Spruce Tree Tutorial

In this tutorial, I will show you how I build my spruce trees (like the ones in the image above).

To build these trees you will need the following:

Wooden dowel rod (6 mm diameter) or 3D printed trunks (more on that below)
Sharp knife
Measuring tape
Marker pen
Electric drill with a 1 mm drill bit
Garden wire (0.6-0.8 mm diameter)
Wire cutter
Plasticard (1 mm thick)
Hot glue gun
Superglue
Baking soda
PVA glue
Fine sand or sawdust
Static grass applicator
Static grass (2 mm, 7 mm and 12 mm)
Scissors
Spray colour (brown or grey)
Spray varnish (matt clear)
Brush
Grey-brown hobby paint

As the first part of the process (cutting the wooden dowel, tapering it, drilling holes and attaching a base) is rather labour-intensive, I tried designing my own tree trunk that could be printed on an FDM printer. The printed trunk already has holes and a base, which means you can avoid the boring stages and get to the fun stuff quicker! You can download the STL file (which contains four trunks of varying heights) for free on Cults3D. I don't know much about 3D design, but I printed the model on my own printer and it worked fine, so hopefully it will work for you too.

Stage-by-stage process

Note: If you are using the 3D printed model you can skip directly to stage 4.

Stage 1: Preparing the trunk

Start with a wooden dowel rod, for example one made for supporting plants. I used one with a diameter of 6 mm for this tree, but for my taller trees I used one with a diameter of 8 mm. Cut it to your desired length. The one in the example is about 13 cm tall, while my tallest trees are around 22-23 cm. Once you have the correct length, use a sharp knife (always cut away from yourself) and taper the top end.

Stage 2: Drilling the holes

Decide how much space there will be between each ring of branches and how many branches there will be in each ring. In this example I went for a distance of 1 cm on the top half and 2 cm on the bottom half. I only put four branches in each ring in this example, but six looks better. Drill holes straight through the trunk using a 1 mm drill bit. Remember to drill a hole in the top of the trunk, so that you can insert a piece of wire there to create the tip of the tree.

Stage 3: Creating the base

Cut a circular base with a diameter of around 3 cm from a suitable material such as plasticard, then use a hot glue gun to attach the tree to the base. If you want to you can also create roots by drawing a line of glue from the trunk to the edge of the base.

Stage 4: Cutting the branches

Take a roll of garden wire with a diameter of 0.6-0.8 mm (I'm not sure of the exact thickness of the one I used) and cut pieces that are around 9-10 cm long. These will form the branches of the tree.

Stage 5: Attaching the branches

Push a piece of wire through each hole in the trunk and glue them in place. The best solution I have found is to use superglue and baking soda to fix the wire in place. It can be a messy process, but once this is done, you are past the most labour-intensive part.

This is the 'ugly' stage, but it will soon improve!

Stage 6: Trimming the branches

Take a wire cutter and trim the branches to the desired length, and then bend them into a shape that looks natural. Decide if the tree will be a free-standing one and thus will have green branches all the way to the ground, or one that has grown up with less space and thus will have green branches only on the top half. Look at photographs of real spruce trees if you are unsure of the shape. Also, don't overthink it, as spruce trees come in a wide variety of shapes and forms.

Stage 7: Texturing the trunk

Paint the trunk with PVA glue and sprinkle it with a fine material that can simulate bark. In this case I used an old basing mix from Army Painter called Battlefields Ash Grey, but things like fine sand or fine sawdust will work too.

Stage 8: Applying the static grass mix

In this stage we will use a static grass applicator to apply a mix of 7 and 12 mm static grass to the garden wire to create the branch structure. You can buy a static grass applicator for anywhere between £20 and £120 depending on which model it is. Or, if you're a cheapskate like me, you can make your own applicator out of an electric fly swatter.

When it comes to static grass any brand will do, but in this tutorial I used a mix of Woodland Scenics Dark Green 7 mm and 12 mm.

The photograph below was taken just before I applied the static grass. Start by painting the branches with PVA glue, but not all the way up to the trunk, since the upper part of spruce branches are generally bare. Once the glue is applied place the alligator clip on one of the lower branches, fill up the sieve with grass and activate the applicator. Shake the applicator and move it about the tree so that the grass sticks to all the glued parts. Be very careful not to touch the alligator clip with the sieve! Static grass applicators generate an electrostatic charge, and accidental contact can be very unpleasant. It has happened to me, and trust me, you'll want to avoid that.

Once the grass has been applied it should look something like this.

Stage 9: Trimming the static grass

Once the glue has dried, take a pair of scissors and trim off any static grass that protrudes too much, particularly on the top side of the branches.

Stage 10: Spray painting

Spray the entire tree with a suitable colour, such as a grey-brown, warm grey or a muted brown. I would avoid reddish-brown tones, as the bark on older spruce trees is typically grey-brown. The colour I used here is probably not ideal, but it was the best option I had available.

Stage 11: Applying the 2 mm static grass

Once the paint has dried, it's time to apply the green needles using 2 mm static grass. Here I'm using Heki Nr. 3362 'Moorboden' as it's a nice dark green colour with some brown accents.

Spray the branches (try not to hit the trunk) with clear matt varnish and apply the static grass with the applicator (don't get zapped!). You will likely need to repeat this process several times to achieve good coverage.

Stage 12: Removing excess static grass

Take a stiff brush and try to remove excess grass that may have ended up on the trunk.

Stage 13: Drybrushing

Drybrush the trunk with a grey-brown colour of choice. This is optional, but it makes the tree look a bit nicer.

Stage 14: Repositioning the branches

During the previous stages it is likely that some branches might have been bent or moved out of position. Gently bend them back into the desired position.