Layout lessons. How to make trees, bushes, flower beds
For making wood you will need the following tools and components:
a) a piece of copper stranded power wire, 200-250 mm long, the more there were, the better. The optimal beam diameter is 5-8 mm.
b) a wallpaper knife or scalpel, or a blade for stripping the wire,
c) tweezers, to give the desired shape to the formed branches,
d) scissors, for cutting branches to the desired length,
e) paints, nitro varnish, hairspray, brush, small sawdust, foam powder-crumb, photo or drawing of your type of wood.
2.Getting Started
We strip from isolation stranded power wire. Too long should not be used, as it will be difficult to work with it, and the excess will simply go to waste!
Having stepped back from one of the edges 20-30 mm, we wind the coil to the coil there will be a root system a wire of 3-5 mm, here we have, and this lock is needed so that the future barrel does not unwind.
Holding the end of the wire at the latch level with the fingers of one hand, with the other hand twist the wire along the axis . This is done to stiffen the barrel.
Depending on the type of tree chosen, we begin to form branches, bending 6-8 wires to the side and immediately twisting them, as was done with the trunk. At the level of the first, lower branches, it is advisable to install another wire bandage, as we did at the root. No more bandages should be installed.
Having folded back the required number of future branches, we make 1-2 turns of the trunk along the axis. Thereby we fix the trunk and prepare a place for new branches.
As the wires are pulled to the sides, the thickness of the trunk decreases, there is nothing terrible about this, and if more branches are needed, then we simply insert pieces of wires either into the middle of the trunk, or into a bundle for a future branch, twisting at the base of the trunk by 5-10 mm.
Thus, we have got a shaggy "hedgehog" made of wire.
3.Forming branches and root system
Now we start form the branches themselves, twisting the wires along its axis and taking them to the sides.
Periodically looking at the photo or a picture of a tree, or just growing under the window, we decide on their size.
It should be remembered that fruit trees are usually undersized, while forested and lonely trees are usually tall.
Method changes in the angle of deflection of branches, with tweezers, you can form the type of future tree . In a willow tree, for example, the branches are long and hanging in lashes; in an oak tree, branches extend from the trunk almost perpendicular to the trunk, like in a spruce. In birch, depending on its type, it can hang like a willow.
Having finished with the formation of branches, go to the root system. To do this, bend 2-4 wires at the wire band in all directions and twist. If you need a central fastener, then just twist 4-6 wires and do not cut them. With this pin, the tree is further attached to the model. And we cut the root system itself with scissors in a circle.
Now move on to the length of the branches. Near the ground, and this is the first bottom row, they either almost touch the ground, or do not reach it. I repeat, it all depends on the type of tree you choose! But we start trimming the wire-branches from the bottom, smoothly moving to the crown. Now the wire ties can be carefully removed from the trunk. They have already completed their work and are no longer needed!
The manufacture of such a frame takes about 15-20 minutes.
4.Coloring
Next, go to priming the wood frame. This is necessary to conceal the metallic sheen of the wires and to give the final color evenly. It is better to apply the primer in an aerosol-type can, since it is sometimes not convenient to paint with a brush, and the layer is smoother.
Let the primed wood dry. Now we apply final bark color. There is one subtlety here! If the bark of a smooth-bore tree is like willow, birch, poplar, mountain ash, alder, then the final layer can be safely applied. And if the trunk is rough, like that of pine, oak, linden, then we mix small sawdust with PVA glue, or nitro varnish, and apply with a brush to the visible part of the trunk and thick branches. Sawdust can be pre-painted in the desired tone. Sawdust can be replaced with gypsum, chalk, but diluted dry in nitro varnish or thick PVA.
Let the barrel dry again. And only after we have finished with the barrel, and are satisfied with its appearance, we proceed to landscaping a tree.
The best option is to buy a ready-made foam powder. But in the absence of such, you can do it yourself! To do this, we take the foam rubber and pass it several times through an ordinary meat grinder of the "barrel organ" type; You can simply use a brush attachment on a drill, at low speeds, slightly touching the foam rubber, destroy the surface. Thus, we get a deciduous material.
