Palm Trees Again...

Over the last few weeks I have been receiving a number of parcels for the Shedwood forest project and in amongst them were some Palm Trees I had ordered a few weeks back from China...
sourced on ebay - search for TDT18 40pcs Layout Model Train Palm Trees Scale O 18cm

Basing these was very straight forward and very quick. Last Sunday night I prepped the bases - Off cuts of hardboard cut into 15 irregular shapes and then sanded. Using a drill piece that matched the mounting stem of said palm trees I drilled a few holes in each base. Most of these are clustered in 2’s and 3’s. The Palm tree is then glued into place in the hole with ‘hard as nails glue’ and left to set over night. I reckon this bit took about an hour.

The next morning before work  I clipped the remainder of the stem off so the base was flat. Liberally soaking the hardboard base in pva I covered these with medium ballast. Time taken for 15 bases c30 minutes.

The following morning  I then painted the bases with acrylic raw umber. Time taken 30 minutes.

The next day (weds?) I had a rest.

Thursday morning 30 minutes of drybushing both the bases (buff) and the leaves (scorpion green)

Friday Morning – adding the static grass – 20 mins

Saturday Morning – putting these new additions out with all the other to show off the palm forest.

I estimate that this little lot has taken around 10 hours to put together and cost in the region of £50  (excludes the £30 spent on Pegasus palms before I realised China sourced product would be a better bet)– Total number trees c80, covering almost a square metre of terrain.

The trees themselves will no doubt feature in Pirate games in the West Indies. Complement my Jungle terrain and will of course be used in any future desert setting.

Until next time