"3mm Blog Update: Finally a battle mat that works" Topic

1809in3mm.blogspot.com

New updates, including Part 1 of a Step-by-Step/Follow-Along for my new Bruce Weigel inspired battle mat (much better than my static grass one, IMHO!). It's really quite easy, like most solutions to vexing problems. In the future I'll probably do all of my mats in a similar fashion. So much easier and less messy than static grass mats.

I also ruminate on whether to rebase several thousand 3mm figs that I'd just based up for Blucher… and put them right back on their old bases…to play Blucher anyway. Woof.

I like it. I say go with the old basing and make sabots when you want to play Blucher. To get the best of both worlds:

Mount on 10x20 steel bases. Make your 60x60's with "blanks" of magnet and move back and forth as needed.

I have to agree with Mark. The smaller bases just have a WOW factor that just blends better with the great terrain. I have been rebasing my 6mm (H&R/Irregular) fellas back to the same concept. It allows for better visual depiction of tactical formations and easier to conform to the undulations of model terrain.

Great work…convincing me I have to add some periods to yet another new scale for me! (Darn you!)

Tom

I slept on the topic and I decided that I'll keep the brigade bases I currently have finished as display pieces… for now. Mostly becuase I have something like 2,000 painted 3mm infantry already in my lead pile and another 12,000 unpainted in the boxes still. So I really just need to get painting. I will do the sabot thing though for brigade games like you mentioned, although I do like the idea of "Super Blucher."

One issue I notice, which Bruce's stuff also has, is that the terrain is so bright that the figures look quite dark against it especially from a distance. I'm going to do an experiment tonight with a new basing and painting technique to see if I can counteract it effectively. It'll basically be an extreme version of the painting-up a hue trick with a twist. It may or may not work, so we'll see. I'll post some pictures tomomrrow morning when I'll hopefully have some good light.

I'm one of those guys that believes that painting to scale adds to the realistic look to the table. In nature, things far away appear darker than when you get closer. Years ago it was called "painting to scale". I started to notice that no matter how correct my paint shade matched the FS 595a color swath, it just did not look right on my vehicles. A pilot explained it to me why: The amount of white light between what you are looking at floods out the true color that registers on your retna, making the object look darker and you can see that something is there.

By using a black wash, all of a sudden, the vehicles and figures I had been painting began to look more natural in appearance in my monds eye. Have never gone back.

I can appreciate brightly colored toy soldiers and the effort gone in to get get that effect. It's just flies in the face of reason why I spend so much time and effort to capture the birdseye view that happens in nature just to be spoiled by a fantasy looking army when playing historicals. No a critisism against those who enjoy that "look", just stating that if I had my druthers….

The 3x3 VnB style of bases was exciting until I played my first game on a tabel with actual terrain (ie: not totally flat). The look of the tray of figs suspended in the air while standing on a hill or climbing up one, just looked odd to me. again, just my observation and not knocking those who enjoy such games.

None of this is a "game stopper" for me, but it does compromise some of the enjoyment from me when playing historical miniatures. We take great pains to get the details right them play on a piece of green felt……I guess in the heat of the game one does not reaslly notice or care, but the "lookers" tend to gravitate to those tables that have that intriguing look.

Looking forward to seeing your shots FMS. Your reporting is inspiring! Great looking stuff.

So are you just painting the fields with craft paint and brushes?
Bob

Bobspruter-
Yes, just craft paints from Michael's. Mixing it up on a pallet and using some light brown to bring down the unnatural hues. Also using some stippling effects for flowers and to break up the solid blocks of color.

I also decided to redo the roads in khaki/tan and to black line them with a marker (a decision I hope I don't regret…)

Well, the road-re-do went pretty well, and I made another change to the way I was making boundaries between the fields. It's much better looking now.

I'm going to take a break for a day probably but I'm pretty excited with how well the project is going. I don't know if it's easier than using an air brush but it's certainly a lot of fun so far. Another two or three hours on it and I should be done. I think I finally have the kinks out. Honestly at this point it's the houses I' dreading but the end result is just too slick to pass up.

There's an update to the progress if you guys are interested.

It's coming along very well! I like the green field divider effect. The tan wasn't bad either. Remember, the owners of the fields need a way to get to the field to tend to them. With the green, it seems to beg for scattered shreds of clump foilage. That will add varying verticle height in local areas, and because you used the green, it need not cover every square centimeter to give the effect.

IMHO, you have captured the "feel" of the scenery where I have travelled here in Europe (Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Austria, etc). Even in cities and towns, the geometry of the streets, buildings and fields (the use of space) is unlike the USA. I have even seen this in the UK: People will build houses/structures in any available space, to fit that space. Field (ariable ground) shapes are not neatly the same size , shape nor color. What does a town do in the open space where two (or more) roads meet at odd angles? Well, lets build a house there! You have captured this effect in miniature very well.

Mr. Weigle gets credit in my book, for directing those of us who want to replicate what what he has achieved, to new scenery realism goals. Your efforts are matching and maybe even surpassing his. The only other such board I have seen that just blew me away was on the Irregular Miniatures webpage showing off the 6mm offerings, complete with cliffs!

I have been experimenting doing it in 3D using foam boards as a basis, with plaster cloth. The portabilty issue remains with that method. Your use of fabric makes me wanting to revist that approach. Thanks for sharing your project with us. I look forward to more reports! Your thread gets an A++ for what TMP can be at times!

Tom

Google "atmospheric perspective". In a nut shell objects get lighter and bluer the farther away they are. This is different to the "scale effect" of a large object reflecting more light and there for seeming lighter than a small object.

3mm painted to look like what actual troops and vehicles would like if they were visually that size would all be a sort of bluish-grey.

A wash of black, brown or any other unifying colour definitely ups the realism of small scale figures. In reality the individual local colours of objects do not "pop" as much as values do. At a distance the contrast between a light object and a dark object is greater than the contrast between a red object and a green object.

Hmm… interesting. I actually base-coast my figs light gray because I feel that black makes them way too dark, while at the same time not obviously effecting the look… the boots and shakoes still look correct. Maybe this shift towards blue/grey has something to do with that?

Earlier today I was considering a gloss or satin finish, something I'd never think about at larger scales, but then I realized I'd never tried any sort of finish on 3mm (they don't rally need it) and I got to wondering. It might make the colors some out a little better. I'll have to add that to my list of experiments to try out.