# trying my do it yourself weeping willow tree



## bishop (Oct 4, 2012)

this is the first draft of my willow tree, I want to find a reasonable way to make my own and it's a process. here is my first one, what would you do besides separate the wispy branches more.

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?res...uthkey=!AHYGvlq_6SvsTj8&v=3&ithint=photo,.jpg

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?res...uthkey=!ABgoWE1SpZ1U1vs&v=3&ithint=photo,.jpg


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

I don't see a picture. Is it just me?

OK, after I posted this -- and went back to the thread, the picture links suddenly appeard

Strange


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

Yes, you definitely need to separate the material into more and finer stands. The leaves on willow trees are not very dense -- you can more or less see through the tree. Try to get them to hang absolutely straight down. The only time that willow trees do not hang straight down is when the wind blows.

If you want to model the wind blowing, the just the bottom parts of the strands should curve gently in the direction that the wind is blowing. All of the strands should bend in the same direction.

The color seems a little off to me. Maybe it is the camera. Maybe you have not yet sprayed the color on. The leaves should be green -- or a mix of green and a tiny amount of brown showing for the fine branches.

If you are trying to model fall, my recollection is that willow trees to not show much fall color. They may turn slightly yellowish before they turn brown, but usually not all at once, so you don't get a solid colored tree -- as you can with maples and some other trees.


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## bishop (Oct 4, 2012)

ok, thanx for the helpful advice, I'll apply all this to another one I'm getting ready to do. I think I could cut these branches off and plant them around a watery area for dense swampy growth.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Are you making the willows for your N scale,
or son's HO?

If HO, I was going to suggest making an 'umbrella'
of tiny wires to which you would attach the finest
threads. Spray or dip those in glue then use a
the fine green turf to sprinkle on as the leaves.
Follow up with a clear cote or non scented hair
spray.

If N, is there anything thin enuf to make the
willow branches? The next door willows I
recall growing up were quite wispy.

Don


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

I agree with the others you have to thin it out a lot for a weeping willow.

But I will tell you what, with a little work you could make an excellent Oak tree wrapped with Spanish moss. :thumbsup:


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

The oaks in big ed's picture are live oaks. ("Live" is part of their name -- the name of this species of oak is "live oak"). They are common along the Gulf coast and southern Atlantic coast. They are famous for their wide, spreading branches, which if they are not pruned, sometimes reach down to the ground.

Live oaks frequently do have Spanish moss hanging from their branches. This is not because Spanish moss prefers live oaks. Although the wide branches of live oak do provide lots of hanging places for Spanish moss, Spanish moss will hang from a wide variety of trees. The association is because the range of Spanish moss and the range of live oak are nearly identical. Spanish moss needs to live in humid climates -- like along the Gulf and southern Atlantic coasts.

Live oaks with spanish moss would be a real modeling challenge. You would have to make your own armatures, with the green leaves on top and the gray, stringy Spanish moss hanging down below.

When the NMRA National Convention and Show were in Atlanta last year, I went for a day. I remember seeing a module in a club layout with a Louisiana bayou, complete with alligators and Spanish moss hanging from the trees (swamp trees, not live oaks).


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Live Oak, dead Oak, Oak is Oak. 

It was the MOSS I was trying to show.


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

big ed said:


> Live Oak, dead Oak, Oak is Oak.
> 
> It was the MOSS I was trying to show.


Fair enough. But to some (NOT on this forum), a train is a train.

From a modeling perspective, there is no difference from one oak species to another (or for that matter not much difference between oaks, maples, hickories, beeches, and most other deciduous trees of the Eastern US. But live oak is unique (and one of my favorite trees). I thought I'd offer up some info the might stimulate someone's interest.

As for the Spanish moss, first of all it is not a true moss, but rather a relative of the pineapple plant. Spanish moss is not a parasite on the trees. It gets all of its water from rainfall. In between rains, it has to hold onto its water as best it can. That's why it lives in humid areas. The soggy humidity that us southerners dislike, is best for the Spanish moss (and lots of other plants, too). The high humidity keeps the plants from drying out completely (and dying) between rainfalls.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

MtRR75 said:


> Fair enough.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Who says that...........let me at them.


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## bishop (Oct 4, 2012)

*second try*

ok, thanx for all the input guys, here is my second attempt, a little better, I think I will have it on the third one, I'm not really concerned with the trunk right now, just the foliage, I'm gonna thin it more, I get carried away with the poly fill, and I'm gonna omit the wire drops behind the hanging vines

http://1drv.ms/1kCp1Jw
http://1drv.ms/U2CIL3


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

Much better -- especially as shown in the first picture -- on the styrofoam. The overall shape is about perfect. A little more thinning would be OK. I have only one other suggestion. Is there any way you can get a longer, stringier, hanging-straight-down look to the material that you are using? But this is a picky point.

As for placement on your layout, weeping willows usually grow near, but not in, water. If you don't have any water, a low-lying area (where rain water would collect) would be equally prototypical.


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