Easy to make trees

It seems very fitting to be posting this today. Outside there are signs that spring has arrived - the sun has finally made an appearance and the temperature has climbed into double figures. Green shoots are everywhere, including in my terrain collection.

After the partial success of my trees made from garden waste, I wanted something that was more sturdy but not too expensive. You might remember that I recently picked up some tree armatures from a hobby shop. I also bought some rubberised horsehair (from ebay, the hobby shop did not stock this item). With my collection of turf and foliage that I usually use on bases, it was time to get started.

After googling countless model train sites for instruction, I stuck the horsehair to the branches using pva glue and then, when fully dry, trimmed off the most straggly bits. Then I sprayed the trunks with a grey primer and applied some very quick and basic drybrushing. Finally, I used a cheap extra firm hold hairspray (from the local supermarket) to fix the foliage on to the armatures. Simply spray, sprinkle, spray, sprinkle, until you are happy with the effect. A final trim of any straggly horsehair and it's job done. This test batch of three trees costs around a pound in materials, and about half an hour of hobby time to make, and I think the results are reasonable for that investment. They are a bit flat, I need to work out how to get the horsehair "plumped up" when I stick it to the branches, but I am quite happy with this first attempt.