Miniature Forest Scene

I love carving small trees. In this Instructable, I will go through the process of creating a miniature forest scene. This project can be personalised in a number of ways, based on your preferences. I will add a paragraph at the end of this Instructable with some suggestions so maybe read that first!

Note: For this Instructable, I will assume you are at least a beginner carver with experience making basic cuts.

Also: The original inspiration for my trees came from L P Design. I then adapted them to have their own trunks that would be glued into the base.

• Wood blank for carving: I recommend basswood or perhaps pine. I used NZ macrocarpa (cypress) for this but any wood with a straight grain that is reasonably easy to carve will work.
• Pencil
• Carving/whittling knife: You don't need a special knife for this project. I used a Mora 106 and a smaller detail knife, but even a good pocket knife will work. Be careful with the latter, however, especially if it doesn't have a fixed blade once opened.
• Anti-cut carving gloves
• Flaxseed oil/similar
• Plain shank nails/similar
• Super glue
• Drill
• Small log round/other offcut

I used a wood blank 9 cm long and 2 cm wide. The size of your blank will depend on the overall size you would like your scene to be and the number of trees you want to include. The more trees, the larger your base will have to be, so keep that in mind.

The next step is to start shaping out the rough size of the tree. Go slow, since your blank is not that big and if you remove too much, you won't be left with enough to shape the final tree. Once you have it whittled down to the basic cone shape shown here, mark out a bottom section (roughly a quarter of the blank) for the tree trunk.

Next, you want to define the trunk before you detail the top of the tree. Doing the trunk first will give you a better idea of how to space the details for the top of the tree. Use your knife to score the pencil line you drew all around the tree. Then use stop cuts to carve up into the scored line, removing small amounts at a time. Work around the tree so that you don't remove too much on one side without evening it out all around. As you carve, you can re-score the area separating the truck from the rest of the tree.

The next step is to detail the foliage layers. Take the same approach as for demarcating the trunk. The circles do not have to be perfectly symmetrical (no tree is!). Score all the pencil marks around the tree and again use a stop cut to start removing stock Cut carefully and slowly here. Depending on the wood you are using, if you cut too hard, you will end up taking off wood from the layer you are cutting up to as you remove stock.

Draw a couple of small triangles all around the tree on the different foliage levels. These do not have to be all over the tree and can be placed randomly. They simply add a bit of additional detail and a sense of depth to the overall look. Use the very tip of your carving knife or a detail knife to cut these. Remove each triangle by cutting straight down into the sides of triangle you have drawn, then use the tip of your knife to remove it from the triangle base. Be careful with thin detail knives - you don't want to break off the tip of the blade!

I don't sand my carvings much in general, just a quick once-over with a soft sanding pad using a 120 followed by a 240 grit. Once you have sanded your tree, use a small brush to remove excess dust (an old toothbrush works fine). For oiling my trees, I use food-grade flaxseed oil that can typically be found in supermarkets or pharmacies. Give your tree a generous coat (or two!) of oil and let the oil soak in overnight.

Consider the paragraph below the elevator-music interlude of the Instructable:

These trees can be made in absolutely any way you find appealing. Paint them, don't paint them. When I paint carvings, I use an acrylic wash, that is, a watered-down acrylic paint layer that allows the wood to still shine through under the paint. The third photo here I included to show a painted tree and two trees that I left to show off their natural look. For this Instructable, I have painted my trees but I won't detail the process here since there are so many options in terms of finish. I will briefly detail these in a final paragraph.

Once you have carved as many trees as you want to include in your miniature, it's time to find an appropriate base. For this scene, I used a piece from a medium-sized tree trunk that had been trimmed in our garden. A handsaw was all I needed to cut it. The trunk was already dry, but honestly, I have used green wood in the past with no issues, as long as it is not super-duper wet. I also give my base a good few coatings of flax oil and, again, let it soak in overnight.

Extra tip: If you are a model builder, you can also flock the surface of your base!

Take the trees you have carved and experiment with placing them on your base to find your ideal layout. Once you have this, mark out where each tree is meant to go (you can use numbering, e.g., on the bottom of the tree trunk and a matching number on the base). You now want to drill holes for where your trees will be secured. The size of the hole will depend on the size of the nails you are using. I suggest using a thin but strong nail (mine were 2 x 40 mm) as using too-thick a nail might split your tree base! Gauge the length of your base and each tree trunk, and drill the holes accordingly. Use a drill bit size that will ensure a snug but not forced fit for your nails.

Tip: Use some pliers or a hacksaw to remove the flat top of the nail. This will help to ensure a snug fit!

Once you have drilled the holes in your base and in the bottom of your tree trunks, fit the nails in both (don't glue yet!) holes and make sure that the bottoms of your trees are flush with the surface of your base. Once you are happy all the tree trunks meet the surface of the base, put superglue in both holes. Be careful about overfilling the holes as you don't want glue pushing out from either hole. You can put a small amount directly on the bottom of the trunk as well. Fit the nail in one of the holes and place each tree into its respective hole. Hold the tree down for 30 seconds to a minute. If you have a super glue accelerator, you can also use this for quicker bonding. Do this for all your trees, making sure you give the glue for each a bit of initial bonding time.

You are finished! Enjoy your little forest scene wherever you decide to use it.

As noted at the beginning of this Instructable, there are many ways in which you can adapt the process for making these trees. You can paint your trees or simply oil them and leave them natural looking. The base can be adapted to suit your preference, natural-looking, or more geometrical. If you are a model builder, you can use flock on these projects in a number of ways. You can also carve individual trees, or make a little copse for larger landscapes. And, of course, you can add additional elements to your scene alongside the trees. So have fun with it and use this guideline as a way to adapt these trees in any way that makes them perfect for your particular needs! 🌲