How to make Realistic Trees

I simply start out with twigs A, It actually takes a bit of effort to find nice twigs that branch in three or four directions, most twigs seem to only branch in two, making very 2D trees.

Next I glue lawn moss to the twigs B with PVA glue. New Zealanders will find this stuff growing in clumps between the grass in shady parts of their lawns. If you can't find any or if you don't have it in your part of the world, you could use the rubberized stuff from Woodland Scenics. You can also use pine cones of various sorts to make conifers.

Next spray the moss with super 77 spray adhesive C.

Then sprinkle with the finest flock you can get D, I've made a flock shaker out of a small ice-cream tub. Drill 5mm holes in the lid of any small plastic container and You are good to go. These things make flocking a breeze.

Next step drill small holes in a suitable painted base D, glue the trees into the the holes, make sure you trunks are a realistic length. I use Ultracla30 (plaster) bases which I make with any excess from my stonewall molds. Just pour it onto a plastic sheet and lift off when dry.

Once you have made your base spread it with PVA and flock. By the way you can do all sorts of cool stuff with plaster bases like adding a pugged up texture in gateways to represent where animals move between fields regularly. Also you can add plow furrows or shell craters. Just wait till it is firm and start sculpting with a wet paint brush.

F The finished product. I've added a couple of stonewalls to this base.