I finished the big tree and planted it outside Vickis Veggies, near the street. I took a celebratory loop around the farm to honour the occasion. If there isn't already a sub-genre of model railroad videos that centre on layout trees, well, here's one :-)
To be honest I was having a lot of trouble with this tree, and at one point decided to get it finished and move on instead of continuing with the constant fiddling I was doing. I learned a lot of lessons, but there are still a few I'm working on: getting the trunk colour and texture right is a big one that still needs improvement.
I've got a few more big trees I'd like to model, but I'm going to leave those projects until the spring when I've got enough distance from this one.
Well, even though I have my complaints with this tree, I rather like how it appears on the layout. It has the commanding presence I was looking for and just seems to pull the layout together. With this and Insectary 75D finished, the major elements on the layout are done. I have a lot of detail items in mind, so they'll be next up. I think they'll take me to the spring to complete, so once the good weather has returned I'll be ready to take the layout outside for photographs.
I'm quite convinced now that if a little layout has tall elements it needs an equally thick base to create some overall visual balance. To my eye the layout would look a little odd to have tall trees, or tall buildings, and a thin base to support it all - it just wouldn't look right.
While I was working on the tree, the Deoralow was staring at me from a shelf where it's collecting dust awaiting a new location. I was struck by how small its trees are. They're store-bought ones from many years ago. They're pipsqueaks compared to Vickis, which is to scale. Well, for newly planted trees on a suburban lot, they're fine, but to populate the wild portions of a layout, they're way too small. Although my tree modelling still needs lots of work, I at least think I've come a long way in my appreciation of what layout trees need to be.
Well, speaking of appreciation, and since it's Saturday morning, here's the opening to a Saturday morning cartoon that, strangely enough, both my father and I appreciated.
I love the way you've done this. The trees look great and totally believable. I don't know why trees in model form are always a shock- we can't understand how tall the real things are despite seeing them all the time. The armature for your trees is wonderful, and the foliage you have used is just the right balance between delicate and robust. The trees become real characters on your model, as important as the trains, or trams in this case. Your trams are rather fetching, though!
Thanks for the kind words! The most important thing I've learned is to use real trees as prototypes even though the final model may not look exactly like the one it's based on. I feel that by doing that I force myself to get the height, diameter, basic branching structure, and canopy right, otherwise stereotypes in my mind take over.
It looks vaguely like I picture the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. The Tree of Knowledge must've had lower branches because Eve picked some fruit from it.
Considering the ratio of tree to base/fascia height I immediately thought of Bonsai, in which the plants are often forced into such improbably shallow pots. Not the same, I know, but perhaps there's some ratio or "weight" balance that feels right when we see it, and the game is to either find and replicate that or deliberately im-balance it for effect.
I love the way you've done this. The trees look great and totally believable. I don't know why trees in model form are always a shock- we can't understand how tall the real things are despite seeing them all the time. The armature for your trees is wonderful, and the foliage you have used is just the right balance between delicate and robust. The trees become real characters on your model, as important as the trains, or trams in this case. Your trams are rather fetching, though!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words! The most important thing I've learned is to use real trees as prototypes even though the final model may not look exactly like the one it's based on. I feel that by doing that I force myself to get the height, diameter, basic branching structure, and canopy right, otherwise stereotypes in my mind take over.
DeleteI don't know about this one; you might've gone a little past scale tree height. I mean, the first branch is about 2 stories up. That can't be right.
ReplyDeleteThe tree outside Vickis is unusually huge. Even so, if I've made it 'huger', I'm ok with the overall look.
DeleteIt looks vaguely like I picture the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. The Tree of Knowledge must've had lower branches because Eve picked some fruit from it.
DeleteConsidering the ratio of tree to base/fascia height I immediately thought of Bonsai, in which the plants are often forced into such improbably shallow pots. Not the same, I know, but perhaps there's some ratio or "weight" balance that feels right when we see it, and the game is to either find and replicate that or deliberately im-balance it for effect.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. There's probably something like a 'golden ratio' at play.
Delete