Sunday 27 May 2012

Palm Trees ( "scratch Built" )

Sir Henry Botherington Smyth is having a relaxing rest under the shade of a couple of palm trees. The well is re-cycled from the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem Dio.....
The palm trees..how to make them. A couple of weeks ago Michel from Germania Figuren visited and we discussed, among other things, Palm Trees. He told me that Erik Trauner makes his using the middles from Pinecones. Off  I went and got one and we both tried (without success) pulling the scales off with pliers etc. A few days ago I was again  thinking how to make palmtrees for the Khandibar set up and bingo!!!
What do you need ? A pair of scissors, some clear silicon, some plastic decoration leaves (the sort with a metal or plastic spine welded under the leaf, the ones used for roses seem to be the best) a Pine cone...AND!!!!!!...................
..........A Squirrel. One of the visitors to our garden...:-D

Squirrels like the seeds in pine cones and to get at them they strip the scales off. and then throw the core down. After just a quick look under a pine tree near our house I collected over 50 such "cores". The only thing the squirrel doesn´t do is remove the "tuft" of scales at the top, but as this can be easily snapped off, I´ll let them off.
The Plastic leaves. Simply cut down to the rough size wanted, and with scissors cut irregular strips all along the sides. When that´s done, turn the leaf over and remove the last 1/2 cm of the spine near the base of the leaf. This gives it a nice flat area for attaching. Bend the leaf to shape(the bending also spreads the fronds apart)....and using silicone, glue to the top of the pinecone core in an overlapping clockwise (anti-clockwise)  pattern.

If anyone is interested, Valdemar are looking for sponsors to help fund a set of Bods.

The concept:
It costs 50 euro to be part investor in the set, these money are used to help cover some of the development costs. What you get are that you help the range grow and you get 1 sample set from the first testshots, so you will get the figures way before anyone else.

How:
You sign of for 1 share (10 total) and when all ten are sold the project will begin. If the project are not completed you will get your money back
.
It will be a "brutal" battle set..so if your interested,  contact Jens on the Valdemar site

23 comments:

  1. The tronc tre is the most realistic I've ever seen, great tip...now onto finding pine kernels and squirrels..easy.

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  2. Great (I mean really great) tutorial. I will try it once I get hold of some husks.

    Tony

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  3. Like the squirrel! - Palm trees are always hard to make! - your solution is ingenious!

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  4. Hey , and we both tried to do it . Good help of your garden animal . Now complete with the lasercut leaves from Conny and you have perfect Palm trees.
    Ciao Michael

    PS. Next visit we try something other :-)

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  5. Clever, very clever. An interesting proposal also. I'll give it so,e serious consideration.

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  6. Great idea and end product.

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  7. what a great idea paul and that squirel must be the most odd looking bodd maker (apart from myself) the world has ever seen.

    oh I wish I had money I'd sponser Valdemar!!!

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  8. I'm on my way to catch a squirrel! :-D Very nice tutorial Paul!

    Greetings
    Peter
    http://peterscave.blogspot.com/

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  9. What a great result! I actually bought some palms the other day, which was a bit of a sting on the wallet and so I'd been wondering how to go about making my own and along came this post! Thank you so much!

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  10. Great idea! but I'm not sure to find a squirrel who accept to do the work for me!!

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  11. Great work Paul, could you please send down some of those furry things as we do not seem to have any here.

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  12. Which hardware shop supplies squirrels? ;D

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  13. recycling (through squirell's gut)!!!
    Nice tutorial Paul!

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  14. Squirrels and scratch building, you're well ahead of the rest of us with the far out look at scenery, brilliant Paul!

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  15. Great idea, thanks for sharing.

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  16. The squirrels come to my yard and "help themselves" to my bulbs every Spring. It's good to see them leaving behind something for your to use creatively.

    Do they have a sketch of the set at Valdemar yet? If there's any way I can swing it financially next month I'd love to do it.

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  17. great idea! now i just wish I had some pine cone cores. I love those red european squirrels, so pretty

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  18. Cool idea Paul, simple but effective!

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  19. Utiles, sencillos...geniales.

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  20. Strange how I was actually building these palms in the exact same way about the time you were building these!

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  21. Hello Paul. I can´t see the pictures :-(

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  22. LOL brilliant idea- pity we don't have squirrels here... have to use secateurs, which don't do the job as neatly and thoroughly as the squirrels!

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