Mountain terrain for wargames

My "mountain" is just about complete. 28mm and 20mm figures for scale.

 Just wanted to do a quick update and post some photos of the mountain I have been working off and on over the past few months. I hope to do a small tutorial once my real life slows down a bit. I originally began building the terrain piece for my French and Indian War project which I am doing in 28mm. I originally was going to add trees native to the northeast United States and Canada, but have decided that I will also be able to use this for some of my other projects such as my 28mm Central America moderns and also my 20mm moderns by using some different trees and foliage. I think it turned out pretty well.

I'll give you a brief overview of how I did it. The original idea came as I was helping my cousin cut up his old hot tub. Inside the tub was this yellow foam insulation that we took out in large pieces. I took those and stored them and after cleaning them up I cut and sanded the bottoms so they would lay flat leaving the rough, bumpy top surface. I did sand down a few sections to give me some flat areas and also cut a few spots for layering my "rocks". I primed the entire piece with some green spray paint and once dry started to glue my rock pieces in place using a hot glue gun. The rocks by the way are just pieces of rough cut pine bark mulch that I bought in a 40lb. bag at Home Depot. I sorted pieces by shape and allowed them to dry out before gluing them in place. I then started layering the bark pieces on top of each other to form my basic bolder structure. Once the piece was all glued, I started dry brushing a variety of grays, yellows, browns, etc. When I had the base coat of colors down, I completely soaked the piece in a pva and water 50/50 mix to harden the pieces and give it a bit of protection. I then started layering on dirt (dried coffee grounds from my pot), dried leaves (black tea and mulling spice and dried oregano) and finally added some moss to the rocks using the basic Woodland Scenics flock. I again coated the piece really well with the pva & water mix via a spray bottle. Finally I added some shading using some really, really watered down acrylic paint that I splashed on and allowed to run as it would naturally. I know I am missing a few odd bits of information, but I'll try to give an update in the near future.

If you don't know about this group yet, let me tell you about Miniature Modeling Mayhem. It is a fantastic group of guys from around the world who share ideas and interests in wargames and terrain building. We meet just about every night (if you want) via online video chats to share ideas, paint and talk history and other topics. I encourage you to check us out on Facebook and Google+.

Until next time. Carry on men.
-Bob

Latest projects- simple trees; an orchards and a crazy bus

So just a few quick bits I have been working on recently including quick and cheap trees, and apple orchard and a bus for my central america project.

My first set of trees with a 28mm figure for scale.

I recently shared on Miniature Modeling Mayhem some of the trees I have been working on. I am not an expert on terrain, modeling or anything else really, but I thought I would give making some trees a shot. If I had the funds, I would love to just go out and buy some really good looking one. But since I would rather spend my funds on figures and the periods I have chosen to game require trees, lots and lots of trees, I had to learn to make something that was halfway real looking and could be done inexpensively yet still looked good enough for the table.

I started out by searching in the craft shops for suitable dried or fake foliage that looked like trees. That was harder than it sounds until I found a package of something just called Naturals at a Michael's Craft Store. I have no idea what plant these come from, but they work great. I won't write out every little step here, to make it easier you can just watch the video I posted. Hope this helps you.

Here are my trees after I used sanded tile grout to make the trunks and ground.

 Here is the video on how I made them:

Apple Orchard:
I have also been busy making an apple orchard. I want to be able to use this for a variety of periods and scales so it is about halfway between 20mm-28mm.

Latin American buses:
If you are reading this, then you most likely know I am in the middle of creating a fictitious campaign based on a Central American drug cartel and their battle with both government and rebel forces. If you have ever traveled anywhere in Latin America you will know they love colorful buses. Preferably of the old yellow variety painted in crazy colors.

I recently found this gem in a toy shop and wish they had a few more. It might be a bit under scale for my 28mm central america stuff, closer for the 20mm stuff I do, but I think it will do the trick on the table. I can't wait to start painting it.

The Tonka school bus with a 28mm figure for scale.

Here are a few more pics I plan on using for reference and to kick my imagination.

Until next time. Carry on men.
-Bob

Quick, easy and free basing material!

Tile samples from Home Depot

After a quick self-imposed deployment to the Havoc wargame convention on Saturday, I was informed by General ze Wife that we shall be deciding samples of flooring on Sunday for the base. While the General's orders did cut into my plan for continuing outfitting my men of the Volunteers-Etrangers for action in the French and Indian War campaigns, it would be a good way to forage for much needed supplies.

The General has been planning to improve the base for some time now with new flooring. The way forward with this project is where we differ. You see, the General believes that your humble transcriber should be able to do this with the help of the eldest Teenage Spies. Perhaps I could, but for someone who can hardly build a proper model, installing new floors in the base seems absurd. Although the concept is intriguing for one reason only...I have yet to find a way to approach the topic of a redistribution of the saved installation funds back into my military spending budget though. The Overseer of Most All Things will not be keen on such a proposal so best to go cautiously down that path.

As with most wargamers I assume, deciding what we need to buy vs what we can build/make/bash is always a concern. So I wanted to share this terrain tip with you all. I'm sure many already know this, but if you are fairly new to the hobby, as am I, it might be of interest. In the tile area of a large box store DIY home repair place, there staring back at me was the most glorious of all signs- FREE SAMPLES. Wow! Yes it was to good to be true. Here in a variety of textures and material from mdf, hardwood and vinyl were ready-made terrain bases. I couldn't believe it. How had I not discovered this bounty before? So as the General requested my opinion for each color and material combination known to man, I would ask to see the sample. I would scratch my head, purse my lips, frown, raise an eyebrow, whatever it took really to keep these tree bases, er tile samples, coming my way. Each new sample bulged the pockets of my hoodie even further. Soon the General realized that I was keeping each of the free samples including the ones we decided were to dark, to light, wrong texture, wrong wood, wrong everything.

The General demanded to know what I thought I was doing? "I need to fully understand the variances of texture and color compared to what we have now," I replied.
At that moment the Supreme Commander of all my Men completely and without reservation glared fire through my untruthful soul. I looked to retreat but was blocked by the overly helpful flooring associate who was inquiring if we would also like to look at ceramic tile samples. I immediately thought of Oliver Twist and wanted to repeat his famous line of "Please Sir, I want some more." forgetting that I had just been silently scolded. I knew the General was done with this exhibit of tile sample gluttony. The only action that would save me from undergoing a court-martial was to point to the free samples sign. Free, as in no expense, this is surely something the General would understand. I made a case for tree bases and rock bases and tried to explain that you can never have enough bases. Besides, they are free. FREE. Free with a capital F. Freeeeeeeeee, like a bird in the sky.

I had once again worn the General down. I was allowed to keep my FREE samples, all 35 of them, haha, yes 1,2,3..35! They will hopefully become bases for my collection of trees and various outcroppings. I think they will work great. They are roughly 3"x3" and 3"x4" and I think I will be able to find many uses for them.

I'll keep you posted on the progress I make using them. Now run out there and grab your samples before I get to the big box DIY place in your town.

Carry on men.
-Bob