I can't remember where I first saw these but one of my fellow bloggeratti highlighted what a bargain these were, so I decided to follow suit and splash the cash ...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161353954574?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Yes... they really are £3.37, for 20 trees, and post free from China! I have no idea how they do it..!
A mere week and a bit later - a padded envelope arrived with the following in it..
Which when unpacked, translated to the following..
Bit rough and ready, but when I think back to the monstrosities we used when I first started gaming back in the early 70's* absolutely excellent
*at one point it was considered optimal to use pine cones covered in flock as pine/fir trees!
This time with a 25mm figure for scale..
So having cleaned up the bottom of the base (chopped it off with a sharp blade), I raided the mites piggy banks for a fist full of 2p's and set to work with a hot glue gun# and ended up with the following...
# what an amazing piece of kit - first time I'd used one, and purpose made for the job.. just lay the bottom of the tree on it's side in the middle of the 2p, big blob of hot glue on the bottom of the tree, and stand the tree up for the glue to cool.. you end up with the tree anchored in a lump of glue that later paints up nicely as the root base.. all I need to do is figure out how to stop the glue stringing!
Base coated with a cheap craft acrylic mud brown, heavy dry brush with Dark Angels green (that dates me), PVA glue and flock with a few bushes and bits of grit to add verisimilitude.. done!
So what do I think of them?? For the money, quite astounding value... I've put the smallest ones to one side - I'll use them on terrain pieces, or the like, in the future... being soft plastic, and having been crammed in a plastic bag they come out a bit bent, and being that same soft plastic they are resistant to being unbent (they eventually go back to that shape after being straightened!); I suspect heat would be required to straighten them permanently, but to be honest I'm not bothered, I quite like them that way... Steve the Wargamer rates these 8 out of 10.. for the price, astonishing...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161353954574?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Yes... they really are £3.37, for 20 trees, and post free from China! I have no idea how they do it..!
A mere week and a bit later - a padded envelope arrived with the following in it..
Which when unpacked, translated to the following..
Bit rough and ready, but when I think back to the monstrosities we used when I first started gaming back in the early 70's* absolutely excellent
*at one point it was considered optimal to use pine cones covered in flock as pine/fir trees!
This time with a 25mm figure for scale..
# what an amazing piece of kit - first time I'd used one, and purpose made for the job.. just lay the bottom of the tree on it's side in the middle of the 2p, big blob of hot glue on the bottom of the tree, and stand the tree up for the glue to cool.. you end up with the tree anchored in a lump of glue that later paints up nicely as the root base.. all I need to do is figure out how to stop the glue stringing!
Base coated with a cheap craft acrylic mud brown, heavy dry brush with Dark Angels green (that dates me), PVA glue and flock with a few bushes and bits of grit to add verisimilitude.. done!
So what do I think of them?? For the money, quite astounding value... I've put the smallest ones to one side - I'll use them on terrain pieces, or the like, in the future... being soft plastic, and having been crammed in a plastic bag they come out a bit bent, and being that same soft plastic they are resistant to being unbent (they eventually go back to that shape after being straightened!); I suspect heat would be required to straighten them permanently, but to be honest I'm not bothered, I quite like them that way... Steve the Wargamer rates these 8 out of 10.. for the price, astonishing...
They do look rather nice and I am going to have to get some of these
ReplyDeletePanzer.. for a big game where you needed a lot of woods these are unbeatable... a little rough and ready on their own, but passable... and at that price who cares?! :o)
DeleteVery tempting, I have already bought some bamboo from them and I can't understand their pricing giving the distance it has to be posted.
ReplyDeleteWhat are they like for shedding leaves, as I need something similar for Sicily
Hi Will - pretty good I'd say.. little loss in transit and they stood up well to be being bent around.. the fellow who's blog I saw them on first (and I wish I could remember who it was to say thanks!) used hairspray to set the flock a little firmer...
DeleteSteve - I haven't tried this myself but being soft plastic if you put them into hot water they should return to their original shape.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that "Unknown".. only problem is that they are fibre flocked... If I was really keen to have a go I might experiment over a candle flame, or heating up the ends of some tweezers...
DeleteI bought trees from the same company. Weeping willow types and some silver birch - all quite necessary for the GNW. Like you I was very pleased with the purchase and am now considering more.
ReplyDeleteUnlike you mine are still in the bag waiting to be used.
Paul - I have no idea how they can do that at the price - I can only assume they must be making millions of the damn things.... must have a rootle around their products and see what else they do..
DeleteThey look pretty good for that price, I think I've found the start of my terrain project for next year :)
ReplyDelete