Fixing the wire tree trunks

I did get some comments about how to hide the wire tree trunks on previous blips.

Today I addressed the wire tree trunks for the first 75 tree armatures I have made.  When I was reading the instructions that came with my tree maker, The McKinsie Brothers had thought about the wire trunk showing and had solved it.  They got sawdust (I got mine from Home Depot off the floor at the cutting rack) and ground it to a fine powder. Then they sprayed the trucks of the armatures with dilute glue (40% Elmer's Glue, 60% water) and sprinkled on the sawdust over the trunk.  Once you tap it with another dowel to knock off the excess, the wire truck is disguised.  Once it is painted and the tree flocked in the next step, I do not think the wire will be all that noticeable.  Pretty neat low cost solution.  The blip is the last trunk I did today.  About 2 hours to do the 75 trees including cleanup.

For the larger trees I will make for the Sn3 layout, I bought a package of trunks from the Brothers .  Again - these guys are really creative. They pick up grape vines from the ground after the local vineyards trim back the plants for winter.  They bundle them up and let them set for a while to straighten and dry.  Then they cut them to length.  Then the drill holes in both ends - one to receive the tree armature and the other for a piano wire stage to plant the tree in the scenery. They look really good.  But too small and too many trees for me to do this on the N scale layout.  So I bought a bag of trunks from them at a train show.