Saturday, March 11, 2017

Idle Hands Lead to Terrain Boards!


      Tom Petty had sung a few times "The waiting is the hardest part!" In my case, I am waiting for some materials to continue commission projects as well as some of my own. I am often amazed on the inconsistency of delivery times with the various companies I deal with. It can be mind boggling to see something you ordered from another country arrive before something else you ordered in your country. It is always an interesting affair. But with down time between projects leads to random projects. Since I have been playing Muskets & Tomahawks recently, I noticed that I really only have a few mats suitable for gaming this period. This only leads to one conclusion: make another mat.
    In this case, I just happened to have some extra fur for the job. I did not know what to do with it originally, since it was only 4' x 5'. It is not big enough for most games I normally play, but still works for skirmish games. And on a plus side, it is testing ideas on a Civil War project I have ahead. If you test theories in advance, it is easier to execute later. In this experiment, I was using Clear Dap to make my river instead of Liquid Nails. Both products cost the same. And both products can be used for the same things. Both are relatively cheap. However, screw ups with both items tend to be unforgiving. And with this project, I killed the same price in spoons as the product I got! (Wife, pretend you did not see this!) And now, I need a second coat! This was a calculation error as well as another experimental thought. The extra experiment was that I did not shave as much down with the fur as I have done for past boards. I wanted to see if I could recreate vegetation underwater mixed with a sandy bottom for a more clear river. The discovery I had is that this does work as well as I need a second coat. The extra fur that is not usually there absorbed the Clear Dap removing the smoother surface where the vegetation was. So now that it has absorbed, it should not be a problem to add a second coat. This was also useful information for a client who wanted a rather large river for his 40 mm Muskets & Tomahawks.
    Anyway, this technically is not a finished board. I just felt like displaying on it with the more based forces I finished twenty minute before. After adding 6 mm tufts to 60 figures, I found I needed more. At least, 200 covered that much! I have ten more to go, so added to the forces should be another 200. The remaining things for this board are grass highlights, road highlights, the second river coat, and maybe, some small weeds here and there. Either way, enjoy!


















3 comments:

  1. Looks awesome David. I like the new river appraoch ... curious to see how it looks with the second coat. :-)

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  3. Wow, this is really interesting reading. I am glad I found this and got to read it. Great job on this content. I like it. idle heroes mod apk

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