Moving on to coloring of deciduous material. It is better to use aniline dyes or gouache, or those that are diluted with water. Dry the leaves on the newspaper, slightly squeezing the lump. Evenly, spreading on an even surface.
Back to tree trunk. Apply a thin layer of nitro lacquer, or tsapon lacquer, to the branches with a brush, and, without letting dry, dip or sprinkle the branches with foam rubber powder. A lot of leaves won't stick right the first time! Let it dry, and with a brush apply nitro varnish on bare places, and sprinkle it again.
We examine the tree from all sides, and where in appearance there is not enough foliage, we again compensate for the shortcomings with nitro varnish and powder. No need to strive very much to wet the foliage with varnish, it will be ugly! Let it stick, so stick! You can add a portion of the powder to the places we need and fix everything with hairspray. We spray varnish from a distance of 250-350 mm, constantly slowly twisting the tree. Before our eyes, the foliage seems to bloom on the tree, takes the desired shape and is fixed on the tree. It is better to use the cheapest hairspray, but with a strong hold.
Let the finished tree dry. You can, of course, leave it that way, but over time, under the influence of light and humidity, the hairspray loses its properties, and so that the tree does not lose foliage, it is necessary cover it from an aerosol can with nitro varnish, as we did when working with hairspray.
5.Installation on breadboard
Finished tree install on the layout. If it is with a central fastening pin, we drill a hole of a suitable diameter and fix it with glue, if it is on the root system, simply grease the lower part of the root with glue and install it on the model.
When making trees, it is better immediately do the right amount, and the hand is stuffed, and operations are much easier and faster.
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How to make deciduous trees yourself.
Now on sale there is a very large selection of trees, but if you want to make your layout more original and you have time, then you can make the trees yourself.
We will tell you how to make deciduous trees yourself, spending a minimum of finance and a little time at home. These are the beautiful trees we get in the end.
For work, we need: fine wire, a sponge for washing dishes or regular foam rubber, any lid or cardboard on which we will wind our wire, pliers, which are usually used in beading, and green paint of different shades.
We wind the wire on the cover. For one tree, about 8-10 cm tall, one coil is enough. But if you want a thicker trunk and a branch tree, then you can take more wire. Having thus wound the wire, we cut it from one end. We straighten.
At the bottom, we leave a centimeter and a half - two on the roots. They will further serve as a stand for our tree. Next, we begin to form a tree trunk by twisting it with pliers in one direction, as in the photo.
At the bottom, the roots were straightened, twisting several wires into one. Next, we begin to form our crown, starting from the lower branches. To do this, we separate a bunch of 6-7 wires and twist it in a spiral to about half. Next, we divide our wires in half and twist them further separately.
Then on each branch we leave one alone, and then twist two. This is how it is shown in the photo. By the same principle, we make another 3-4 lower branches. So that the branches of the second tier do not touch the branches of the lower tier, we scroll the trunk up a little more.
We make the second tier of branches, again scroll through the trunk and form the top in the same way as the rest of the branches did. Here's what we should get.
And this is the skeleton of the future birch tree.
Next, thickly coat our tree with PVA glue. In this case, the glue plays the role of a primer, thanks to which our future painting of the trunk and branches will be easy and pleasant. Here our tree is completely covered with PVA glue (as if covered with snow). We leave it to dry completely, for about 2-3 hours. As soon as the tree is completely dry, we begin to paint it. We paint the trunk and twigs with either brown acrylic, or, if it is a birch, light gray with black dots.
Next, we paint our future crown. For this purpose, we took a dishwashing sponge and plain white foam. Pour some water into a bowl and add some acrylic paint in different shades. Here you can experiment with shades. If you need summer trees, then use lighter shades of green, you need autumn leaves in darker colors and apply shades of red, yellow, etc. with a brush. We mash the sponge in the water so that it becomes evenly colored. Wet the sponge again and without squeezing, apply paint to the sponge with a brush: first in one shade, then in another, then in a third. It is enough to put a little paint on one side.
