How to Make a STUNNING Tree - The Easy Way

Today, we're making this tree. It's a nice tree, if I do say so myself. You can use this kind of tree in dioramas, wargaming, dnd, home decor, or whatever else you want. Oh yeah, let's get started. We're going to start with some 22 gauge floral wire. Split it into five uneven bundles, and then bend it at 90 degrees, two to three inches from the bottom, like so. Grab one wire, and wrap it a couple times up the long end. Grab a different wire, and wrap it a couple times down the short end. Wrap two of the bundles a few inches up. Heck yeah. Combine all the bundles, and wrap them together with one of the low wires. You'll notice I curved two of the bundles to create a hollow knot in the trunk. Keep wrapping up the trunk until you're ready for your first branch. It should look something like this. Split off a thick group of wires for a low-hanging branch. At this point, you can keep working up the trunk, splitting branches where you see fit. Now you can start to split those branches into smaller ones. Once you get down to four wires, you can just twist them instead of wrapping. These wires can get unruly after a while, so you can just bend them out of the way while you work. Keep wrapping, twisting, and splitting until you get down to only single wires at the end of each branch. Should look something like this. Don't worry, it gets better. I have a place in my heart for crooked trees, so I bent this sh** out of mine. You do not have to do this. I also had to pry the knot open again because it closed during all this bending. Don't forget about the roots! Now we're going to clip all the ends to about half an inch or so. And that's the armature done! Get your hot glue out, it's time to make the bark. At this stage, we just want glue on the wire. Don't worry about texture yet. I recommend starting at the ends and working your way towards the trunk. It's just easier to hold that way. A toothpick is helpful for pushing the glue around in tight spaces. Once you're happy with coverage, go around and pick off all those annoying hot glue spider webs. And now you should have a super gloopy tree. You can use the hot end of the glue gun to start adding bark texture by following the grain of the tree. Larger drips can be smooshed down with the flat part of the nozzle. You can do the whole tree this way, or you can get a little more control by using a heat-adjustable wood burner on the lowest setting. I find the angled chisel tip gives me the best results. Then it's as simple as following the direction of the curves until you're happy with the texture. Now it's time for super trees, also known as seafoam trees or zekeum, or taloxis aristata if you're a biologist. Take out a few bunches like so, and then break off sections of the base. You should end up with something that looks a bit like this. Cyano acrylate with a can of accelerant is definitely necessary for good adhesion here. Just stick the bundles to the ends of your branches or a little further back if it's a larger piece. The pieces usually have a fluffy side and a flat side. Make sure you put the fluffy side up or away from the tree as it looks more natural that way. It takes a while, but keep adding them until you have a tree that looks, well, like a tree. Once you're done, spray with 50% ice purple alcohol and then some thin PVA glue to seal everything in for painting. And for the love of god, rinse your sink or you will regret it. It's finally starting to look like a tree! Yay! Next, we're gonna prime it in black. Spooky. It's time to airbrush. Oh yeah. I just thinned down some cheap acrylic paint here to get a brownish gray color, but if you don't have an airbrush, you can just buy a cheat can of brown or gray spray paint and get the same results. Now it's time to dry brush. I'm sure you've heard of this technique by now, but all you need to do is dab some paint on a fluffy brush, wipe it onto a paper towel until there's barely anything left, and then lightly flick it over the surface to catch all the raised areas. Then we do a wash coat by thinning down some black and brown acrylic paint and then slopping it over everything liberally. Now you can actually see all the texture you added earlier. If you want a spooky tree, you can stop here. Otherwise, it's time to flock. I chose a pink cherry blossom color for this tree, but you can use any color you like. Spray some more thinned PVA on all the branches over the sink and then you're just gonna sprinkle the flock over all the ends. I'm using super leaves here, but there are usually lots of brands to choose from at your local hobby store. I put three layers on, allowing about 10 minutes to dry between coats. You can use a stiff bristled brush and some tweezers to get the flocking off the trunk and larger branches. That is a nice tree right there. If you're using this tree for terrain, you can either make a base or leave it as is. But because mine is a birthday present for a friend and meant to be decor, I quickly modeled and printed a simple pot for it. I painted the pot in a dark teal to complement the paint. I made the substrate using some moss from a local trail that I dried in silica. And that's that! If you found this video helpful, it would be awesome if you gave me a thumbs up to help me in the algorithm, and if you want to see more tutorials and builds, then be sure to subscribe!