Scrub type tree and plants I made

I made a tree today, it is a combination of techniques, I used a wire frame and  sculpted the main trunk and branches, then used dead oak twigs for the tips, and finally used Selkirk Scenery branch netting and leaves.  I decided to make a scrub type tree, so there is limited foliage, and I made not only a dead second trunk, but also a nice dead branch on the bottom of the tree.  I am really happy with the end product, and this is practice for when I finally make my full sized willow.  That will be my next project for a rainy day.  This tree took a little more then an hour, it took longer for the paint and glue to dry then anything else, the frame and sculpture, even with the baking of the clay only took 20 minutes or so.

Here are a couple of pictures, one of the front and another the back, I attached it to a rock that I can place anywhere in the diorama and it will fit in.
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As always your comments and suggestions are welcome, I can't improve if I don't see the problems.

Congratulation Phil. Could you share closer pics of the foliage ?

Kikimalou wrote:

Congratulation Phil. Could you share closer pics of the foliage ?

I will try, but my camara isn't very good at really close ups.  I use Selkirk Scenery foliage, and I used wire, clay and natural branches for the tips.  I am making my full sized willow, I have sculpted the trunk and the branches, for this tree I am not using any natural branches as the willow I am making is a weeping willow which just has the long switch like branches.

This tree was just a test, I had a lot of fun making it, it was the first tree in a long time that I made from scratch, lately I have been using the Woodland Scenics trunks and adding my own branches.  The next tree I make for the diorama will be a full tropical foliage, not a scrub type tree like this one.

Fantastic trees Phil!

Looks great to me Phil. Can't wait to see the willow.

Very nice tree, I'm sure it will look good on diorama

Great looking tree Phil!

I didn't sleep last night, so I decided to make a few plants. I got several different Japanese kits, and I began to make some of those, I got canary reeds, assorted jungle plants and 5 sets of simon's bamboo, most of these can go in India so I was really happy with the selection. I also decided to make some of my own plants and what I chose was not actually an Indian native, but is now introduced there, the traveller's palm. I also did make an Indian banana plant, I have the flower, but it isn't on the plant yet.

Here are the canary reeds on the diorama.
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I like the reeds, I have about a dozen more, and these ones I dropped on the way to the diorama, so I have to streighten the plants out and face them toward the river, but over all I am happy with them. These are from a kit.

This is the traveller's palm, which is originally from Madagascar, and it isn't actually a palm. They call it a traveller's palm because of a wives tail, they say it always grows North/South. This is the normal growth pattern, but in shady areas or areas where the growth is crowded it will grow in the position that gives it the most light, even when growing North/South, it is orienting it's leaves to recieve the most sunlight all day long. It has been used as a decorative plant all over the warmer areas of the USA, and has become established in areas like the everglades and other warm and wet places. I don't know if it is found in India, but I like it and wont put it on the dio if I can't find a reference to it being there.
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Here is the banana plant, this is a copy from a picture on an Indian species of wild banana. Banana plants are sometimes called trees, but they aren't, their trunks are soft and there is no woody pulp. The leaves are made the same way as the traveller's palm, but the trunk is very different, mostly being old dead leaves that are stiff.
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They look great Phil. Can't wait to see more. Your diorama grows every day it seems. The leaves look really good. I especially like the reeds.

I love them, the traveller's palms are beautiful and the banana plant is fantastic.

Very fine plants Phil
too bad I can't find something about India and Traveller's trees The only one I heard about is the one in Pondichery's garden... Not exactly a jungle !
IMHO you could make more canary reeds because I think the bush need to be tougher to look real.

[ quote = " Kikimalou "] Very fine plants Phil: D
too bad I can not find something about India and Traveller 's trees : no: The only one I heard about is the one in Pondicherry 's garden ... Not exactly a jungle!
IMHO you could make more reeds canary because I think the bush need to be tougher to look real
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I can't find any information on traveller's palms in India either, just that they have extended their range because people have used them as a garden plant and now there are wild ones all over the world in tropical and temperate areas. I made a traveller's palm just because I like them. the banana plant is common in India, and I made another one last night, they will be in the forested area.

On the canary reeds, there are 21 plants in the kit, I put this group on a base of clay and the dirt I am using as the bare earth areas. The rest will be spread out from that group around the rocks. I like the plants, but they are not easy to make, still I think after my vacation in July I will get at least one if not two more kits. Here is a picture of the other group, along with some bamboo that I made, I This is 1.5 kits of bamboo, and I have 5 total so my bamboo stand will be fairly thick, which is the look I am looking for.
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I love the bamboo. It will look really neat when you finish.

Great new plants Phil, thank You for showing these photos

Fantastic looking plants Phil, great work!