Note: The original contained all capital letters--RL UNLESS YOU ARE GAMING A SCENARIO ON THE STEPS OF RUSSIA OR THE ROLLING PLAINS OF SOUTH AFRICA YOU NEED TREES. WOOOLAND SCENICS MAKES AN ATTRACTIVE PROPUCT C0STING ALB0UT $20.00 PER, BAG OF 20, THESE, OF COURSE, NEED BASING-AND THE BASES WILL NEED FLOCKING. ONE WAY TO PRODUCE LOTS OF TREES FAST AND CHEAPLY IS TO USE COMMON HARDWARE STOKE MATERIALS. START WITH... 1. DRYWALL SCREWS IN VARIOUS SIZES. THEY COME FROM 1 INCH TO 6 INCHES IN LENGTH AND ARE SOLD BY THE POUND. THE 4 INCH SIZE LOOKS GOOD WITH 25MM FIGURES AND C0ST ABOUT 10 CENTS EACH. SMALLER SIZES WORK BETTER IN 15MM SCALE. 2. STEEL FENDER WASHERS. I STACK TWO WASHERS PER BASE FOR EXTRA STABILITY, THE UPPER WASHER, BEING SLIGHTLY SMALLER. THE LARGEST S1ZE, FOR 25MM TREES IS ABOUT 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER AND C0ST 20 CENTS EACH. IF PURCHASED IN BOXES OF 100, THE PRICE EACH DROPS TO AB0UT 10 CENTS. 3. FIVE MINUTE EPOXY. GLUE THE WASHERS TOGETHER WITH A THIN FILM OF EPOXY. THEN GLUE THE SCREW BASE DOWN TO THE WASHER. THIS IS EASY BECAUSE DRYWALL SCREWS HAVE A WIDE FLAIR AT THE BASE. SPREAD A LITTLE EFOXY ALB0UT 1 INCH UP THE "TRUNK". THIS WILL LATER BE PAINTED AS EXP0SED TREE DARK. 4. EXTRA FINE STEEL WOOL. THIS MAKES ACCEPTABLE FOLIAGE MATERIAL-AFTER BEING PAINTED. WOODLAND SCENICS MAKES FOLIAGE MATERIAL BUT IT IS A PRICY PRODUCT. LICHEN FROM A RAILROAD H0BBY SHOP ALS0 WOKKS WELL. FINE STEEL WOOL C0STS ALB0UT $2.00 PER BAG AND MAKES 16 LARGE TREES. FIRST COAT THE SCREW WITH WHITE GLUE. MAKE A BALL OF STEEL WOOL OF SUITABLE SIZE AND WRAP IT ABOUT THE SCREW. TAKE A NEEDLE AND ADOUT 24 INCHES OF THREAD AND PASS IT THROUGH THE STEEL WOOL FROM SIDE TO SIDE. THIS WILL FORM CLUMPS AND LUMPS OF FOLIAGE AS THE THREAD IS DRAWN TIGHT. 5. SPRAY PAINT. I USE SERVISTAR ANTI RUST ENAMEL IN A DARK GREEN COLOR. THE TRICK IS NOT TO OVER PAINT. APPLY SEVERAL COATS A LITTLE AT A TIME. ALLOW EACH TO DRY AB0UT 30 MINUTES. IF YOU APPLY TOO MUCH AT ONE TIME IT WILL SIMPLY BE ASS0RDED INTO THE STEEL WOOL AND EVENTUALLY RUN DOWN THE SCREW 6. PAINT THE TREE TRUNK AND FLOCK THE BASE TO MATCH YOUR FIGURE BASES. Back to PW Review February 1997 Table of Contents Back to PW Review List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1997 Wally Simon 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