Shoofly free-moN module - 13
Oak Trees
Not much says “Northern California” more than old oak trees
twisting over gold and green grassy hills. (17)
While there are a few commercially-made oak trees available
on the market, they are expensive and not quite correct in
color and texture for Northern California.
17
17: California Northern 203 creeps over the shoofly
with a coal drag. Basic ground cover is similar in a
variety of locations across continents, so you need to
really spend the time on those details that are specific
to a particular place. Nothing says “Springtime in
Northern California” like great oaks standing sentinel
over green hills flecked with yellow flowers.
After stripping a few 6” sections of 16AWG stranded wire, I
twisted the strands around a bamboo skewer to create a trunk
and then started twisting small sections of wire into major and
minor branches.
This is a time-consuming task, best done while listening to a
game on the radio or sitting with the kids while they do their
homework. (18)
To create the bark texture over the wire frame I applied 2 or
3 separate coats of a paste of white glue and fine-sifted saw-
dust. (19) After that completely dried, I spray-painted every-
thing Floquil Grimy Black and then misted highlights on with
Floquil Concrete.
When the paint was dry, I dabbed Aileen’s Clear Tacky Glue
on the branch ends and affixed thinly teased-out tufts of
Woodland Scenics polyfiber to create the smaller branches
because it was what I had and it is already green (20). You can
use generic polyfill (same price for 200-times larger bag) but
you have to tease it and paint it before use. Since the polyfiber
is green, only a light dusting of Grimy Black from below is nec-
essary to create the illusion of full branches. Douse with extra-
hold hairspray, and then sprinkle dark green coarse ground
foam, followed by lighter green fine ground foam for leaf-top
highlights. (21)
“After stripping a few 6" sections of 16AWG
stranded wire, I twisted the strands around
a bamboo skewer to create a trunk and then
started twisting small sections of wire into
major and minor branches. ”
MRH-Nov 2013
