Hi guys,

I was wondering if anyone has got a source in Europe for seafoam with reasonable price? Noch nature trees 23100 is just insanely priced I think.

But releated to that Noch 23100 how much stuff one box actually contain? Let's say I'd like to use it for the smaller branches of wire trees and then flock it with Noch leaves. How many trees like this: https://www.noch.com/silver-birch-tree/20120/ I could get from a box?

The price of seafoam looks so high that I wonder if buying master trees would actually be cheaper.

So that is the reason I'm asking if anyone has a source for alternative product?

Best regards,
Eino

Thank you for the tip!

Icelandic moss is fungi so I'm not sure if that is the way to go though... Anyways I'd need it to be more branch like. Have a look at these photos I took as screenshots from this video:






BR,
Eino

Well by the looks of the box and product description/images, for example Scenic Express Supetrees has roughly 10 times stuff than Noch and the price is about the same.

I understand your point, but when it comes to this particular product, Noch is heavily over prices in my opinion. The problem is that Scenic Express is hard to get.

BR,
Eino

Great tip! Not sure how easy it is to get that stuff here in Finland, but surely could use it! Any extra precautions in handling?

-Eino

Some context might benefit the answers you will get :)
Looks like your planning HO scale by that video, but I know you also have a Z-scale layout that your working on. What scale tree are you asking help on ?
Approximately how many trees do you need to make ?

I've been experimenting with making my own wire trees.
I used 'heavy duty' speaker cable wires, about 80x strands and twisted to form trunk then branches then twigs, this is in Z-scale (1:220).


Custom Z-scale ruler in metres for gauging actual real world size

Whatever scale, use 3-4x length of wire than the actual desired tree height due to winding and use thicker cable for larger scales than Z.
eg: 40mm tree would need ~150mm (120mm length at a minimum)

I really enjoy the custom/scratch building aspects of this hobby, but this may not suit you.
It is also time consuming, but you get unique looking trees just like in nature.


Pruned, but needs more pruning!

Once the tree is your desired shape, add several coats of PVA glue to fill in the wire crevices to make a more uniform outer surface.
Paint/spray and flock as you normally would :)


Test fit on diorama. I think I pruned too much

Yes, trees are "airy", that is; you should be able to see through them and see the branches also.

20x trees is not that much to scratch build. Make sure to have a variety of styles and differing heights,

AND enjoy making them

Some architectural model customers needed reasonable replicas of on site trees. Not only the foliage had to be a representation, the trunk & above ground root structure they wanted a fairly good model.

I took photos of tree/s from various angles plus measurements.




(If in Sydney, Australia... North Sydney, corner Miller & McLaren St. 1:100 model with translucent glazing back sprayed with green tint custom clear paint & stainless steel custom etched balustrading black sorted printed, cars 1:87, model built in 1990s)... Don't look too closely at sub scenes!


Growies (architectural model makers terminology), good growies will his a multiple list of sins on a sh_t model. Sh_t growies will kill a very nice architectural model. Have seen both ends of the spectrum enough times.

P.S. A heat gun is brilliant for mass soldering huge copper wire diameter. I use a head gun for soldering 175 amp Anderson plugs. Even 350 amp plugs will be a piece of cake. Use lead tin solder, not tin only (another issue is tin whiskers on tin only solder).

Look at the trunk thoroughly, spread out the last third & fourth level branches to support the leaves.

Spray branches with 3M super 77, roll branches in container of foam swarf, spray a bit more, roll treat in foam a second time.

The off tree do a third time, 2/3 of trees, do about 1.5 times.

Spray with touch-up paint to vry colour. Better to use a colour a bit extreme, but put a "dusting" of spraying.

Standing up your production line of trees for spray painting or touching up, stabbing them in polystyrene foam waste makes manufacturing process a lot easier (even pre stabbing holes in foam waste).

Offcuts 9f old cardboard packaging, you can't have too much for spray painting shields. You will understand with a bit of spry painting experience.

P.S. Not sure if I have have more photos of the tree. Shot on 5x4 large format Fuji Velvia 50asa. Had Photoshop, but PS4 didn't haven't perspective correctly (easily corrected in large format), or history.

The computer we were using at the time had 4 x 64mb of additional memory, $660 each 64mb card, was mind-blowing according to the graphic designers next door.

We also had a UPS which allowed us to shut down the computer safely with the numerous blackouts. 20 minutes battery power. Regularly all the office works were standing in the street.

P.P.S. There is another sub storey to this model which I will update later.