Sculpting Trees and other bits

[ellis_esquire]

Hi guys - getting a bit stumped on my Diorama - its a gothic scene and im trying to look for trees and bits outside to put a tree with roots coming through some stonework.

What do people use for realistic and tortured looking trees and roots - also for general building work what is recommended for dioramas for those extra custom details? ir rocks, pillars, interconnecting strata,,,,

 

[Digganob]

Blood mixed with tears usually works. But you might want to try miliput. You can get some good results with that stuff.

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

For trees, take some wire-copper,gardening, model, whatever just the thinner the better, and cut several lengths of it. Twist it all together from the bottom to the middle to form the trunk. Use the leftover ends to form individual branches, and the ends of the branches for smaller branches or twigs. Then, cover the whole thing with some milliput or green stuff or whatever putty you prefer. Before it hardens, find a piece of bark with a lot of character and press it all over the putty to give you tree texture. Maybe sculpt a couple knots or holes into the trunk. Prime and paint to taste, in your case probably dark grey mixed with browns. Occasional light browns around knots or other areas of interest. For a gothic feel, make it as stunted as possible. Oh and if you want crazy roots, start forming the trunk a little higher up with the wire, using the bottom wires in much the same way that you make the bigger branded on top. If this doesn't make sense to you I can explain more. If you want add foliage as leaves and highlight and shade them as you see fit, though if I has a gothic tree it wouldn't have any leaves. Good luck to you.

 

[Kretcher]

Here are some inspiration to do a tree out of wire, perhaps use that and some miliput or sculpting clay ontop of it? I havent done any myself so no knowledge about it.

http://www.silverscapedesigns.com/details/product/wind-swept-tree-by-randy-adams.html

http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2012/03/05/wire-trees/

https://twitter.com/kaitrees/media

 

[airhead]

here's some trees I did with Cat5 cable, elmers and some flock.

http://www.coolminiornot.com/pics/pics8/img43329f5ba1943.jpg

You could not flock the roots, but I had them glued to large washers and magnets to make them removable for terrain.

 

[moonmin82]

[h=2]Sculpting Trees and other bits[/h]Hi guys - getting a bit stumped on my Diorama ..

Good unintended pun there! :clown:

Looks like you've already received some good suggestions, be sure to share what you come up with!

 

[ellis_esquire]

Gosh I didn't even see that pun lol
copper wire sounds good.
so far I've found these actual plants but they'll probably shatter before I'm done painting!
View attachment 27476

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

Really good sticks. I'd hang onto them as they will serve a purpose some day. Go with the wire and green stuff. But sometimes for smaller shrubs like trees that you don't care to be too big, pull a root of a weed out of the ground. Clean it off, Prime and varnish it. It'll last forever.