And then we just wrinkle it in our hand, putting on a glove or plastic. The sponge, as you can see, is colored unevenly, which is what we need. Since the sponge was yellow, it gave us an extra shade of yellow. Here's what we got. We squeeze out our sponge from excess water and put it on a battery or other surface until it dries completely. Another shade was obtained by staining the usual white foam rubber. As you can see, this one is more green. The first, lighter sponge went to the foliage for the birch.
Next, we dip our tree in PVA glue or coat the branches with a brush and lower them into the crumb-foliage. And so every branch. Then let it dry, shake off what is not stuck. Then we again apply the glue to the branches, but not with a brush, but simply drip it drop by drop from the bubble and add a little crumbly and again until it dries completely. And so several times.
Here is a birch tree after the first dipping.
A stand was made for each tree, this is for demonstration. Cut mugs out of the packaging cardboard. The trees were glued to the base with a glue gun. We also glue the trees to the layout. Grass was made from the same kroshev. You can add flowers from any material available to you.
A nest was made from sisal on one of the trees.
We have such beautiful trees!
Not long ago I got carried away with making models for the railroad on a scale of 1:87 BUT
The first experience can be seen in the photographs. It looks more like a palm tree ...
Some options were more attractive
It looks like a deciduous tree. There are even leaflets there.
How it's done.
For manufacturing, wire of different diameters is taken. For the trunk 1.5 - 2.5 squares, for winding branches thin.
A thin wire is wound around the trunk, from which branches periodically depart, So slowly there is no thin wire left to the top and the tree naturally becomes thinner. This technology is best suited for deciduous trees with a gradually thinning trunk.
The pine trunk is done a little differently. The wire is being wound, but the branches go back and forth, and the winding continues. This creates a uniform pine trunk. You can gradually reduce the amount of wire for thinning. You can also wind up the branches additionally, regardless of the winding of the trunk. Here is an example of such a winding pine growing in an open space.
Next, I sprinkle the barrel with fine sand with glue and paint with acrylic paint.
The needles are formed with the "grass" for the "seeder" called gross. Then it is sprinkled with fine peat. This came to me later. Here is an example of such a pine, by the way, completed from the above blank:
I like this option more.
Here with the trailer.
Deciduous trees are additionally sprinkled with small leaves, which are also sold in model stores. For deciduous trees, there are a variety of sprinkling options, many very realistic, but they are not always available for sale ...
We continue the theme of paper crafts using the 3D technique and today we want to invite you to make a small 3D composition. The most important thing is that for this kind of crafts practically no material costs are required. Take plain white paper, scissors and PVA glue and go for new paper achievements!
Let's start with a tree. It is made from three pieces, cut from paper according to the same template. Only one detail differs from the other two in that a pendant village swing has been added to this detail.
Print templates and cut out. Fold all three pieces in the center. It is along the center line that we will glue them to each other. You need to glue it clearly along the center lines, as shown in the photo. It is thanks to this technique that the tree will become voluminous and we will achieve the effect we need.
The composition is complemented by a snow-white country fence and a small country toilet with a heart or a month carved in the door - romance! (Only a haystack is not enough for Burenka, who is chewing grass).
Bend and fold the paper toilet along the fold lines, as shown in the photo. Secure with PVA glue.
I really want to ride this hanging swing and carry my thoughts into deep childhood, when the world seemed magical and full of secrets and mysteries!
In case of successful completion of our mini-project, you can make 3D products from more expensive paper, for example, from scrapbooking paper.
Introductory part.
Making trees and bushes for dioramas, vignettes and just work stands. This is just one line of text, but how many questions are hidden inside. Especially if the professional experience of the old layout designer is completely absent. But good and often realistic work in terms of making techniques and figures requires realistic vegetation. Moreover, if you need to do something on a small scale.
