New Project! A condensed model of reality for Gaines Mill!

[KTravlos]

Good Day all

As I am nearing finishing the second version of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 Black Powder Army lists, and my Russian force for it (2 battalions left to paint, 5 to base, plus some extra command bases), like any good wargamer, I must start a new project :p

Go to Leadhead, PhD and check out my new en devour.

http://phdleadhead.blogspot.com.tr/2014/12/terrain-project-gaines-mill-from-altar.html

With Respect
K.Travlos

[Bodvoc]

I like the cardboard terrain tiles you have made. If modelling materials are hard to come by where you are I suggest mixing up a dark grass green colour, mixing in some sand or fine grit, paint the whole lot that colour, when dry then dry brush it with a lighter green, a few earthy colours and it should look really good.

[Leman]

That idea of cardboard terrain levels is brilliant. As I use a base cloth I will take this idea for modelling the terrain levels in my Altar of Freedom and BBB battles. Wargames Vault market downloadable paper battlefield terrain 'cloths' in a variety of styles, such as grassy plains, desert, marsh, moorland etc, which you could cut to fit and glue to your cardboard.

[Westmarcher]

Interesting approach. Good luck with your hunt for suitable material. You may also wish to try mixing some yellow with the green to get that added 'grass green' look (at least, I think it was yellow - so long ago - so please test first with a small amount!).   

[fred.]

Really good way of representing the different levels of the terrain. For painting a project like this I would go with artist's acrylic paint - this is usually available in art shops, and in the UK is available in a number of high street shops too (often book shops).  These are much bigger tubes than model paint (100ml to 250ml) for a few pounds, so much better value than model paint.

WIth a cardboard base you will have to be careful to avoid warping due to the card getting too wet.

A thought that has just occurred to me, is to use the old favourite of papier-mâché  - this is small pieces of torn up paper ( often news paper) stuck down with wall paper paste, all over the cardboard, often in a mutilple layers. This can give a very strong surface.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Looking good so far.

[KTravlos]

Thanks everyone. I got the inspiration from seeing some of the architecture students projects at the University I work at. One of those was a small scale representation of the area and the hills, made by multiple layers of cardboard terrain were a sight to behold!

[KTravlos]

So I used paper towels and white glue to smooth the gradiations of hills and build river and lake beds. Painted the stream, river and lake in. Some questions? Has anybody ever used clear hair gel as water material? The banks of the streams, lake and river at Gaines Mill would be sandy or muddy during Gaines Mill.

[Leman]

Would hair gel not stay soft?

[Techno]

Only just spotted this one....Sorry.
Terrain looks as though it will work out particularly well !
Great job, KT.
Cheers - Phil

[KTravlos]

It becomes hard does it not? I will experiment with it on one of the smaller rivers and see what happens!

[sunjester]

This is looking really good! Can we have some photos of the next stage?

[fred.]

Is be surprised if hair gel works for water. PVA glue is probably a better choice, it dries clear and shiney.

[cameronian]

Try diluted PVA and flock, if you can't get flock brush the card with diluted PVA and sprinkle it with sawdust, paint suitably and dry brush to effect, like this - https://www.flickr.com/photos/pendraken/4396365838/in/set-72157623404033825

The pink/purple strips are supposed to be vineyards. Good to see someone making an effort with terrain, just a bit more effort and it will look really good. Keep it up.

[Hertsblue]

If you want home-made flock, take a handful of sawdust, drop it into a polythene bag and then pour in a couple of spoonfuls of diluted watercolour paint. You don't need much. Shake the bag vigorously for a minute or two until the sawdust has absorbed all the paint and is a uniform colour. Then spread the sawdust on a flat surface to dry.

For a more varied and realistic look, do a batch of yellow, a batch of dark green and a batch of brown or dark red and when dry, mix them all together. It's remarkably effective.