Palm Tree Leaves?

[135warrior]

Hi guys, Im still working on my desert scene, and I have decided to add a palm tree to the dio. I just wondered if anyone had any good tips for producing the leaves for them? I have got a couple of methods already, but they are slow and I wanted to know if there is a speedier way to do it? Any input is appreciated cheers

 

[yak face]

hi there, i dont know if this would work but how about feathers? ive seen them for sale in craft shops usually assorted colours in a bag . maybe you could get some of the green ones (or maybe paint them with the airbrush) ,im sure they would cut to shape easily with scissors and the filaments of the feather would be about right for scale palm fronds. hope this is of some use ,good luck let us know how the dio progresses ,cheers tony

 

[135warrior]

ahhh, I think you might be on to something there tony, right, I think thats a job for me for tomorrow.. I'll let you know how it goes!

 

[135warrior]

hey all,well for some reason im having trouble sourcing those feathers I wanted to try out, apparently they dont have birds in this town, so while I wait for the pigeons to come and eat the loaf of bread I chucked in the garden (im not joking either) I thought I would try out a couple of techniques!

Heres what im doing...

Firstly im using tin foil, wide sticky tape and wire to flesh out the leaves. I started by placing a length of wire down the center of the tape, and then placed this sticky side down onto the foil.

I turned the fond over and covered the other side in tape to completely cover the foil. Then cut the resulting sandwitch to the required shape.

After several coats of green paint and a couple of coats of satin varnish, I started to cut strips between .5 and 1.5 mm wide from the stem of the fond to the outer edge..

What happened next I was not expecting, but when I lifted the fond off the surface, it had stuck to slightly because of the cuts which were made into the surface. I loosened it free, and the fond immediatly took the (almost) prefect form of a true palm fond with the edges curling under.

Now I just had to give the fond its overall form by shaping the stem wire, and touch up the paint job, finally giving it one lats coat of varnish.

If I cant find any feathers in then next couple of days or so, im gonna refine this method (maybe without the 14 coats of paint I used), and maybe post some pics of the process I used!

If anyone has any ideas, materials or other tips to add to this process, please feel free to add them and I will give them a go!

Cheers, Billy

 

[yak face]

hi again ,billy, you can get packs of coloured feathers at hobbycraft for about 2.50. You shouldnt be too far away from a store.good luck ,we'll all keep on thinking as well in case another idea occurs to us! cheers tony

 

[spanner570]

Bill, I've just had an idea. It may sound daft but I took a stroll in the garden for inspiration (along with a beer,of course) and I spotted these.

Have you any ferns in your garden or Leylandii?

Take a look at the fresh growth....Bl***y near as dammit to palm leaves I recon.

I can hear yakface laughing from here!!

Ron

 

[yak face]

Bill, I've just had an idea. It may sound daft but I took a stroll in the garden for inspiration (along with a beer,of course) and I spotted these.Have you any ferns in your garden or Leylandii?

Take a look at the fresh growth....Bl***y near as dammit to palm leaves I recon.

I can hear yakface laughing from here!!

Ron

hee hee youre right ron,not about the idea though,thats great,but the image of you wandering ,a bit wobbly,around your garden in the dark with a pint in your hand definitely made me chuckle.great idea though ! There might even be some dried plants for flower arranging that could be good too , if you go to hobbycraft,billy,check out that option too.Im off to have a beer now,but im staying indoors:beer: tony

 

[yak face]

hi billy, guess what i found on the floor today? yes a pigeon feather,so i thought id give it a go to try and make a palm leaf out of it.All i did was trim it to shape with scissors,spray it green,and once it had dried teased the filaments apart (if you try and do this before its painted they just zip themselves back up again!) I dont think it turned out half bad,what do you think, could this be anything like what youre needing? all the best tony:plane:

View attachment 19618

 

[Sky Raider]

Hi Tony,

I have been watching this thread in the background and well. Wow, that looks just like the real thing. Totaly amazing mate. Now how would you make the trunk i wonder. I will keep an eye open for any one legged pigions. LOL

Andy

 

[yak face]

Hi Tony,I have been watching this thread in the background and well. Wow, that looks just like the real thing. Totaly amazing mate. Now how would you make the trunk i wonder. I will keep an eye open for any one legged pigions. LOL

Andy

hi andy, i dont think billy mentioned the trunk,maybe hes already sorted it? If not we'll all have to start thinking,i just know this is going to bug me till i can think of something,maybe LOTS of pigeon legs is the way to go LOL cheers tony

 

[spanner570]

hi andy, i dont think billy mentioned the trunk,maybe hes already sorted it? If not we'll all have to start thinking,i just know this is going to bug me till i can think of something,maybe LOTS of pigeon legs is the way to go LOL cheers tony

Just been having a minute reading this thread with a pint and some savouries and took a long look at what I was eating.... :fireworksURIKA!!!!!!!!!

