Roots of Modeling

Azalea and Crape Myrtle twigs have long been a mainstay in my diorama-building repertoire for making trees. Plucked bare of their natural foliage they make perfect dead trees. Add some Woodland Scenics and they make perfect live trees. The mottled bark just adds to the realism and no painting is necessary.

 

 

While I’ve always gone above ground for my scenery material, Brad Breville went below for his. In his 1/35 scale diorama called “Ambush”, he dug up roots. He told me how he did it.

 

 

According to Brad, “For some of the tree branches I got some roots out of the backyard and washed them. After they dried, I sprayed them with hair spray and then drizzled ground foam on top. I placed a few on the tank itself.”

The results were every bit as good as anything pre-built.