This also happened in my case when making one small but rather laborious work using a reduced copy of a natural natural landscape as a basis.
The idea to do something relatively large-scale in the plot, but small in real size and always with a textured view of nature, has been thought over for a long time. Probably, the ineradicable craving of a city dweller for living corners of nature, which, unfortunately, we mainly see only on a TV screen or a computer monitor, has affected.
As a result, I settled on a scale of 1:72. Impressed by the films "Stormy Gates" and "Spetsnaz" I decided to do a work on the topic of special operations of the federal forces in the North Caucasus in the so-called "green". And then the questions arose, but how to actually make the vegetation realistic, the very "green", on the 72nd scale? And the two main ones are: what kind of trees need to be made and most importantly HOW?
The first question was solved quite simply. A search on the Internet gave a lot of useful information on the flora of the Caucasus in general and the North Caucasus in particular (including the Chechen Republic). Let me briefly note that the information itself was very interesting in terms of general development. What a species diversity of flora and landscapes formed by it is there in one relatively small region! But back to the topic of the article.
So, the idea has been chosen, information about the flora has been found here…. The main question arises in full growth. How do you actually make trees on a 72nd scale? I immediately rejected the idea of \u200b\u200busing ready-made vegetation from recognized modeling firms, as I wanted to do everything myself. I turned again to model literature and the Internet. Having studied the material found (including thanks for the help to Andrey Yanchik for the provided scans of Valery Serdyuk's articles) and the available materials at hand, he began his own experiments with making deciduous trees. The ideas of renowned modellers using wire are certainly good, but I didn't like my results with this material. Therefore, I decided to use the existing workpieces of natural origin with the addition of real building materials, some model special equipment and other materials at hand. In principle, all materials used are available to every modeler, wherever he lives. Even branded special equipment can be replaced with publicly available counterparts.
Making birch
To make a model of a birch on a 72nd scale, you will need the following:
1) tools: hand-held collet mini-drill (photo 1), stationery or model knife (photo 2), a plasticine spatula and a simple flat brush with stiff bristles.
2) materials: tile grout (photo 3), masking tape (photo 4), quick-drying glue (photo 5), dry moss (photo 6), a piece of a natural birch branch of a suitable shape (photo 7), powder imitating foliage ( photo 8), model acrylic paints - black and white (photo 9), paint of green-marsh shade (photo 10), matte artistic varnish of strong fixation to protect the surface of paintings (photo 11).
Instead of proprietary model powder, you can use available similar materials. For example, finely chopped dyed paper or dyed ground tea leaves. But it was Noch's proprietary foliage powder that I liked more. Instead of matte art varnish, you can use PVA type glue, but which does not form a shiny film.
So, the tools and materials are selected. Let's start making a model of a tree. The process itself can be roughly divided into three parts.
Part 1. Let's start by making the barrel.
At the selected piece of a twig of a real birch, we sharpen the upper tips (photo 12). Then, with a pre-prepared narrow tape made of paper masking tape, carefully wrap the barrel blank in several layers, starting from the bottom (photo 13). Masking tape will serve as the basis for grouting. Do not forget to make the base of the tree model thicker, with a butt. But be sure to leave a thin petiole about 1 cm long, which will be recessed into the base of your work in order to firmly fix the tree model itself on it (photo 14).
Now we are preparing a grout to simulate the bark of the future birch. In addition, the grout allows you to hide the tape marks from the masking tape. It is desirable that the grout is finely ground and free of lumps. We dilute the grout in a small container (in my case, a film can) with white paint (photo 15). Stir until creamy and coat the birch trunk with a spatula or brush with stiff bristles (photo 16). There should be no lumps in the mixed grout. Otherwise, their presence will affect lumpy defects on the trunk of a birch model. Let the workpiece dry in a state suspended by the butt. After the grout has dried, we get a white birch trunk (photo 17).
