Making Miniature Trees Part One

Recently I was commissioned to create two palm trees and two leafy type trees. The trees are to be used as part of a miniature jungle set for an independent stop motion animation film.

The trees are going to be approximately 24" tall. Each tree has a birch wood base. Because the trees need to be rock steady during the animation process I added a bolt to the base to secure them to the model set.

Next I glued three 1/4" wood dowels together. Wrapping them with cotton twine will help hold the paper mache in place when it is applied.

Here I am using floral wire to anchor the dowels to the aluminum wire from the tree base.

Working Ave's Apoxie clay around the bolt head and wire will lock everything in place and create a rock hard base for the tree trunk.

Here I'm applying a mixture of taxidermy mache, Celluclay mache, and a little Plaster of Paris to accelerate the drying time. When the trunks are thoroughly dry I'll be able to move onto the next stage!