New palms and cycads

I have not done much in the last day because of a slight cold, but before that I tried to make a few different styles of palms and cycads. Here is a photo of the 4 most recent, a coconut palm, a tree palm, and two cycads, E. transvenosus from South Africa.

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very interresting Phil

How did you make the trunks ?

And which size are they ?

They are beautiful Phil. Great job on them. You are getting better and better.

Thanks for the complements, the main thing is I like doing them and the more I do the easier it gets along with the better they look. The trees I am making are getting much better looking as well, I still don't try to make anything as big as the figs I get from Danny, but shorter trees and bushes I have changed my materials so they are now made with the same foliage types that other custom tree makers use.

Kiki, the trunks are wire and clay, you can see on the coconut palm the trunk is not as good as the tree palm, again with practice I have gotten much better. The cycads trunks have no wire in them, but the detail of the trunk is even better, but it was much easier to detail them then the palms.

The hardest part on all of these was the fronds. I use silk and wire, some I cut from silk plants that I buy at craft stores, others I make from hobby paper and wire. Cutting the silk and the fronds takes a long time, and I end up not using about 1/3rd of them because I am not happy with the finished frond, but again I am getting better and losing less with each set I make.

Here are some of the recent trees that I have made, and a photo of one of mine next to one of the ones I got from Danny
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the tree is so nice! especially the last picture. Thanks for sharing

Phil, one day you will become a trees and bushes collector with a few animals to embellish your vegetal collection

They are fantasitc Phil, beautifully made, they look wonderful.

Thanks everyone, I am getting better, and I have already started a collection of plants from Africa and India that I am very happy with. My trees are getting better along with my smaller plants. Here is my newest addition to the African landscape, Aloe brandraaiensis. I may add flowers to one or more of them, they have beautiful reddish orange flowers, up to a meter above the plant on stalks, but for now I just finished the foliage painted them and put them next to the palms for a photo.

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Very nice aloës Phil

Very intricate work! Bravo! :)

They are all beautiful Phil. You are definately getting better and better. They will look great on the dioramas.

Great trees again Phil!

I think, it is about time, that we see a marine-diorama from you Phil, as one of the fish-men around here...

WILLYBACOMAN wrote:

Great trees again Phil!

I think, it is about time, that we see a marine-diorama from you Phil, as one of the fish-men around here...

Hi Willy,
The next diorama is going to be even better then a marine diorama, it will be an Amazon river diorama with views of both underwater fish life and above water scenes like capybara in the water hyacinth and king vultures flying over a very tall canopy. You will just have to wait until I finish one or both of these two before I start.

Hi Phil!
That would be awesome man, as the Amazon-habitat is one of my favourite eco-systems, specially as a lover of tropical fish!
I can't wait to see that!