I strongly believe that you can make a jungle in one of two ways: you can go for something that looks nice, but really don't allow models to move around between the trees, or you can make something not-so-good-looking that are fit for models to stomp around.
I have found that a palm can be made from a cork wrapped in gauze dipped in plaster of paris and with parts from aquarium plants as leaves.
Mushrooms can be made from upholstery nails and plastic beads (to thicken the stern) as shown in the picture above.
Nice looking, not very game-friendly jungle
Most jungles are not flat. Trees are often growing on low mounds/hills, so why not make one?
- Use any kind of thin basing (an old CD might come in handy here).
- Cut some foam into a rough shape of a very low hill. This is primary to reduce weight.
- Cover the low hill totaly in spartle or plaster of paris. This define the hill.
- Paint the hill dark brown or black to represent earth.
- Now comes the time to cut pieces off from the plastic aquarium plants and candle decorations.
- Using small drills and/or screwdrivers/knives make some holes in the spartle where the trees/busshes can be 'planted'.
- Spread your preferred glue all over the hill and make sure you come something into every hole. I sometimes use watered down Elmers glue. You might want to only work on part of the model at a time to avoid the glue to dry premature.
- Plant a aquarium plant or part of a candle decoration in each hole. Then flock the model. I find it much easier to flock at the same time as I 'plant' the trees.
- When dry, I prefer to varnish the flock in order to avoid it falling off.
Game-friendly, not very good-looking jungle
These jungle stands are ideal for travel/storing as they can be stored in about 1/8 of the space of a nice-looking jungle stand of the same size, as the plants can be removed from the bases.
- Use any kind of thin but strong basing, cut into irregular shape.
- Glue some steel rings on the base where you want the trees.
- Paint the base as junglelike as you like. I've painted mine green and then sprayed some textured paint on top, but the result is a bit pale.
- Now make some trees from aquarium plants or candle decorations. Glue each tree/plant onto a smal magnet. You might need to make some small bases from clay or some other material in order to get the plants glued to the magnet.
- Finished!
