Prewar Trees

Why not make your own? Lots of "how-to's) in the Scenery Sourcelist.

Hi,

   A couple of years ago I did the same thing that you are working on.  Based on people on this forum I found two back issues of CTT that discussed the techniques used during the 1930's.  Lionel used the cores for mluffa sponges to make pine like trees and the other parts as hedges.  They also used Sisle rope wrapped in clay as leafy trees.  They also used that same concept to make low shrubs and painted the tips with oil based paint, which takes a very long time to dry.  I have attached one photo showing the scenic plot that I made.  Email me off line and I can send you more photos of the other plots that I made up.

   Making the scenic plots was a lot of fun.

   Good luck,

     Kevin

I utilized scenic plots so that I could easily remove the buildings and such down the road, say to convert the layout to a postwar layout.  But.... I still ended up building a postwar layout in the other room.

   Kevin

Wallyworld had different sized bottle brush type trees. Like the ones with the red wooden base. 75 cents and up IIRC.

how to make luffah trees...go here...scroll down to "making new trees"...

http://www.papatedsplace.com/fixtree.html

i've made quite a few the old fashioned way...the snow and berry are optional...

howard...

http://www.littleglitterhouses.com

Here are some prewar trees from my collection. The four in the rear red trunks are Lionel's #505 Oak Trees ca 1935. Thre are five wire trunk and limb trees that I believe are prewar German.. At this point I not sure the origin of the loofa tree in the center.

Ron M

Hi Ron,

Just for reference how tall are the Lionel #505 oak trees?

Thanks

Scott

Long shot here, but have you tried MTH and ask for some trees on there scenic reproduction plots?

Scott,

A close -up of a 505 along with a 6" square.

Ron M

about as close as i have to a prewar reference, page 16 from the 1946 Lionel publication; "Scenic Effects for Model Railroads"...

Glad this thread is still alive. Thanks for all the new info.

That 1946 Lionel "TREES AND SHRUBS" page is great.

Here are some pics I've downloaded of prewar Hornby trees made from luffa type sponge.I passed on picking them up as I think I'll make some new copies so I can choose the shape and they'll have brighter/stronger color.

Those Hornby Trees look great.

I really like the look of the Lionel prewar trees.  Both the tall Sisal Rope Oak Trees and the smaller Loofah Conifer Trees.  The organic material used to make them gives a quality that the modern perfect foam trees don't have.  I just made a batch of the Sisal Rope Trees.  It was quite fun and cheap.  I couldn't imagine putting in 8 hours at the Lionel factory pumping these things out though.  I just have to paint the trunks. 



Scott

Scott, you did a great job replicating the style of the prewar Lionel tree.

It's funny how tastes in train collecting varies, as with most things... That is the style of tree I'm trying to stay away from, but I can appreciate the nice work you did.

Bert

Thanks.  I don't know why but the first time I saw a Lionel Scenic Plot with those trees they just looked right to me.  I know they don't look like real trees but more like an impressionists view of a tree.  Kind of like tinplate itself.  Next up, I am going to try and make the Loofah Trees like the Hornby and Lionel ones.

Scott

Here are a few of the prewar style trees I made in a scenic plot.  The plot wasn't meant to be an exact replica of the Lionel scenic plots but something representative.  The main materials used were loofah sponges and sisal rope.

Scott

This thread is great!  Who would imagine that there would be so many responses to this question?  Nice work, all.

Scott,

    The Sisal trees look great, at some point I plan on redoing my to look more correct to what Lionel produced.  You captured the look of them very well.  What did you use to cover up the trunks?

    Kevin

Thanks Kevin.  Each sisal tree is either 3 or 4 pieces of sisal rope.  I used craft wire to wrap the individual ropes together for the trunk and then kept wrapping each piece of rope as they branch off.  Then I dyed the wrapped trees in RIT dye to make them green.  Once dry I brushed drywall compound on the wire wrapped sections of the tree to form the trunk and branches.  I painted the drywall compound a reddish brown.  What really pulled them together was when I dipped the green frayed ends of the rope in water/glue mix and then shook blended turf on them.  The glue pulled the rope ends down and the blended turf really gave then that rustic look.  It was a fun project.  I'm going to make a couple more scenic plots.

Scott