The next step is to apply black stripes and dots on the workpiece with a thin brush with black paint, as on a real birch. The future base of the trunk at the butt should be carefully painted in places with diluted marsh-green paint. Because in reality, birch trees are overgrown with small moss at the roots. The barrel blank is ready (photo 18).
Part 2... Now let's move on to making branches for our trunk.
For the manufacture of branches, we use small bushy branches of moss as a base (photo 19). We paint the moss branches with black paint (photo 20). After the paint has dried, coat the fluffy part of the moss sprig with the above varnish or PVA glue and sprinkle it with pinches of prepared imitation foliage (photo 21 and photo 22). The output is a harvesting of a birch branch (photo 23). We repeat the described procedure as many times as there are branches (photo 24).
Part 3... We collect the blank of the trunk and blanks of the branches into a single structure.
We carry out the assembly from the bottom up. First, we drill shallow holes in the trunk blank for future branches. But not strictly perpendicular to the trunk, but slightly from top to bottom in relation to the butt. An exception is the holes for securing the uppermost branches at the end of the trunk. They are drilled strictly into the tip of the barrel blank. After that, we begin to glue the blanks of the branches onto a drop of fast-drying glue into the prepared holes (photo 25). We glue the branch, let the glue dry (1-2 minutes), holding the branch in the desired direction. And so we repeat until the last branches form the final upper branches of the birch layout.
As a result, we get a model of a birch on a 72nd scale (photo 26). A submachine gunner figurine in 72nd scale has been added to demonstrate the ratio of the size of a birch model to a figurine in 72nd scale
In principle, the considered method is suitable with a slight change in technology both for making models of other deciduous trees on a 72nd scale, and for making models of birch or other deciduous trees on a 35th scale.
Making a deciduous tree (method 2).
To make a model of a deciduous tree (undefined species) in scale 72, you will need the following:
1) tools: hand model file (photo 27), but you can also use a stationery or model knife (photo 2).
2) materials: a means for fixing imitation sheets, in my case a strong fixation hairspray was used (photo 28), but it is better to use the proprietary model composition of Noch for fixing vegetation on models or similar model special means, or, as an option, stationery glue such as PVA in aerosol can (since hairspray is sensitive to moisture); peeled PVA stationery glue (photo 29); a dried, shaped lump of moss (Photo 30); a piece of a branch of a natural tree of a suitable shape and of a suitable type (photo 31); a powder imitating foliage, similar in size to that shown in photo 8; brown gouache paint.
So, we directly start making wood.
We saw off or cut off from a pre-prepared suitable branch of a real tree the part of a suitable size and shape necessary for the texture. It is better to select a part with small tubercles or remnants of branch branches, or make a trunk blank from a branch with a fork at the upper end of the future trunk.
Then we start making the crown of our tree model. Soak the formed lump of moss of the required size in a container with diluted brown gouache. Let the gouache soak into the moss. We take out a lump, squeeze it out of moisture, forming it tighter, but without busting. Let it dry. After that, first, pour PVA glue into the center of the lump and carefully insert the blank of the trunk into the lump of moss (photo 32) or wrap the moss around the trunk (if the trunk is in the form of a flyer). We carefully wrap everything in a paper tube, fix the tube from deployment, and let the PVA dry. As a result, we get the following (photo 33).
There is a rough draft of a tree layout with a crown. Now you need to fix the imitation of leaves in the resulting crown. To do this, from an aerosol can, fill only the crown with the above-mentioned varnish, or special model glue, or aerosol stationery glue. We fill it so that the moss is completely saturated and even more - the fixing composition should protrude on the moss in excess. And we begin to sprinkle everything with imitation of foliage, with the expectation that the powder gets into all the cracks in the future crown. It is better to sprinkle over a cardboard box or other wide flat container with small sides. The powder needs not to be saved, all the same, all the excess will then fly off by itself and serve for reuse.
We hang the tree sprinkled with imitation of leaves on a clothespin with the crown down and let it dry. After drying, we get our model of a deciduous tree with a spherical crown (photo 34). The trees in Photo 35, Photo 36 and Photo 37 were made in a similar way. A 72nd scale submachine gunner figurine is also added to the photo to visually display the size of the tree layout.
