Terrain Workshop: Easy Tree Armatures

I wanted to bring back terrain building posts, as I feel that they are among the more useful of my posts, but I do not care to make it a weekly thing again. Thus, I am going to label all the terrain posts I do from this point on as "Terrain Workshop" posts.

First up: Today I tried my hand at making some tree armatures. For now, they will serve as dead trees until I find suitable flock (or motivation) to make them live, or at least dying.

What you will need:
*Paperclips (jumbo for taller trees, small paperclips make decent shrubbery or short trees as well as smaller branches)
*Hot glue gun
*Basing material (cardboard, foamboard, or cork)
*2 sets of pliers
*Craft paints

STEP 1:
Use the two pairs of pliers to twist the paperclips into the tree's roots, trunk, and top branches. Usually it takes at least 3 paperclips for this, but the more is usually the better. Cut out the base for your area terrain from the material of your preference (I used cork in this example).

STEP 2:
The gluegun should be hot by now, so use it to glue the wire armature to the area terrain base. After it is secure, simply use the hot glue to give the wire armature some shape. I have heard that you can alternatively use air-drying clay for more control, but hot glue is generally a lot cheaper. I start large at the base, building up the trunk before moving out to the branches. If you get the strings from the hot glue, you'll need to get rid of them, so your miniatures don't become entangled in them. Also be sure to cover all the paperclip armature, because the metal does not hold paint very well. Let this glue harden completely before going on to the final step.

STEP 3:
Paint it. If you have other terrain pieces, use a similar method for the ground as you have done before. For the trees, I suggest either a dark brown, or a light brown drybrushed with a light grey for a dead appearance.