In the Feb 2001 HMGS MidSouth Dispatch, Keith Jordan mentioned a web site with palm trees (www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/novelties/novelties.htm#trees) so I ordered some of each of the six kinds they have. All are plastic without bases (they are, after all, made to be stuck in the top of a cake) and most have no or minor flash. Each of the three palm treesare colored differently so if you need uniformity you'll have to paint them. All are available in bulk P-1681, 5" palm trees, 3 for $1.09 (or 36 for $11.79)- dark brown plastic trunk and medium green plastic fronds, these are the most realistic looking of the bunch. Would fit well with 25mm or larger scale, a bit tall for 15mm. Three frond sections are pushed onto the top of the tree, with the individual fronds going both up and down - you can rearrange them for aesthetics and realism as needed. P-186, 3" palm trees, 6 for $.89 (or 144 for $19.25) -- two trees attached at the base so it is possible to cut them apart and have 12/288 per pack. Dark brown trunk with dark (Kelly) green fronds, three frond sections per tree. These look the right size for 15mm but the fronds are the wrong color - need to be painted a sage green. If you want a vast oasis this is the cheap way to do it! N0057, 3 1/2" coconut palms, 6 for $1.09 (72 for $9.60) -- medium brown trunk, light green fronds, two frond sections per tree, plus one section of coconuts. Sized right for 15mm, but the leaves look a bit skimpy compared to 1681 and 186. X-14T, 3" fir trees, 6 for $0.79 (144 for $17) -- dark green trunk and needles. Minor flash on some of the branches, but great for 15mm. One inch of the 3 inch length is given up to bare trunk (to stick in the cake top) so the actual size when based for wargaming is only 2". X-15T, 4" fir trees, 6 for $0.99 (144 for $21.35) -- nearly match X-14T in color so could mix these two. These are listed as 4" but are actually 5" tall with 2" given up to the bare trunk that must be trimmed off leaving a 3" tall tree. N0358, 3 1/2" spruce trees, 6 for $1.09 (144 for $23.55) -- nice blue-green color nearly perfect match for the real thing, the 3 1/2" height is after cutting off the 1" bare trunk. These are superb and could be used with X-14 and X- 15 to provide a reasonably realistic mixed conifer forest. Summary Great prices for lots of trees. The palm trees do not easily mix, so if you are looking to create the oasis of al Dar'iyah you will need to pick one and stick with it. All the palm trees need to be painted for realistic trunk and frond colors. Only P-1681 would really work with 25mm. All three conifers mix very well and need only minimal work - I sprayed mine with a flat clear matte to take the plastic sheen off (which is minor to begin with). Back to Dispatch July 2001 Table of Contents Back to Dispatch List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by HMGS Mid-South This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com