I picked up a few packs of 9cm and 13cm palm trees from e-bay for £21 about 100 pieces altogether. Not bad as sent from China too. I pinned and glued these to 2mm MDF bases from Warbases with a range of sizes on the bases , and the odd few I also cut down and extra cm or so to give variety. A bit of PVA and sand added , which is then given a light colour dry brush. Once all dry , I gave them a hit with some Matt varnish.
Next up I wanted to make some Acacia trees/bushes, that could be found across Sudan and were used to make Zaribas. A few years ago I had picked up a pile of Woodland Scenics tree armatures, so some of these were twisted into a rough shape, hot glued to bases, and sprayed a dark grey. I then hot glued onto the branches some rubberised horsehair , and shaped and pulled it about , this was then sprayed dark grey too. Everything is then given a light colour drybrush. Neat PVA is painted onto the horsehair and I then added some brown leave scatter (I will do some more with green as well I think). Basing is straight PVA and sand again. One everything was dry I hit the foliage with some extra firm hold hairspray which will reduce any chance of it dropping off.
If you are interested , but can't find rubberised horsehair in your usual model outlets , try looking for upholstery suplliers. I picked up a sheet that was 6 foot by 4 , and an inch thick for £30. It will last me an age!
I have based these on hex bases to easily allow me to create differing shape collections of them .
Overall a nice productive, and relaxing weekend.
Impressive collection of terrain!
ReplyDeleteit is getting there
DeleteVery nice terrain elements!
ReplyDeleteThanks Juan
DeleteOh I like those acacia bushes. Might as some leaf scatter to mine - they came out a bit beige. And I think I need some greens shrubbery too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Phil, I did look at yours before I did these, along with a lot of images from Google and I thought the scatter added a little something.
DeleteDid you dry-brush the palm trunks or anything? My biggest problem with cheap plastic palm trees is they need some depth of color.
ReplyDeleteYeah i might do that stil, with maybe a wash first.
DeleteNice work! The acacias are particularly effective mate.
ReplyDeletecheers matey
DeleteThese look excellent Dave- especially like the acacias!
ReplyDeletethanks..
DeleteGreat Job Dave, love bushes a particularly good.
ReplyDeletecheers
DeleteDave, they look excellent. I like using rubberised horsehair as well, although the hairspray idea for the leaf scatter is a really good one which I didn't know about. I shall have to try that. The palm trees and the bushes look brilliant. Really effective.
ReplyDeleteOh it works a treat... Cheapest firm hold is all you need.
DeleteGood looking trees ans Shurbs
ReplyDeleteThanks
DeleteHmm, these look rather better than my jungle palm tree bases. Ah, well...
ReplyDeleteThanks, sure yours are fine!
DeleteReally good work, Dave. Especially the bushes.
ReplyDeleteThanks Stefan
DeleteFantastic work Dave, and useful for multiple projects.
ReplyDeleteHuzzah!
Cheers!
DeleteWhat wonderful foliage Dave! Very good for your upcoming games on the veldt.
ReplyDeleteHow did I miss this. A great tutorial Dave with a touch of Harmony.
ReplyDelete