TWIGLETTS THE PERFECT PALM TREE TRUNK...........Oo's a clever boy then.ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Ron

 

[Caledonia]

Don't know if this web site helps Creating Realistic Palm Trees

 

[135warrior]

ok guys, aint been online in a few days but just read all the ideas, The feather thing, I also have just tried, it does work, but the feather I used was way too small so I will have to find some bigger ones! That website link seems pretty cool, ill check that out soon, as for the trunk, I already have that down, its pretty simple actually...

1: get an old twig from the garden, and build up the width with tissue and watered down pva glue.

2: once you have the basic thickness, you need to wrap thin string around the tree in a spiral first from the bottom to the top and then back down.

3: give it another layer of pva and tissue, and allow to dry out.

4: give the whole thing a coat of dark brown, then desert yellow, then a gray brown colour.

5: Add some bits of chopped up rope to the top and then stick your coconuts at the base of the rope bits

5: to make the coconuts, just use some corriander seeds and paint them green

hope that makes sence

Cheers for all your input guys, im gonna go do some garden hopping now, I see the garden a few doors down has some of that fern that was mentioned ;P I'll let you know what comes up best but at the mo, the feathers have it

 

[135warrior]

ok guys I have now started a fresh with the tree, I have my reference images for the kind of palm I want to create, and I've started to build the new trunk. My next step is to build the bulk at the top of the tree where the fronds appear from, Im thinking about using modeling clay for this bit which the feathers will just slot into, Im gonna post some pics for this so you can see where im going with it

View attachment 19619

 

[Sky Raider]

Just been having a minute reading this thread with a pint and some savouries and took a long look at what I was eating.... :fireworksURIKA!!!!!!!!!TWIGLETTS THE PERFECT PALM TREE TRUNK...........Oo's a clever boy then.ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Ron

Ron, you never cease to amaze me mate, who would have thought it hey. Beer and twigglets together, you must have no tastebuds at all mate. Yak!!! lol

Andy

 

[135warrior]

hey guys, Im just wondering if any of you guys know a good way to use decals on a model without ending up with that 'shiney' coat to them? I know its not realted directly to this post but I am adding a tank to my diorama in the coming weeks and you guys seem to have some pretty cool ideas. Do you think a matt spray varnish (if it even exists) would work?

 

[135warrior]

Also guys, im building the M1A1 abrams main battle tank, but there seems to be som conflict as to what colour the primary paint job should be.. im sort of thinking about either desert yellow or tamiya buff but im not sure if either are the best for the job, any ideas?

 

[yak face]

hi billy, the usual way to get rid of the visible silvering of the carrier film on the decal (on planes anyway) is to make sure the decal goes on to a shiny surface , if it is put onto matt paintwork the rough texture traps air underneath causing the silver effect.The best way to do this would be to gloss varnish the area where the decals are to go, then when dry apply the decals .After the decals have set(about 24hr) give the whole model a coat of matt varnish to get rid of the gloss patches.This should blend everything in and the decals should look painted on.With aircraft we do the whole thing in gloss before doing the decals but im sure youd be ok just doing the small areas where the decals are to go . as for the colour question ,im sure one of our tank korps will help you out,i havent got a clue! hope this helps ,cheers tony

 

[135warrior]

Wow, that sounds like a very usefull tip, i didnt realise it happened because its on a matt surface! Very usefull tony, ill have to try that cheers, Billy.

 

[noble]

How to make a palm tree take 20cm of heavy electric cable and wrap string around it leaveing 6mm gaps once you get to the bottom wrap the string back up leaving criss cross shapes and tie the string in a knot at the top this will be covered later.

use wallpaper paste and cover the trunk and wrap 3 layers of toilet roll around it and allow to dry for 24hrs.