What I spent My Allowance On (New Stuff For The Bench)

[shropshire lad]

Actually , I'm quite impressed with the book , it has some useful information in it . His tree making methods don't really break any new ground but the results he gets are good and even though I guess he is aiming at the 00/HO/0 Scale modellers his trees would be perfectly acceptable in the one true scale , 1/35th .

  By and large he is copying photos of actual trees so he has adjusted the shapes of the trunks and branches to match the originals which give some of them an interesting shape . Most of the materials he uses are readily available , though for some getting hold of HEKI static grass might be tricky , but there are plenty of alternatives .

   Although I haven't studied the previous book devoted to deciduous trees in depth I have the feeling that it is easier to make coniferous trees look convincing using this book . However , to get a more accurate view ask Gordon who gave his purse a major coronary on Sunday by buying both books . I don't need to buy the other one now as I'll just borrow his copy !

  I give it about 8 out of 10 .

   Nick

  Don't tell Marty , but it was the butler wot dun it .

[Lawton Maner]

If you are interested, you can buy the book and its twin here:  http://www.pendonmuseum.com/shop/index.php?category=6

The problem is they want that funny money which doesn't have pictures of dead presidents on it.

I think I'll add them to my Christmas list.  No reason for SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) having an easy time in her shopping. 

Lawton

[shropshire lad]

If you are interested, you can buy the book and its twin here:  http://www.pendonmuseum.com/shop/index.php?category=6

The problem is they want that funny money which doesn't have pictures of dead presidents on it.

Lawton

  No , we have pictures of our wonderful living Queen !

I'm sure those who live in untamed countries like the US should be able to find a copy more locally and exchange some beaver pelts or blankets for one ,

  Nick

[marc_reusser]

.... and exchange some beaver pelts or blankets for one ,

  Nick

You must have us confused with Canadians. 

[Krusty]

I was more impressed with the first book, which contains a number of interesting and original ideas. The second volume doesn't really add a whole lot to Jos Geurts' methods, which you can read about for free on t'internet. Gravett does, though, put furnace filter pines in their rightful place as quickie background scenery.

[Mobilgas]

Kevin,    Furnace filter pine's :  I was thinking of ordering the book ...but after hearing Furnace filter pines  and they want funny money?? [No Thanks]

[Gordon Ferguson]

 Thought i had better post a few pics from Nick's book 



Elm Tree



Silver Birch




Craig, the conifer book is a lot better than you may think





Although as far as I can tell he does not mention a scale I would hazard a guess from his last layouts that these are about 1/50 to 1/43.
I think the techniques would work for 1/35, will find out but it might be pushing it for 1/24

[Mobilgas]

Gordon,    The pine trees dont look bad now that i see a bigger picture of them.  How is he makeing them? 

[Gordon Ferguson]

Craig,

Think it would be bit unfair on the author if I just gave away the details of his process , never mind copyright issues.

Send me your e-mail address and I will drop you a line with a quick summary on one of his trees which I hope will encourage you to buy the book.

[shropshire lad]

Kevin,    Furnace filter pine's :  I was thinking of ordering the book ...but after hearing Furnace filter pines  and they want funny money?? [No Thanks]

  No furnace filters were used in the making of trees in this book . He used scouring pads and old floor polishing pads . The effect is pretty good considering .

[Lawton Maner]

Actually, the scouring pad trick is quite good.  When we used to make solid surface tops for our customers, we polished them with varying grades of finer and finer pads.  After that, the pads went to my kitchen for a couple of weeks, and then to the shop.  By then they had lost most of their stiffness and were easier to shred into branch forms for trees.  Most of the finer ones are already a grey colour and didn't need to be painted prior to finishing.  3M makes them for the DIY home finisher to sand between coats of finish.  I still buy them at the local big box and still go from project to kitchen to shop.  My wife has called me a Scotch-Jew more then once for pinching pennies. 

My college roommate was a war gamer and we had 2 7'X14' sand tables in the garage where he would construct battle fields on them.  He used scrap horse hair padding covered with ground foam to represent hedge and other vegetation.  Looked good at the time. 

I don't know how you Brits can tell one bill from another, they all have the Queen's smiling face on them.  Our dead president's are different on each bill and you can tell them by the picture.   

Lawton

[Gordon Ferguson]

I don't know how you Brits can tell one bill from another, they all have the Queen's smiling face on them.  Our dead president's are different on each bill and you can tell them by the picture.   

Lawton

I am going to resist the temptation but sure Nick will be able to explain 

[shropshire lad]

I don't know how you Brits can tell one bill from another, they all have the Queen's smiling face on them.  Our dead president's are different on each bill and you can tell them by the picture.   

Lawton

I am going to resist the temptation but sure Nick will be able to explain 

  Words of one syllable needed here don't you think , Gordon?


Right here we go .

   On English banknotes you have the picture of our wonderful Queen ( don't you agree , Gordon ? ! ? ) and on the other side we have pictures of other people . At the moment there is Elizabeth Fry on the £5 note , Charles Darwin on the £10 note , Adam Smith on the £20 note and ( Gordon will confirm this as I've never seen one ) on the £50 note there is Matthew Boulton and James Watt . Now if this isn't identification enough each note is a different colour , blue for £5 , brown for £10 , a sort of purpley for £20 and red for £50 . Now if this still isn't identification enough for you all the notes are of different sizes , starting with the £5 being the smallest up to the largest , yes you've guessed it , £50 note . This last feature is particularly useful to blind people so that they can identify the notes by touch . You see , one American president looks much the same as another if you can't see .You do have blind people in America , don't you ? Not much concession to them then  .  Common sense really .

  There is a good book by Lee Childs that uses as it's central theme the fact that all the American banknotes are the same size and the baddies found a way of bleaching the colour off $1 notes and reprinting them as $100 notes . I won't tell you how it ends .

  Clear enough for you , Lawton ?

  Nick

[TRAINS1941]

I don't know how you Brits can tell one bill from another, they all have the Queen's smiling face on them.  Our dead president's are different on each bill and you can tell them by the picture.   

Lawton

I am going to resist the temptation but sure Nick will be able to explain 

  Words of one syllable needed here don't you think , Gordon?


Right here we go .

   On English banknotes you have the picture of our wonderful Queen ( don't you agree , Gordon ? ! ? ) and on the other side we have pictures of other people . At the moment there is Elizabeth Fry on the £5 note , Charles Darwin on the £10 note , Adam Smith on the £20 note and ( Gordon will confirm this as I've never seen one ) on the £50 note there is Matthew Boulton and James Watt . Now if this isn't identification enough each note is a different colour , blue for £5 , brown for £10 , a sort of purpley for £20 and red for £50 . Now if this still isn't identification enough for you all the notes are of different sizes , starting with the £5 being the smallest up to the largest , yes you've guessed it , £50 note . This last feature is particularly useful to blind people so that they can identify the notes by touch . You see , one American president looks much the same as another if you can't see .You do have blind people in America , don't you ? Not much concession to them then  .  Common sense really .

  There is a good book by Lee Childs that uses as it's central theme the fact that all the American banknotes are the same size and the baddies found a way of bleaching the colour off $1 notes and reprinting them as $100 notes . I won't tell you how it ends .

  Clear enough for you , Lawton ?

  Nick

Anoher lesson in History.  I thought you only knew about bricks.

Jerry

[finescalerr]

But, Nick, you never explained why a one pound note doesn't actually weigh a pound. And why a 100 pound note weighs only fractionally more than a one pound note. I find all this business with queens and presidents and Darwin and colors and sizes very confusing. Personally, I advocate going on a chickenfat standard. -- ssuR