Extra Crispy | 05 Sep 2016 11:14 a.m. PST |
My question about the importance of "the look" of a game spwaned quite a few commetns to teh effect "I'm no modeler" regarding terrain. So I thought I'd start doing some bog-simple terrain pieces that are (a) free or nearly so and (b) requiring little to no skill beyond an ability to hold a paint brush. Exhibit A: a field. Lots of fields will improve any game table and they could not be simpler! Here's how I made mine. 1) Cut a base. In this case I used the lid of a plastic package of Camapri tomatoes. I just cut to the desired shape and size with scissors. 2) Prime the base: spray the base with spray paint. Any color will do – black, white, blue. I had a can of lime green primer so I used that. Let dry. 3) Using a brown craft paint, paint a thick layer of brown over the entire base. Do NOT smooth it out. You want some ridges and globs to give your field a little texture. Let dry. 4) Drybrush the base a medium brown.Drybrush against the grain of your crops. If your crops will go North to South, dry brush East to West. 5) Drybrush the base very lightly with a cream/bone/pale tan. 6) Lay down parallel lines of ordinary white glue (leave a border for the hedge or fence that lines the field). Sprinkle the entire field with flock. I used Woodland Scenic fine turn, mixed green color.Let dry. Tap off excess flock. 7) Put down a bead of Ailene's tacky glue around the border (leave an entrance!). Now glue down your edging. I pinched off tiny pieces of Woodland Scenics foliage clumps from a tree kit. i think mixing the green colors looks better, but use what you have. 8) Let dry and give a heavy coat of dull coat. Done! This field cost me nothing (one piece of scrap plastic; a few drops of craft paint; a half thimble of white glue; a tablespoon of flock and two tablespoons of foliage clumps). One bag of flock and one of foliage would probably make 50 or 100 fields. This field took me about 10 minutes to make: 1 minute to cut and spray. 2 Minutes to paint brown. 2 minutes to dry brush twice. 1 minute to put down glue and 1 minute to flock. 3 minutes to glue down the edge. If there would be some interest I would make a video of the process?
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Murphy | 05 Sep 2016 11:27 a.m. PST |
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Mako11 | 05 Sep 2016 11:51 a.m. PST |
Looks great! Thanks for sharing. I can almost see the bunnies now…….. |
Travellera | 05 Sep 2016 11:54 a.m. PST |
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Extra Crispy | 05 Sep 2016 12:00 p.m. PST |
GHQ truck for scale. I just noticed that just to the right side of the gap you can see a cut out from one of the holes in the lid I used! |
keithbarker | 05 Sep 2016 1:37 p.m. PST |
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Yellow Admiral | 05 Sep 2016 2:01 p.m. PST |
Excellent post, excellent work, and an excellent point. Nice looking terrain doesn't have to be hard. The secret to nice looking terrain is to break up the monotony of the table. Nature abhors a solid color. Most of my ploughed fields were even simpler:
- Cut brown corduroy into field shapes
Done. That's it. If you surround them with fences and/or brush, and sprinkle bushes and trees on the grassy parts of the table surrounding the fields, the corduroy looks like ploughed fields. If you think they look too "plain" or you just want early season fields instead of late season fields, you can brush white glue across the tops of the raised areas and sprinkle with ground foam for the "planted" look. I decided I wanted fields of standing crops and swampy areas of tall brown grass, so I did this:
- buy a yard or two of teddy bear fur in an appropriate brownish color
- lightly spray paint with a contrasting color of brown or tan (if the fur is light tan, use a medium brown; if the fur is medium brown, use a light tan). I do mean LIGHTLY – hold the spray can a foot away and get the paint on just the tips of the fur in a blotchy and uneven random pattern.
- Let it dry (DON'T TOUCH – you'll clump the fur with the wet paint)
- Cut into field shapes.
For some rocky/brushy areas, I got really fancy:
- Cut some flat material into blobby shapes (I used sheet metal flashing, but felt or cloth would work)
- Spray paint them a dark green (unless they're already dark green)
- Coat in white glue
- Sprinkle a variety of terrainy bits on in this order:
- Rocks
- Bushes
- a variety of sands (brown, tan, a light sprinkling of gravelly gray or light tan) in little blotchy areas
- Pour on ground foam to cover the remaining areas with "grass", then tip it sideways and dump the excess off.
Done. - Ix |
acctingman1869 | 05 Sep 2016 2:22 p.m. PST |
I can't find corduroy in my area….3 Jo Ann Fabrics and nada!!! |
Extra Crispy | 05 Sep 2016 2:37 p.m. PST |
@acctingman1869 I can spare some. Mine even has extra-wide ridges. Drop me a line. mark@scalecreep.com I need to make a bunch of these but I play to dry brush it heavily with medium brown (the fabric starts very dark brown), then light tan/bone. Finish with a hedge or a fence. Don't forget that fields usually have roads/tracks for access! Nothing sillier than seeing inaccessible fields! Google Earth is your friend! |
Extra Crispy | 05 Sep 2016 2:44 p.m. PST |
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79thPA | 06 Sep 2016 7:40 a.m. PST |
Great idea. A simple project that will help make your table "pop." |
boy wundyr x | 06 Sep 2016 9:10 a.m. PST |
As a corduroy alternative, I cut off the top half of any socks (after giving them one last wash!) I'm going to throw out if they have any sort of ridged part to them. I then cut them again along one of the ridges and lay flat with some weight on them for a while. You won't get big fields, but you can get some backyard vegetable gardens out of them. Works well for the bigger scales, could maybe work for 6mm too. I have some for 15mm gaming on the go now, and I'll top some of them up with Silfor crops. |
Stew art | 09 Sep 2016 7:30 a.m. PST |
thanks for all the ideas, this is a great thread. i can attest that corduroy can be hard to find. i went to several stores that sell fabric and NOTHING! i even ordered some from Amazon, and found that it wasn't the right corduroy. it was 14 wale, and the ridges are two small. the search continues. |
Yellow Admiral | 09 Sep 2016 11:40 a.m. PST |
I already miss Hancock Fabrics. :-( Corduroy is apparently still available: link A search for "brown corduroy fabric" on Amazon turns up results, too. But the prices… oof. - Ix |
Stew art | 09 Sep 2016 4:37 p.m. PST |
yeah, the cord i got was from Amazon, brand name was Kuafman. i got some dark brown and light brown and now i think it was a waste of money. i'll still hang onto it for probably the next 7 years just in case…but here is a pic to demonstrate: [URL=http://s194.photobucket.com/user/stewwart_2007/media/acw/IMG_0256.jpg.html]
[/URL] and [URL=http://s194.photobucket.com/user/stewwart_2007/media/acw/IMG_0252.jpg.html]
[/URL] it's the dark brown fabric in the pics, and it looks more or less like dark brown fabric. can't even see the cords. i've since learned what i really want is really 'wide wale' corduroy, or 6 wale. but i'm hesitant to order online before i see it first. on a related note, i also think various shades of terry cloth might also do for fields. or i can just make some as described above. -Stew |