Schleich Beech tree

[PaulRhB]

Got a couple of these for the small portable layout project and thought they might be of interest. 34 rubbery leaf parts to fit to the trunk sections which are a bit bright green so I'm going to experiment with a slight spray of darker green to give some variation.

 

[Rhinochugger]

And perhaps a dusting of a lighter colour on the underside?

 

[yb281]

I used one of these on my engine shed diorama. They're pretty good, but not cheap. The trunk and branches are excellent, but I'm still not entirely convinced about the rubber foliage and may get around to replacing it with some of Woodland Scenics foliage material. I reckon this will look a little more realistic, although it will also be a little more delicate.

 

[Spule 4]

I saw one of these trees at a toyshop this past weekend, they do look nice.

I bought a woman with a traditional dress and scarf carying baskets of fruit, just the "right stuff" for a railway set in Central Europe.

They do have some interesting fodder for us large scalers. I was quite happy to find this guy:

http://www.schleich-s.com/de/spielfigur/spielwaren/programm/waldtiere/keiler/index.html

 

[PaulRhB]

I added some wood land scenics blended turf scatter to the fir tree they do and it improved it a lot but it will obscure the leaf detail on the beech tree. I'm going to try spraying a bit of darker green onto one of the rubber leaf sprues and also sponging on a different green to give some colour variation. There are 34 of the leaf sprues so if I screw up on experimenting it won't affect the tree adversely.

 

[Woderwick]

The thing that makes a tree realistic is the amount is the amount of daylight you can see through the branches/foliage too. This is nt a vey good shot of an Oak I made for my old O gauge layout, but I think you get the idea.

Its the old wireframe method with a 50/50 pva/plaster coating on the skeleton. The foliage is woodland scenics material, which is ideal. The trick is to almost pull the stuff apart, creating an impression of airy leaf cover. If you just put clumps on willy nilly that's just what it looks like. Take time to tease the stuff apart.

Just my 2p