First in Scaled Miniature Knarly Oak Tree Armatures
"Grading "

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I know folks are concerned about the quality of products I sell. And I will try to address that here. A picture is worth a thousand words and this is what my knarly armatures look like. On my scale of 1 to 10, this would be a 9. These are natural wood pieces and, of course, no two are alike. Generally, I try to cull those pieces that fall below what I consider a score of 5. So I sell pieces that score 6 to 10. This armature measures about 5 inches.

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This I would score as a 8 or 9. It has beautiful branching. It would be a 10 if the trunk were perfectly straight. But like nature, many trees have a slightly bent or leaning trunk. Some people would call this a 10 because the forests they model commonly have a lean to the trunk and they actually want that characteristic or they want to position their trees on steep slopes where many plants develop this natural curve to the trunk. This armature is nearly 8 inches long.

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This would rate a 6 or maybe a 7 on my scale. This is a low end piece. Note that it is a bit off center and that it is relatively sparsely branched. But then again, different tree species take different forms. Note that the branching is more vertical and the branches are relatively straight and reach straight up. This is a much different form than the highly branched piece demonstrated above. Some modelers find this more open style preferable because it is easier and provides a unique form for decorating. The one above is maybe harder to work with because the branches are so dense. Again, this imperfect piece would be great for those species that have realively open canopies - that allow scattered sunlight to dance with shapes of shade on the ground. This is an excellent piece to model red alder on the west coast and willows just about anywhere.
This armature measures about 12 inches.

Most forests are composed of at least 4 species of trees. And the composition changes with both slope and elevation. It would not be inappropriate to model a layout with at least 8 species of trees. Even in western coniferous forests have some broadleaf trees. This armature would be an excellent alder and would work well in close groupings to form the dense stands so common on the west coast - in which case, you would not notice the imperfections. Actually, you want some imperfections. That is actually what creates that convincing natural scene. My point is, you can make things so perfect that they don't look real. And that is why I cull to level 5 so that a few imperfect pieces are including in the mix of armatures.

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Those who have purchased my armatures have noticed that many of my pieces have natural knots and burls on the trees. Click for a larger image here and you will see a knot near the base of the tree. These are natural wood pieces and you really can't get better than mother nature. This is a 4 inch armature. It was graded as a 8. It has a natural wind sheered top and that one branch is a bit too robust and the main reason it is graded a bit lower.

Here they are - my MIGHTY BIG Knarly Sagebush Armatures.

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This is a 28" Knarly looking Tree Armature (base is over 2 inches in diameter).
Please note that any armatures over 18" are EXTREMELY expensive to ship.
All armatures are used to model trees such as oaks, maples, walnuts, sweet birch, chinkapin, hickory, pecan, chestnut, beech, buckeye, elms, mulberries, osage-orange, magnolias, sassafras, sycamore, madrone, hawthorns, apples, plums, cherries, white poplar, and other trees with rather broad and irregular, rounded or domed canopies. The clear boles or trunks are shorter than the height of the branched sections above.

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This is a 18" Knarly Tree Armature.
These trees are of such high quality that they can stand alone undecorated as knarly and twisted dead trees. A few dead trees in your layout can go a long way to bringing out that realistic look.

Six inch armature.