Gallery

Photo Gallery

Mitchell Niemiec sent in this shot of a Sierra West Mill and a snag tree on his HO scale layout which features the Sierra Nevada mountains in the 1920s. Thank you, Mitch! -R

12/24/21: Steven Kelley placed 16" and 18" Medium detail trees into this logging scene. Thank you, Steven! -Rog

12/12/2021
Below: Chris McMillian sent in this photo of a ScaleTrains C39-8 Pennsylvania Northeastern he has weather as seen in 2016. And yes, that's a Coastmans tree in the foreground, so this one counts. Thank you, Chris! -R

03/1/2021
Below: Phil Lehman has used 5/16ths logs which he cut to make rounds ready for burning in this most awesome General 4-4-0. Thanks Phil! -R

I have at least temporarily misplaced the title for the three above photos. Great job! -R

01/24/2021
Above: Alexander Cassani shared a few photos of his Rio Grande Southern in HO, which he is constructing and now scenicking, in Switzerland! Thanks Alexander! -R

12/27/2020
Below: Chris Piscatella of southern California has finished this beautiful diorama based on a photo of an old mining site. Way to go Chris! -R

12/19/2020
Carl Brainerd has updated his log pond photo. The previous photo showed the pond sans water. This is an amazing sawmill scene. Carl handmade all the trees himself from Coastmans materials. Thanks Carl!

7/14/2020
Alex Richards is showing us how to do it with this O scale diorama. He used the Coastmans trees that we made for him, but the structures, models, rails, and all other scenery work is all his. Wonderful! Thanks for sharing, Alex!!

1/21/2020
Bob Krutzfeldt illustrates what he has accomplished using our larger tree trunks. These are trunks fashioned one-by-one on the lathe-router machine. Bob has worked these over pretty darn well using the branch-by-branch construction method. I suspect this is a Caspia sprue. Bob?

5/12/19: Peter Kontner of Germany is also working on modeling a short portion of the Tillamook SP Branch of western Oregon. Here's his version of a few of the structures and scenery as he recalls from a former trip here. Thanks Peter! -R

Mike O'Brien Shared these photos of this sawmill. I believe he started with a KMP kit, however he explains this is now a "KMP-MOB hybrid". I'd say it's somewhere between that and a scratchbuild. Amazing wood! Thanks so much my friend! -R

Jim Gray:

1/7/2019
Carl Brainerd shared photos of his railroad, set in the Pacific Northwest. He describes this as "a small apartment-size double-switchback with a logging-theme". He has constructed nearly 200 trees from scratch, "mostly background trees". The mill is a Master Creations Coon Gap sawmill kit, which he explains, "I've had for 20 years or more and finally got around to building it last summer. It took 2 or 3 months, as it had an estimated 2500 parts!" Thank you so much for sharing, Carl! -R
(Click on any photo to enlarge it)

Image corrected for brightness, contrast, levels, and cropped.

Raw image.

7/16/2018: John Dewaard from Queensland is meticulous about the use of the foliage on the tree. This is evident in the shaping and arrangement of each foliage "section". -R

4/15/2018: I've been doing some scenery work on the east end of my POTB layout. I'm really trying my best to capture the look in this photo I took near Batterson, Oregon in 2000. I think I'm getting close. I'm learning how to do stuff and having a blast! -R

Click to Enlarge

Here's that old photo I really like. This is near Batterson, Oregon, I think just east of there a little ways, near a grade crossing, running alongside the Nehalem River. Circa 2000.

HO cell phone picture.

4/4/18: John Dewaard from Queensland sent in these photos of his HO scale Mountain Creek layout. He writes that although he makes his own trunks, he appreciates our Green Branches material. I would say he is meticulous about the arrangement of the foliage, and that is something I certainly appreciate! :) Thank you, John!

4/3/18: John Mueller send us photos from CNW Northern of a logging scene he's been working on. I appreciate anyone willing to partake in use of a two-man chainsaw to see the job done! Awesome background too. Click images to enlarge. Thanks John! -Rog

2/22/18: Bill Kaminska has shared what he's setting up with Hollow Logs and ReadyMade Premium Trees: Stand 'em up & cut 'em down! Might have been some lost value in those hollow ones? At least now they won't fall on anyone's cabin. Note the use of (caspia vs asparagus fern?) on that foreground tree. I think that really adds a lot to the overall scene. I did adjust the brightness and contrast a little bit. Thanks Bill! -Rog

2/15/18: John Ringwood shared his use of the Moose Creek Trees in this photo. The Moose Creek Trees have proven to be extremely useful. There are a few of the Coastmans variety there in the background. Click to Enlarge. Thanks John! -Rog

02/13/2018: This just in! Pics of what Tracy Thorne-Begland has accomplished using Moose Creek Trees and a little creativity in their grooming and placement. Not to mention the awesome structures. This is East Coast! Thank you, Tracy. (Click on images to enlarge them)

1/4/2018: John Mueller shared what he has done with Coastmans kits on his layout, the CNW Northern Memories. This is Northern Wisconsin area, circa 1950s. Thank you, John!

Granite Mountain Railway featured this display at the 2017 (37th) National Narrow Gauge Convention in Denver last month. Photos courtesy Douglas Geiger. Doug build the (darker colored) fir trees using Coastmans materials. Click to Enlarge. Thanks Doug! -R

5/2017 Mary O'Neill has been making trees for Coastmans! Thanks Mary!

