Winter tree confessions (N part 61)…

Not every experiment results in success. Sometimes we try something, learn something but the results don’t work…

I’ve tried winter tree experiments previously, but never in N gauge. For a future project I fancied some thin small trees, the sort of thing you find growing in poor quality conditions, marshy, alongside drainage ditches and the like. I started with twisted copper strands from 45A cable, as usual, with trunks coated in PVA before a bark mix applied. Previously I have used static fibres to represent the twigs at the end of branches and wanted to try that again here. I painted neat PVA on the ends of the branches and sprinkled 4mm fibres on by hand.

A waft of black and grey primers brought the finish together but the results were a little underwhelming (centre above). The transition from branch to twig to pronounced, the density of twigs too light, the result feels clunky and crude in N (bottom).

One last ‘ditch’ attempt (sorry, I couldn’t resist) I tried overlapping them and the results were improved (above), the tangle of branches and twigs have the feeling of density I was looking for - but the branches still feel too thick. I think the answer here may be one of two (or a combination) option. First, make the end pieces of the branches longer, so they are thinner for longer, and / or use a thinner copper strand. These ‘failures’ are far from useless though and can form background and scrub trees in larger scales once treated with poly fibre and foliage. Tree making is one element of this wonderful hobby that I feel I am still very much a beginner and whilst I have occasional success there is still so much to learn. The only way to do that is to try, and really, we only learn what works through recognising what doesn’t. This life lesson is one that we should (but in the heat of the moment it’s not always possible to) embrace when things go wrong with our creations. I’m looking forward to my next attempt…

Until next time, more soon…

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