A larger bush

I have practised some more on making trees and bushes, with varying result. But I thought I should share the process leading to my latest creation - a somewhat larger bush.

I started out with some sisal fibres which I cut in approximately 5-7 cm (2-3 inch) lengths. The fibres where then assembled into a mat like structure using a piece of folded wire. Like this:

To make the fibers stand up straight I folded them along the wire, and clamped them upside down (wire up) in my Work Mate. Only the bottom, folded end, is sticking up.

To make the folding last I soaked the fibres with glue. I used ordinary PVA glue.

Once the glue had set I could remove the bush-to-be from the Work Mate, and now it looked like this, after being turned bottom down.

I then spread the fibres to make the bush wider and give it a more "bushy" form. I also did some trimming to get rid of the longest fibres, I also sprayed the underside a grey color, to make the fibres there look more like stems.

Next step was to add some static grass fibres. They provides more slender branches, and also make a more denser base for the foliage to come. I used 6 mm (1/4 inch) fibres, secured with hair spray.

Finally I added some foliage, namely Noch light green leaves.

Last some picture with this bush planted on the layout, behind the fence. Outside the fence are some smaller bushes I did using the same technique.

A tree and a bush, and with leaves

Today I made an attempt to make a tree and a bush using Noch Leaves. Here is the result.

I think it came out quite good. But I did not arrive at this result at the first attempt. Here is the story, albeit in a somewhat condensed form.

I started out with the small wire tree I did some time back. It just had a few brown leaves, like this.

My first try to add leaves included wads of fiber as a foundation for the leaves to come. The fibers were also spray painted with gray, brown and black colors. At this point, everything looked promising.

On came the leaf material, and although the leaves themselves were OK, the overall impression was not that convincing. It looked as if someone had draped the trunk and the branches in a green coat. It was simply to dense, and did not have that airy look of a real tree.

In my head I had the pictures of the superb trees made by Jos Geurts, and as shown here as well as on other places on the net. So how does he do it?

Turns out he does not use wads of fiber, as I falsely remembered, but loose fibers. First sisal fibers and then static grass fibers. So I ripped the over-coat off the tree, and sat out to try doing it in the same way as Jos.

First I sprayed the bare tree with hair spray and sprinkled on some fibers, which barely shows in the first picture. This is followed by some 2 mm static grass fibers, and last Noch Mid Green leaves (07144).

Much better! Far from Jos' excellent trees, but I'm happy with the result. Looks more airy and lighter than the first tree.

While I was at it, I also made a bush from some wire strands. Here it is, first with the two applications of fibers, and then after adding Noch Olive Green leaves (07140).

And once again, planted on the layout.