a Vietnam diorama (another project, lol 2 dioramas at once is tough) and what im doing is im gonna get big thick bronze nails (not to big) and hamer it into my diorama and work around it, then ill add a substance that looks like leaves :)

[epicfantasy]

wow, actually a pretty nice idea! Very creative. I am going to have to give this a try . THanks for the tip.

[EvilKorbinDallas]

No problem but if you want it to look good, like if you have a tree line make sure the front trees are detailed and have bushes down the bottom, thats what im planning to do lol

[hpathbp25]

I am making a model of a forest, to film in, for a short film. But in it, the height of a person is about 6.5". Meaning the tree trunks have to be something like 2" or 3" in diameter and 1' high before there are any leaves on it. I am doing it at this scale to add the most detail, since in the film it is supposed to be an actual forest. How on earth could I be able to make such big model trees?

[epicfantasy]

I think you will have to go either with paper mache or modeling clay like super sculpey. Should do the trick. But the clay will be expensive. The paper mache will be cheaper. send me some pics! Good luck with the film.

[McPfoot]

I'm so making a diorama now :D

[mecrazy5]

what is a diorama? im brittish so i dont know

[epicfantasy]

Hi! A diorama is a miniature scene. Ever seen a layout of a model railroad with all the trees and little people and such? Just no railroad in a diorama! I have a diorama of a medieval castle with a mountain and a waterfall that is quite large. Check it out! The video id is:

PPFUh1vsM0c

[paintballisawsome]

yeah i have flames of war but i dont play i make diaramas

[epicfantasy]

Cool, I am the same way, make the dioramas but don't really play the games.

[CaptCamping]

I made mine for miniature games

[epicfantasy]

Nice, a lot of people really get into making the dioramas for gaming.

[CapMuffin]

Great , Thanks

GBU

[bran094]

on question what glue should i buy, i bought spray adhesive but it doesnt make the foilage stay on, how do you make it stay on

[Traindude37]

You apply HOBBY TAC to the armature of the tree. Once it dries, then u spray it with the adhesive.

[whitehousefilms]

well i used the heavy clumps of folege that are used for bushes and stuck them on the trees but it was hard to make them stay on

[epicfantasy]

Making tree foliage can be very tricky. It takes some practice. The most important thing is to wait for the glue to get real tacky. With Hob-e-tac it usually takes about 15 minutes of waiting before the glue is just right.

[paintballisawsome]

em i use some real good stuff it lookes real good and u dont need glue

[whitehousefilms]

looks like i used the wrong stuff to make the trees.

i must buy the kit set when i'm next at the model shop

[epicfantasy]

Its all about experimenting. Sometimes getting the wrong stuff comes up with some great ideas!

[epicfantasy]

It Can be tricky to make your own foliage that looks really good. I will be doing a tutorial on it. But you can scrounge around for ideas. One of the best things I do is use a very rough file to grind at things and see what I get. Sponges work well, different types of styrofoam will come out good. And a standard technique is to use sawdust that has been dyed or colored. It looks pretty good.

[bran094]

I saw this one really good one for those professional trees they look just like it

there was firm foam and you soak different shades of green in the foam next day you take it,rip it to peices and put it in a coffie grinder or blender I tryied it just today looks great.and like instead of that sea foam you can just use twigs the go in three or four different directions and put an adhesive or something like that on the on the twig and like you said just stick it in the bag looks great

thanks.

[bran094]

well I mean they look way better than store bought ones (at least I think) you can try it and see what you think

thanks for the help.

[epicfantasy]

Sounds really great. Do you have any more info on this process? Links or a book I can check out. I will give it a try and post a vid about it!

[bran094]

well type in how to make model trees

on google click the first or third one thats shows up

i mean its worth looking for the right foam

and the money too...

[epicfantasy]

Excellent, thanks! I am going to do some experimenting and see what I can come up with. It would be great to find some really good looking home brewed tree making techniques.

[bran094]

you wont be upset it sound like its cheap but it looks amazing

[bran094]

thank you so much this is what I needed for my dioramas I didnt have any money to spend on all those store buys so thank you

but if you dont mind do you know how to make that foliage stuff you stick the wires and scenics into

[disturbedrocker1]

will i comment on a lot of ur videos cuse i love them plz keep the diorama videos and all others coming plz have a good summer... ps ur website is also good

[epicfantasy]

Thanks! I will do my best to keep the videos and tutorials coming :)

[epicfantasy]

Hi Cap! Have fun with your diorama making! Thanks, summer is going well for me but it's been hot!

[captainsapp]

dude!!!!!!!!!!!

this is just what i need to know to make this summer thanks a big big bunch lol

i just wasnt sure about the wire ones on how to make them but now i know:)

wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­ooooooooooo

wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­ooooooooooo

and yh have a great summer