Model Slash Pines (HO) Materials List
Take a styrene tube, insert one or two floral wires (depending on
thickness), and then secure the wire(s) in the tube with hot glue.- Woodland Scenic Tree Armatures Deciduous 3”-5”
- Styrene Tube 1/8”
- Floral Wire
- Super Trees
- Hot Glue
- White Glue or Matte Medium
- Dried Up Leaves
- Spray Paint:Nutmeg, Gray, and Flat Black
- Woodland Scenic Static Grass:Medium Green, Dark Green
- Dark-Medium Green Pipe-Cleaners/Chenille (They have it in the Wal-Mart craft department)
- Silflor: Late Summer
Cut the tube (12″) approximately in half (one tube makes two full grown trees), cut and bend WS tree armatures, and then hot glue WS armature branches onto the styrene tube.
Utilizing the floral wire in the styrene tube, bend the tree trunk in whatever manner is fit.
Cover the new armature in white glue or matte medium (or whatever adhesive you like) and sprinkle on tiny crumpled up pieces of dried leaves to simulate bark. Let dry.
Hot glue pieces of Super Trees Material to complete the branch structure. (Less Super Tree material is usually better than more.)
Paint the armature. I use a combination of mostly nutmeg spray paint with light sprays of gray and flat black. (Experiment with it.)
Now for the Needles:
You can model the tree needles using late summer Silflor (more expensive) or using chenille (cheaper). After doing a few trees in the chenille, I now recommend doing them in all Silflor if you can afford it. You can also make your own pine tufts using a static grass applicator.
If using Chenille: Cut up pipe-cleaners/chenille into small balls. (You’ll want to give the give pipe-cleaners a spray of green paint to improve the color.) Attach the balls to the armature one by one with white glue. Wet the outer branches and chenille balls with diluted matte medium. Sprinkle on WS static grass.
If using Silflor: Cut up late summer Silflor (or whatever color Silflor is appropriate for the area you’re modeling) into small balls (Silflor Tufts may also work well, but I’ve never tried them.)
Glue the cut up Silflor in place.
In N scale just use Super Trees and thicken up the trunk with air dry clay. And use smaller tufts of Silflor.
Slash Pine Facts
Armatures while Under Construction
These Slash Pines were modeled using Chenille
Hart of South Palm and model Live Oak Shot Outdoors
The Slash Pine in the above photo was made using both chenille and Silflor
Other names: Pinus elliottii, Slash Pine,
pitch pine, southern pine, South Florida slash pine, swamp pine, yellow
pine, Dade County pine
