Updated for 2010. I discovered in 2009 that the tree movement was not as good as before so I figured the mechanism needed to be checked and overhauled. I took this opportunity of the tree being in "dry-dock" to recover it and attempt to make it less cartoony. The fix to the movement was simple, the fake limbs were sliding down the arms and sticking in the way of the movement. I added a 2" machine bolt to the aluminum arms to act as a stop. Works great again.
For the re-skin, I turned to the ever popular Great Stuff foam gap sealer. I considered Monster Mud (see Monster Page of Halloween Projects) but felt it would be too heavy for this prop. I sprayed strips of foam directly on the tree (no prep) fairly close together and filled in some of the wider spaces. 3 cans later, I had the tree "bark" the way I wanted. I let the foam cure completely (really just waited for the next weekend) and started painting.
First coat was brown matte spray paint. Do yourself a favor and buy the trigger attachment, the finger you save will be your own. This ended up too shiny for my taste, so I started mixing. I wanted the bark to be a gray-brown old weathered color. I mixed white and black latex for the gray and added red metal paint and a touch of dark wood stain (don't ask me why, just what I had left over from other projects). I still wanted it streaky so as I painted it on, I wiped some of it off, faux finish style. Looks even better, especially at night.