For a more reliable image of the tree, already on the basis of the model, we first make a hole 0.5-1 cm deep to fix the tree. We glue the tree model. Then, from very thin natural twigs, we make several segments about 0.5 cm long. We cut the ends at an acute angle. We glue one end face-to-face without a gap on quick-drying glue to the tree model fixed to the base at the junction of the trunk and base. Cover the second end of the segment with a bark scale carefully removed from a similar thin twig. Then, if desired, add an imitation of grassy vegetation around the trunk and around the protruding roots. The output is a very reliable model of a tree with roots protruding from the ground (photo 38 and photo 39).
A complete set of all four trees at the finished work can be seen in my work "", also exhibited at DiShow2009.
We make a deciduous tree with an umbrella crown.
Nature is magnificent in its diversity. The methods described above are suitable for making only a fraction of the species diversity of trees. Therefore, for the manufacture of a deciduous tree with an umbrella crown, the following method is proposed, which will require the following:
1) tools: simple flat brush with stiff bristles and flat brush with soft bristles.
2) materials: a means for fixing imitation sheets, in my case, artistic varnish was used (photo 11), but you can also use peeled stationery PVA glue (photo 29), acrylic paint in a green shade that matches the color with imitation foliage; dry inflorescence of an umbrella-shaped decorative garden flower (photo 40); a foliage powder similar to that shown in photo 8, but in a suitable shade of color.
And again we start making wood.
First, paint with a soft bristle brush in the desired shade of green inflorescence boxes in the upper part of the dried flower (photo 41). In my case, Tamiya acrylic green paint was used. Let it dry.
Now, with a brush with stiff bristles, apply an adhesive fixing composition to the painted inflorescence boxes so that there is an excess of it (photo 42) and sprinkle the smeared places with imitation foliage. Let it dry again, securing everything in the same clothespin. The output is a good imitation of a tree with an umbrella crown (photo 43 and photo 43). Again, a 72nd scale submachine gunner figurine has been added to show the actual size of the tree layout.
Various methods of making trees and bushes (without much detail).
Sometimes you need to make a lot of trees, but not necessarily as detailed as in the methods described above. Or you will be limited in the choice and availability of the above natural materials. For example, moss. Therefore, I will briefly describe four more methods for making trees and one method for making bushes.
The first way to quickly make a tree layout.
According to the already classic scheme, which has been described more than once in the literature and by fellow modellers, we make a model of a tree with a crown from small pieces of foam rubber, painted in the desired color of foliage. But I personally didn't like the foam foliage very much. Therefore, I used the foam crown only as a basis for attaching the imitation of Noch foliage to PVA glue (photo 29). The result is a tree like this (photo 45).
The second way to quickly make a tree layout.
This method allows you to make a fairly similar layout of a poplar, which will be especially important for dioramas and vignettes with a southern flavor.
To do this, we will prepare and dry in advance a twig of a thuja, cypress or other similar coniferous real tree or shrub. We leave with brown natural color that part of the branch that will be the open part of the trunk of our poplar mockup. The other part of the branch, which should become a crown, is poured from an aerosol can with a fixing compound according to the technology already described above. Sprinkle the flooded areas with imitation foliage. In my case, all the same material from Noch. As a result, we get such a model of a poplar (photo 46).
The third way to quickly make a tree layout.
This method allows you to make a simple model of a tree with a spherical crown. Not the most successful in appearance, but for novice modelers, for large urban dioramas or in the absence of suitable materials, this method can also be applied as an ersatz replacement for a realistic model of a tree.
