HOW TO make PALM TREES

I use last years sea weed to make the trunk for the palm trees - dry and easy to 'harvest'

After cleaning them up they look like this - I leave a part of the lower 'section' as you can see to the left in the Picture to give the base of the final tree some strength

Making the top section of foam plastic that is cut and trimmed to shape

Glue the top foam piece to the sea weed

To get the right structure on the trunk I use paper napkin - water based glue mixed with water 50/50 and adding a drop or two of dishwash detergent to 'soften' the mixture. Applying this gently as I turn the piece slowly - after about 3 or 4 rounds it is left to dry, hanging

The structure is quite satisfactory

I make more than one when I'm at it....

Drybrushing some than enamel to the trunk once it's dry makes the effect even better

Palm leaves - goose feathers - or similar birds for that matter

Painting the feathers using green enamel - two coats is recommended

When the green enamel is dry, I give the center part of each feather a touch of brownish - and then trim the feathers to get more of the palm leave look

Glueing the trimmed and painted feathers into the foam top of the trunk in appropriate settings - visible here is the brownish center of the leaves (feathers)

And here you have a palm tree - suitable for 1:35th scale in this size - smaller trunks and smaller leaves will work for 1:72nd or 1:87th scale (HO) - have used some for 1:25th scale since palm trees comes in all sizes....

Thank you for watching and good luck!