Re: Jungle Trees

>>	After asking my local mini-gaming guru if there were any game
companies
>> (besides GW) that make such trees.  He could think of none off hand,
but
>> he had a great suggestion:  Use the plastic palm trees that bakers
use
>> to decorate cakes!  A quick skim through Jon Lovitiz's Yellow Pages
>> helped me find several stores that stock in bakery supplies and sure
>> enough, they have palm trees.  The running price for a three-pack of
6
>> inch trees is only $1!  A six-pack with three inch trees will run me
75
>> cents.  I'll be going over to these stores to see if they are worth
the
>> money.  I'll let you know if they are. 
>
>   And if that don't work out, try looking for trees at model train
>stores.  They should have quite a varity, more expensive that cake
>decorations though.
>
>Enjoy,
>Tom Granvold			<thomas.granvold@eng.sun.com>
 
Very nice tree-sized primitive ferns can be made from old
badminton birdies. I got the idea when we were about to
toss one.
 
Cut off the head, leaving as much of the straight "shoulder"
as possible. Make a single cut across the shoulder and cut
apart the "feathers" to allow it to be rolled up tighter.
Trim off the remainder of the "ribs" between the "feathers"
to leave palm- or fern-like fronds. Clean it to remove oils
and dirt*, roll it up fairly tightly, and stick it into a
wad of epoxy putty** on a 20mm (or so) metal base (for stability).
Shape the putty into a roughly cylindrical shape, with a
round blob inside the rolled birdie. (You'll have to hold the
plastic to keep it from unrolling while the epoxy sets. Though
you might be able to tie it in with thread before mounting.
Putting a pin through the birdie may also help keep it together
until the epoxy sets.)
   After the epoxy has fully set, paint/wash the tree. Then paint
on the epoxy and base black; follow this with some thinned white
glue on the epoxy and base, and roll it in black tea (yup, loose
or from teabags). Spray with a clear coat to seal the paint and
tea (2 coats), and voila!
 
This works best if the birdie starts off roughly the right
color; my first (so far, only) one started as a bright green,
so I didn't even paint the "fronds". Or, of course, for alien
trees, use whatever color you find.
 
* When I prep soft plastic like the birdies, I like to shake
it in a can of sand before I clean it; this roughens the surface
slightly, but fairly uniformly, to provide "tooth" for paint to
adhere to. (I'm thinking of getting a cheap rock polisher for
this purpose.) Then I wash it (as I do all my figs) with Pine Sol
or Simple Green before primering.
 
** Don't use Kneadatite for this. Besides being too expensive,
it takes too long to set initially. Instead, go to your local
hardware store and pick up some epoxy putty sticks. Devcon #S-80
White Epoxy Putty 10-minute epoxy putty is my preference;
Duro #SM-100 30-minute also works well (and generally is closer
to 10-minute, despite the label). Both are about $4 for a 1 oz
stick (less than half the price of Kneadatite).
 
- Sam
________________________________________
Samuel Reynolds
Full Thrust at Spinward Stars: http://www.spinwardstars.com/ft/
Reynolds Virtual Workshop: http://www.primenet.com/~reynol
reynol@primenet.com
samuel_reynolds@csgsystems.com