For the trunk, select a piece of a branch of a natural tree (preferably at least with a flyer in the place of crown formation). In the upper part of the future trunk, we form a fluffy, but not transparent, spherical crown from a lump of medical cotton wool. We pre-fix the cotton wool with quick-drying glue to the upper part of the future trunk. Gently coat a ball of cotton wool with PVA glue with a flat brush with stiff bristles. The cotton ball will eventually shrink. But it will be covered with a thin film of PVA glue. We dry the workpiece on a clothespin with the future crown down. After the PVA has dried, we paint the surface with model paint with good adhesion in the desired shade of color, taking into account the color of the future imitation of foliage. Let the paint dry. We coat the resulting ball-crown with a thin layer of purified stationery PVA, pre-mixed with paint of the same color as the crown was painted. Then we sprinkle the crown of our layout with imitation of foliage. In my case, it was all the same material from Noch. The result is a model of a tree with a spherical crown (photo 47).
The fourth way to quickly make a tree layout.
Also not the most successful in appearance, but again by novice modelers, for large urban dioramas or in the absence of suitable materials as an ersatz replacement for a tree model, this method can also be used to make a model of a tree with a horizontal crown or a tall shrub.
You will need a sprig of a coniferous tree with small needles, some cotton wool, PVA glue and powder to simulate foliage. To begin with, we cut off the sharp tips of the needles on a branch and clear the place of the future open part of the trunk of our model from the needles. We gently wrap a small amount of cotton on a twig at the place of formation of the future crown and fix the cotton on the PVA. Let the PVA dry. After the PVA has dried, paint the crown of cotton wool through an airbrush.
After the paint has dried, literally fill the crown of the model tree from an aerosol can with a fixing compound to fix the imitation of foliage and immediately sprinkle it with imitation of foliage. Let it dry again. The result is such a model of a tree or a tall shrub (photo 48).
Making a bush.
To make a bush, you can use either dried northern lichen lichen (sold in model stores), or dried roots of small plants. In my example, it was reindeer lichen that was used. If necessary, paint the blank of the future bush in the desired shade of brown or woody color. For example, an airbrush. Let the paint dry.
Then we fill the blank bush from an aerosol can with a fixing compound to fix the imitation of foliage and immediately sprinkle it with imitation of foliage. Let it dry again. As a result, this is the layout of the bush (photo 49).
Small bonus
As a small bonus to the main article on making trees and bushes on a 72nd scale, I will additionally describe my technologies for making a waterfall and rocks on a 72nd scale, which were tested and implemented by me all in the same work ""
DIY rocks on a small scale.
At the present time, thanks to the layout workers, railway workers are actively using the technology of casting rocks from gypsum into a finished form. There is no doubt that the technology is convenient, but it has its own specific disadvantages. First, all rocks from the same shape emerge as twin brothers. Secondly, large rocks are heavily weighted due to the significant amount of gypsum used.
In principle, my version of making rocks in the end turned out to be quite simple to manufacture, although it took time and several attempts to work with different materials to develop it.
When I had a question in choosing a material for making a rock base, first of all, the material for making the base part of the rock was thought out. As a result, the choice settled on the foam ceiling panels. They are made of small blown foam and allow making a base of any height, like sandwich panels. However, foam is not at all textured material for the image of the finished rock. Therefore, for rework, you will need all the same universal grout for tiles (finely ground cement can be used) and a building putty like "Rotband".
Thus, for the manufacture of a rock in terms of the necessary materials, only five components are needed:
- 1.Small blown foam that will not crumble into balls;
- 2. a grout for tiles or a building mixture such as cement (fine grinding);
- 3. building putty of "Rotband" type;
- 4.plywood 3-5 mm;
- 5. Lots of gray or dark gray artistic or model paint. :)
First, a cube-shaped blank for making the base of the rock is glued from the foam with PVA glue according to the model of sandwich panels. Let the glue dry. If you wish, you can use a ready-made cube of monolithic foam with similar characteristics (small-bloated and does not crumble with balls). For greater rigidity, glue plywood cut along the contour of the base of the rock to the lower edge of the rock blank.
After that, a rock with a basic rough relief is cut from the resulting blank. In my case, a bed of a stream and a waterfall was additionally cut out in the blank.
