Pollarded Willows

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A special how to guide

Bob Alderman

I am building a new 7mm railway to replace Albion Quarry. It has moved from a plan, one or two buildings, some rolling stock and a picture of what it will look like in my head, to the beginnings of a layout. Imagine a mill beside a slow river lined with willow trees behind it and the railway crossing the river to a decidedly sleepy terminus.

I’ve been thinking about the willow trees. There are some superb illustrations by Arthur Rackham in Wind in the Willows, old, gnarly and slightly sinister. More prosaically there are also illustrations in several tree books but I found the best picture that suited me on the internet (http://www.geograph.org.uk). In fact the best pictures are all on the Somerset Levels within a few miles of where I live but at the time of writing inaccessible due to flooding!

Pollarding is the cycle of cutting the new growth on a willow. The withies produced are often used for basket or hurdle making. It makes a distinctive profile of a short trunk with branch stubs or bosses. The withy grows from these bosses. One advantage for the model maker is that the trees are short; for a regularly cropped tree around 8 to 10 feet of trunk or if they are overlooked then a little larger.

With picture to hand it was clear that the more usual methods of tree making with wire would not suit. All that has to be made is a trunk with the addition of relatively straight fine stems for the withies. I have used balsa and bristles from a brush. The idea came from members of my club. I showed them the picture of what I proposed to make and the suggestion for bristles was prompted by one who was holding a paintbrush. This led to broom bristles.

Here are the main components: 3/8 in square balsa, DAS air drying clay for the bark, some heavy gauge copper wire for joining and roots and some bristles.

Harvesting the bristles.

One end is then drilled to accept the copper wire, at least five positions around the end and one up the middle. Short lengths of the wire are glued in to make the foundations for the roots and a locating spigot.

The trunk was coated with wood glue to help the DAS bond to the surface. Fingers are the best tool for spreading the glue.

Now for the Das clay which is simply squeezed over the wire and along the trunk. It doesn’t matter if the ends of the wire protrude. These will be lost later when the tree is planted.

This and the subsequent texturing is a continuous operation as I have worked it whilst it is still soft.

You will note that the Das has not been 10 blended into the previously added layer beside and above. All I have done is ensure that they are in contact. This lumpy bumpy finish helps with the subsequent texturing. Most of the bark texture has been applied with a scalpel. The blade is drawn down the trunk successively. Slight diagonals help break up the strips into smaller sections. Splits and bosses where branches once were can be created.

Handling the trunk whist the Das is still soft does mean that the bark detail can be flattened so reworking these areas is necessary.

The bosses where the withy grows are added next. Das is rolled into balls and stuck on to end of the trunk. It helps if a small blob of wood glue is placed where the boss is to go. The scalpel is used to press the ball into the trunk.

When the requisite number of bosses have been added they are also textured. I used a small wire brush pressed into the boss to create a stippled surface. This also slightly flattens the boss.

Retouch the bark as necessary and a final touch is to lightly drag the wire bush over the surface. This pulls up small pieces of DAS adding to the roughness. The trunk is now set aside to dry. On a radiator the DAS hardens to a handing state over about three hours. On my first trunk I drilled the bosses and inserted the bristles before painting the trunk. This is not easy as the bristles impede the paint brush. Subsequent trunks have been painted first.

The steps of painting do not lend 15 themselves to photographs as it is a continuous process blending colours to the finished effect. I have used both craft and artist’s acrylics for the finish. The first coat is a light grey with a touch of olive green partially added. The two colours are side by side on the palette and the brush picks up a little of each one over the other and then brushed onto the surface.

Crevices are darkened with more green. The bosses and roots have a single colour of burnt sienna. The colours are worked as they dry and blended one into another as appropriate. Not a helpful statement but actually doing will make it clear. Once the paint was dry a wash of black was run over the whole ensuring it goes into the deeper cracks and crevices.

This enlargement is cropped out of the whole trunk picture to better show the colour and texture.

The next stage is to add the bristles. The bosses are drilled 1mm diameter; there is no particular pattern but holes are nominally 2 – 3 mm apart. Try and keep a notional vertical sense to the holes as much as possible but a horizontal set is unavoidable at the lower positions. The dry DAS makes a white powder when drilled that will fill the bark texture. A damp brush removes it.

The bristles are then inserted. A patch of wood glue is put on a suitable surface; the ends of the bristle are dipped in this and then inserted into the bosses. Start in the middle and work outwards from one side to the other. The blob of glue at the base is of no consequence and can be left if it is not too large. The bristles are then trimmed to length. Xuron cutters work well. The lowest and nearest to horizontal are around 15mm in length, whilst the remainder are from 20 to 30mm long. I trimmed them measuring by eye so they looked right. Look from on top too; the tree plan should be nearly circular.

The final stage is to add the foliage. I have used Green Scene’s moorland mixture. It is nearer a spring green with a yellow content than others. For 7mm its coarseness also suited. In 4mm finer foliage would be better. The bristles were painted with wood glue slightly diluted by dipping the brush in water before picking up the glue. Depending on the quantity of bristles a boss at a time proved easiest to tackle. Once glued the foliage was sprinkled over them. Any bare areas re-glued and more foliage applied. Once dry any white spots can be retouched. Besides a single trunk branched ones can be made in a similar manner to that described above. Here the three pieces of balsa have been shaved to reduce their section in the branches

The trees have been planted on the evolving layout. The truncated roots have been extended into the ground. Again these were sculpted in DAS. The grass will follow. Note the stump; this was an “I wonder?” moment using up some DAS.