"How Tall Should Model Trees Be?" Topic

How tall should model trees be from the tip of the top, to the roots in the ground?

For 28 mm figures.

In inches, lads. If possible.

I started out making some Tall Pines, but decided to switch over to shorter, fuller Pines halfway through.

Presently, the trunks are about 16 inches.

There is anywhere from four to six inches of branches and leaves, per tree.

I can easily cut off part of the trunk at the bottom to shorten things.

I'll vary whatever measurement I decide on anyway. Trees that are all the same height look ridiculous.

So, how much should I cut?

Are you going for a realistic scale model, or one that is practical for actual gaming ?

I have a load at about 6-7" which for gaming purposes are large enough to be trees (not saplings), but short enough to not get in the way of my mates' clumsy hands.

I have a small tree in my front garden.

It is a Japanese maple.

My house has two stories

The tree is way taller than my house.

Make your trees look right.

I find over 12 inches way to tall, hard to get your hand in amoung the trees, I have a few at that height but mostly under around 8 inches

I usually go for trees between 15 and 20 cm. These can be taller than houses, but not so tall as to get in the way of moving models.

trees in a forest should be all sizes, so there is no answer unless you want regimented trees?

True scale would be 30-40". On a wargame table, Giles is about right. I usually figure 2-3 times the height of a mounted casting.

Also the taller the tree the larger the base must be to keep from falling over.

I keep most of the between 3-4.5 inches tall, with 6 inches for "notable" trees. Then again, I have figures move amoung the trees, so they are unnaturally spaced as well.

regimented trees

Are the trees going to war?

No, Etotheipi. In the end, trees lack discipline. Topiary gardens will win the war.

Giles is right. Tall enough to look good but not too tall so players keep knocking them over.

As tall as $1 USD gets me…

As tall as looks 'right'- whatever that means for you.
Another good question is how wide a river or stream should be?

Topiary gardens will win the war.

Good point. I wouldn't count out the Banzai, either. Raising DOM has taught me that small with great intensity can really kick your butt around the horn and back.

My opinion any size you have, sapplings are 6 foot, old growth can be 200 feet.

The taller the trees are, the more they get knocked over when units are moved into and through forests. A range of 2 to 6 inches seems to work out pretty well for scales from 1:300 to about 1:64 (or whatever 28mm works out to be).

Also, the denser the forest, the more it gets knocked over. A couple of inches between trees is usually enough.

That being said, it has to look right enough to work on the table. Jungle is going to be denser than rainforest, which will be denser than taiga, etc.

My rule of thumb is 3-4 times the figure height.

Heh, worrying about tree height relative to houses does seem to be a wargamer thing.

But apparently two inch high hills are sweet!

I go for the shortest trees that don't look ridiculous.

I actually keep small, medium, large and humongous. Smalls are about 1 1/2 to 2" and go with microscale. Larges are around 6" and go with 28mm. Mediums and Humongous live in the garage and will not be measured until the weather improves, but I think it's medium 3-4" and humongous nearer 12" for 15-20mm and 54mm respectively. Probably they're each about one size smaller then they should be relative to the troops. But they look like a woods, they seldom fall over and you can see the troops.

For 28mm evergreens, I recommend at least 8 – 9" tall, using a rough scale of 5mms per foot – this results in a 40' – 45' tall tree (5.5mms is really more accurate, but the other is close enough for me, to make the math a lot simpler – 300mms per foot, roughly, which equates to a 60' tree that is 12" tall).

Note, even a 60' evergreen isn't really a tall one.

Works better for oaks, maples, and other types of small trees though. Big oak trees can be 100' – 120' plus, where there's lots of rain. Small ones out West can be only 20' tall or so, where there's little rain during the Summer.

Your 16" trees are roughly 80' tall in this scale, which would be excellent for evergreens.

Anything over about 6" tall just gets knocked over when moving figures. Why worry about tree heights when your hills are way under scale. A 100 foot hill should be about 2 feet high in scale….

Tall enough to reach the model sky?

I keep mine 6" and under, bigger than that and they get in the way of movement.

The type of gaming makes a difference.

For 15mm skirmishy gaming, I'd want them 4"-8" tall, so they look in scale next to the miniatures.

I mostly do medium unit gaming with soldiers (roughly 1:20ish), so I prefer to trees to be underscale in order to create the impression of busy terrain and forests with a minimum of footprint, and to go with all the other underscale terrain: 1.5"-2" for small ones, 2.5"-3.5" for medium ones, and 4"+ for really large ones, mixed and matched in clumps. As long as the trees are larger than the soldiers, and mostly slightly taller than the one-scale-down buildings, they're good.

- Ix

For 28mm skirmish, I do a sliding scale of 2" (apple trees) to 9" (mature oak, tall pine), maybe a signature tree pushing 12". It gives a good visual for tree heights while still allowing easier access to reach in and move figures.