So, the basic cut of the rock is ready. But it requires bringing the rock to a realistic texture. Therefore, the workpiece must be coated with a layer of 1-2 mm (but without peeking out the foam) with grout or cement. Dilute grout or cement with a mixture of water and gray or dark gray model or art paint. Let the foam grout dry. We get a foam base in a solid stone shell.
But even now the base does not look very realistic like a rock. Therefore, we put putty in one or several layers. Allow to dry between coats. If necessary, we build up individual areas by reinforcing the base with toothpicks or bamboo sticks for barbecue. In general, such an operation resembles the construction of houses from monolithic concrete.
We dilute the putty before use in the same way as for diluting the grout. On the semi-moist putty of the last layer, we form large folds and cracks with a spatula. After the last layer of putty has dried, we carefully form rocks on the workpiece with a sharp tool (for example, a clerical or model knife), thin cracks, small chips and other characteristic features of the appearance of real rocks. We get an empty rock in the desired scale (photo 50). But a rock without vegetation looks unnatural.
Therefore, we add vegetation (trees and bushes), imitate small grassy vegetation with small pieces of moss, special powders or finely ground colored foam rubber glued onto a thin layer of PVA (photo 51 and photo 52). Selected areas of the rock are tinted with a brush with grated pastel crayons of the desired shade. When refining the base, it is better to use photographs of real rocks with vegetation for a visual reference.
Note: if you make rocks with water (river, stream, waterfall), you first need to make water, and then just add vegetation.
Waterfall.
I turn to the description of my technology for the manufacture of water bodies on the 72nd scale. In my case, this is a stream with a waterfall. The foundation of the rock with the bed of the stream and the waterfall had already been made during the making of the rock, only water had to be made. You can, of course, use ready-made model mixtures, simulating water or transparent epoxy. But the question is how to apply them in an even layer on vertical surfaces. The law of gravity has not yet been canceled.
For me, the experience of repairing an apartment turned out to be very useful, when in practice all the subtleties of working with construction sanitary transparent silicone were studied in practice. Therefore, I turned to using a material that I had known for a long time. First, I prepared a bed of a stream with a waterfall, painting the bed with a brush with bright blue Tamiyev acrylic paint. Then he glued pebbles on the bed of the stream and the ledges of the waterfall with cyacrine to imitate boulders and teeth.
Then he gently squeezed transparent sanitary silicone out of the tube using a construction gun. Especially neat where the jets of the waterfall formed. I made the rollers in strictly vertical rows. In two layers. The second layer is between the rollers of the first layer.
The upper part of the stream and the stream of the waterfall was leveled with an artistic spatula, periodically rubbed with slightly damp soap. In this way, we avoid sticking silicone to the spatula. Again, the silicone is smoothed out with extremely light strokes from top to bottom. The creek below was first leveled and tamped a little with a finger wrapped in a plastic disposable bag, also slightly rubbed with wet soap. Then with a spatula without soap, he formed waves in the backwater and, quite carefully, breakers in general on the waterfall.
The entire surface of the "water" after hardening of the silicone was painted with a brush with an artistic transparent semi-gloss varnish (varnish for covering paintings to protect the paint). The varnish is needed for the adhesion of the white acrylic paint to appear. For without such a primer, acrylic does not fit on silicone. I added a little Star's blue acrylic to the varnish. As a result, I got a gleaming surface of "water" with an additional transparent pale blue tint in addition to the highlighting effect from the bottom painted with bright blue paint. After the varnish had dried to form foam, I applied white artistic acrylic in a gel-like consistency with a brush in the right places with point touches or light stains. A light foam film was imitated by a light glaze with a brush using white acrylic paint "Stars". Then he added vegetation to the banks of the stream: imitation of moss from finely crumbled colored foam rubber glued to PVA, along the banks of the stream with a waterfall and on the teeth. At the exit I got such a waterfall (photo 53, photo 54).
In conclusion, I would like to express my gratitude to my friends-modelers who helped with their comments about the need to refine various elements of the waterfall.
