Conifers From Scouring Pads
While trying to find a way to easily produce a forest for my tabletop I decided on conifers. They seem rare on gaming tables, making them a more interesting piece than the typical gaming tree. Better yet, I found a technique for making them with is very simple and inexpensive.
To make these trees you'll need some wooden dowel (kebab skewers and gardening canes should also work well), and some green plastic scouring pads of the fibrous type.
Cut a length of dowel about 5 inches long. This will be the trunk of the tree. Sharpen the top end of the tree to assist the adding of foliage. A pencil sharpener is probably the ideal tool for this job. Note that the dowel does not need to be so sharp as to be a hazard on the gaming table; just enough to assist in adding the foliage. Paint the trunk a suitable bark colour and put them aside to dry.
Prepare the scouring pads by separating them into irregularly shaped pieces about 2 inches across. Pull the scouring pad apart along its length to make it thinner and to make it look less like a scouring pad. Then skewer the pieces of scouring pad onto the trunk. Leave spaces between the layers and use a dot of glue to fix them in place. Be sure to leave enough room under the bottom branches for miniatures to stand comfortably. Note also that on a real tree, the spaces gaps between the lower layers of branches will be slightly larger than the gaps between the upper layers.
Once covered in foliage add a small lump of leftover scouring pad to the top of the trunk to hide the end of the trunk and put it aside while the glue dries.
The next step is to trim the foliage into shape using a pair of scissors. Remember that real trees are not perfect cones, so resist the temptation to make them symmetrical.
The trees should look great by this point, however they will benefit from being drybrushed on the tops of the scouring pad foliage with light green paint. This adds colour variation to the foliage and simulates light hitting the branches. The downwards brush stroke will also help to shape the layers of foliage giving them an even more natural appearance.
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