3/23/17 Double Trunks! We make 'em, but you can do it too!

DT01, click for larger

DT02. Click for larger.

These are two DIFFERENT double trunk trees. I have about six in stock. You can make this. First, glue the bare trunks together. Just sand or carve a small amount of material off the butt end of the trunks. Add glue, secure with rubber band wrap and let dry overnight. Next day, fill any gaps with putty and make the tree(s) like normal. I'm using a combination of white glue for most of the foliage and then I hot glue in a few pieces here and there. Add a little more turf afterwards. You can do it! Have fun!

3/23/2017 Bernard Fabron, France, using the new Green Branches foliage. Thanks Bernard!

Fine Turf added...whaddya think?

"And in this corner, the reigning champion, 7 inch Old Growth, with no extra turf. And in corner #2, Old Growth, 7 inch, with Fine Green Blend added." "DING"

12/6/16: Rejuvenated diorama used for new videos. The wood used to make the dowel for the snag had been ravaged by termites prior to milling. If you look carefully, the osprey is about to take flight. I added some brightness & contrast to this photo using PhotoShop
(because I don't have bright enough lights :O)
PS as of 11/5/18 this snag is up for sale in The Lots!

11/4/16: Bernard Roche of France emailed these photos his mining operations. Click on that image of the loco dragging those gondolas out of the mine. Thanks Bernard!

Tree top detail on ReadyMades 10/12/16.

Photo Studio 10/12/16

9 and 7 inch trees produced 10/2016. Deer is Preiser HO scale.

Be sure to click images to make them LARGER.

Ted Davis incorporated the furnace-filter technique with Coastmans cedar
trunks to create these stunning scenes. Thanks Ted!

I will admit that I was a bit skeptical, perhaps even a little concerned, when George Gibson told me he'd taken a Moose Creek Tree and planted it into the top of a Coastmans cedar old growth tree trunk. George topped the trunk, drilled a hole and placed the "Mooser" right into it. Then he added dead branches.

Truthfully, I'm shocked at how good this looks. I really want to see one up close. Way to go George! Thank you!

Jose Vergili writes back from Sao Paulo Brazil. He sends along photos of his layout based on a HO Western theme, for which I have yet to learn the roadname. That's a Rivarrossi log car. Click for larger photos.

2/7/16: Mike O'Brien at XTrains has been putting together snags and trees. Looks like this snag has a nest in it. Osprey? More on Bird's Nests...here. Thanks Mike!

... And as I was preparing to take a rest on the seventh-day, up charges two raging stags intent on doing battle. After a couple of probes, each decided it could be in their best interest to move on, as they bellowed their dominance over the other through our the valley below. The crows eventually left also, going to where ever crows go, leaving behind the lone cemetery resident to hold guard over the mountain top yet another day...

6/24/16: Gene Austin of Arkansas has taken sweet time to produce these incredibly artistic dioramas using several Coastmans products. He literally boiled the trunks to produce the bent shapes that sway just like real trees. Hey, that sounds like something we would do! Gene, thanks for sharing.

3/20: Experimenting with some new materials for green branches is yielding some
promising results I think...I hope....!

Three of 'em with the coir/groundfoam GB's. The Preiser Elk is HO scale.

Comparison: 9" OG with coir/groundfoam mix vs. traditional coastmans tree using scrubbers tassled/torn and paint soaked / centrifuged material

These are the older "scrubber pad" trees. I had fun building this small diorama I used for product and advertisement photos. No animals were hurt in the creation of these scenes, I promise! Preiser figures, Woodland Scenics materials and natural materials used for bushes and forest floor.

Check out the Big Trees page.

Lumberjack is HO.

This is a 24" Snag Tree made from a Port Orford Cedar trunk, with holes drilled for dead branches. Dead branches are desert plant material. Ground foam added for moss. Latex paint spatter = lichens & molds. Guy with the axe = no chance. We have these trunks available now. We can even steam bend them if desired. Email for info, coastmans@gmail.com

Murielle Charbbonier has been busy at work again...this time creating logs, stumps, and other debris. He tells me he's doing this from our StumpStuff product. I can hardly believe it. How'd he make that neat hollow one?
Click photo to enlarge.

Here are some of the OLDER trees...
They are different now. Materials and methods have improved.

This is a photo from a flat diorama I put together for an advertisement. Click for enlargements.

2015 10 x 10" diorama for BEMRRC show and will likely be used in others to come in Western Washington. Thanks to Bob Rorabaugh for showing these trees!
Click for enlargements.

My wife took these photos outdoors in 2014 on a 8 x 10" flat diorama. These trees
have ground foam added over our Green Branches material.

Left and center: This diorama went to Roger's Railroad Junction, Lodi, California. This was put together about three years ago. Back then were experimenting with a slightly different material on the larger trees. Since then I built a machine to assist with manufacturing from another material and we've gone that direction. I think our trunks have more bark detail than these now, too. The dio on the right is different but another one of four made in a series that went to stores. I see the green branches were made "the old way", by hand, with "wet" material. Scraggly indeed!
Click for enlargements.

When you were a little boy my sister would put the foil under the bed because you were always making
something with it and she never had any for the kitchen. -Aunt Susan