Autumn trees PART3

MAKING A SCENE

Trees play an essential role in our model railways. They can be used to hide entrances to storage yards or to draw the eye to a particular point on the layout. Autumn trees have a unique charm of their own and are not too challenging to create. ANTHONY REEVES shows how.

The beauty of a single specimen tree growing in the wild. Rule number one - tree bark is very rarely brown, more often it’s a grey/green colour with patches of algae or moss and signs of general weathering. Autumn shows the complete trunk and branch system of deciduous trees and the beauty in shape and tone can be admired in full.

THE autumn diorama has reached the stage where we can start adding detail and texture to the ground. A highlight of any scenic model railway will be the trees that surround the scene and choosing the right colour finish has an instant effect on what time of year the model recreates. For this autumn scene we are making a series of wire armature trees. These are simple to make but take a little time. The main advantages are that they look very realistic once complete and can be created in any shape or size.