Project Log: Handcrafted Coniferous Trees

PHASE: The Sketch, the Plan, and the Materials

This project has been sitting on my mind for a while — and for two main reasons.

First, trees have always seemed like one of the more challenging types of terrain to scratch-build, just like any other plant-based elements. So I wanted to test my skills and see if I could pull it off. At the same time, I figured conifers might be a bit more forgiving to start with than broadleaf trees, although I definitely plan to create those in the future as well.

There’s also a more nostalgic reason behind it: my very first army in Middle-earth SBG (about twenty years ago!) was High Elves — and I think they’ve been waiting long enough for a proper forest to fight in and to rest in surroundings worthy of Elves.

So this will be a set of tall coniferous trees, designed to add verticality (remember when I wrote about horizontality in the hedge project? 😉) and atmosphere to my future terrain builds. But before jumping into glue and foliage, I wanted to pause and plan things out properly — starting with a sketch.

The sketch phase

I always begin with a drawing to work out proportions and test ideas. For these trees, the key factor was height: they needed to look tall and impressive, but still fit into my storage cabinet. So there was a bit of measuring before any pencil touched the paper. The sketch keeps things consistent later on and helps avoid wasting materials. The tallest trees will only be slightly higher than the previously finished stone menhirs — feel free to check earlier posts if you’d like to read more about them.

Materials

You’ll find the full list in the image below — these are the supplies I’ve gathered for the bases, trunks, and foliage. Check out the gallery in the previous post to see all the materials that will be used in this project. I must admit, I’m really curious to see whether the coconut fiber mat will work for the branches and how the final result will look.

This will be my first attempt at conifers, so it’s going to be a try & learn as you go kind of process. Still, I’m excited to see how these trees will grow on my craft table — and to finally give my Elves the woodland they deserve.

Follow for updates – next phase: trunks and structure!