Desert Rock Outcrop Part Two

Hello There! The first part of this subject is here. While moving the scenery, that I am making at the moment, I needed some more space so I placed some rock faced ridges together, one on top of the other. A few moments later I noticed that with the modular aspect of the scenery allowed me to add a second tier of ridge line.

I saw this and realised that they 'fitted' together!

From a top view I could not see any problems doing this and they lined up really well.

From the side, The black band on the left is a cut sheet of polystyrene with black tape around the edge to stop any breaking of the edge.

This was a nice surprise and I will try to include this in a back drop for any photography.

 

Scenery Hints and Tips

 Hello There! As I was making the desert scenery I learnt a few tips that I found as I worked through some problems I found.

As I dry brushed the surface of the desert, I brushed off some of the surface, painted sawdust. I saved what came off and kept it in a bag, thinking, 'That might be useful'. Not really knowing how.

During the drying of the tile adhesive sometimes the surface would crack. If this was in the centre of the board I would leave it as it looked realistic. However if it was along the join between the surface and the timber edge of the scenic tile then it would show up the timber surround. This was when I though, 'Well I do not want to get the tile adhesive out again' and fill the gap, as this would take a long time to go hard. I added a layer of PVA glue and embedded these pieces of sawdust into the glue. Overnight this had set and you could not tell the difference to the rest of the scenery. It dry brushed the same as well. 

I am working on scenic tiles for the desert and NW Europe. This means that I may have a number of tiles 'on the go' at the same time. I have repeatedly got them mixed up and forgotten what I had planned! As I glue the timber edging on to the edge of the plywood base I write on the top surface of the base, what it is intended to be. Then I add the base layer of styrene foam this would cover up this instruction, so I copy this onto the base. Why don't I just put it on the base at first? Well I do not have to turn the tiles over to see what they are meant to be all the time, especially when the sides are held down with clamps while the glue dries.

The sides of the tiles are a fixed height. This is 50mm thick. This means that as 50mm thick styrene is put inside the tray then it stands proud of the top edge of the timber edging. I found it very difficult to cut this top layer off before before it was glued into the tray. I cut this top layer off after the glue had set to fix the styrene into the tray. Then I could cut the protruding layer of the styrene off using a handsaw. This allowed me to use the top edge of the timber surround to help guide the saw. I would start cutting from both ends so that the cutting line would be vaguely straight.  

I am making this scenery in a outside location. This means that the temperature can vary greatly. This can delay  glue setting and the tile adhesive going hard. While the thickness of the tile adhesive is not so thick that it would slump before it had set, I found that even after a week, (sometimes). it was still not set. If I had a electric fan heater to warm the room, I would set the scenic tile on end to hasten it setting or drying.

Desert Wadi Part Five

 Hello There! The wadi has now been completed. Part Four can be viewed here.

Here is the completed assembly. This is the first trial assembly, to check if there ae any glaring problems. Fortunately there were a couple of mis alignments but no big problems. Only a couple of places that a quick paint cannot solve.

This is a view of the start of the wadi and one of the straight sections. I wanted a meandering wadi with very irregular walls.

Here is a close up of the origin of the wadi.

The rock faces needed a number of heavy dry brush coats of paint. To make sure I got the finish I wanted. Otherwise the previous shade of paint would lift and mix with the next.

This is one section that has a slope from the top level to the bottom of the wadi. There are two of these as I did not want this scenic feature to be a block to any movement.

Round up of book purchases

Hello there! I have found a few photographs lurking on my camera again. In an effort to clear the camera memory before going abroad later in the year, I have posted them on here.

The first two publications came from E Bay. I have been looking at Sherman tank design and the noticable difference between different marks. I have some 20mm 3D prints to paint. I have removed many of the print lines but the rear engine deck is incorrect and I am considering adding an engine access door(s).

The next, also from e Bay complements the other two Nafziger publications on the infantry and SS units.

These came from a couple of secondhand bookshops in Edinburgh, (below). There are many such places in the city and all well worth a visit.

Rome Versus Carthage

Hello there! Another game, which has been lurking in my camera is the above game, using Epic scale figures from a collection of a wargaming friend.

I did spend part of the game feeling they could easily be mistaken for 15mm figures! It has been a few weeks since I played this game and I cannot remember the rules used but it was a very entertaining night with good company. The game was also well run and the rules were easy to pick up.

Green, North West Europe, Terrain Part One

Hello There. Alongside the desert terrain, I have been making some terrain tiles for the above. These will be used for NW Europe, American Civil War and any other temperate climate.

The construction is the same as the desert terrain, up to the point that the surface finish is obtained. The tile already has a hardened coat of tile adhesive.

The desert terrain has a light spread of small stones, then a layer of sawdust.

The temperate terrain has a scatter of small stones (obtained by sieving sharp sand from a builders merchants), scattering that onto a layer of PVA watered down and spread over the whole board.

Then this is topped off with a covering of the sand from the same sharp sand.

When this has hardened and the PVA has set then the tile is painted 'English Brown' this is the same shade from the Vallejo range of paints. I have used artists paint and mixed a quantity of a close approximation to this colour, (Raw Umber and Yellow Ochre).

When the colour has dried I have dry brushed a layer of an an artists paint equivalent of 'Iraqui Sand' over the entire surface. When that is dry we are onto applying the flock.

I initially used Earth Blend fine turf. With hindsight, I will not bother with that step in the future as it is so similar to the painted surface that I do not think it is worth it.

The idea of obtaining a realistic covering is to keep the different shades of tine turf random and do not cover the whole tile in just one shade.

Leave gaps to show the painted surface through.

I used fine turf flock from the Woodland Scenics range. The colours I used are Burnt Grass, Green Grass and Medium Blend. Finally I used some 2mm Green static grass. Mine was in my stock and from 'OO scenics' which a model railway scenery company.

As seen above the glue used was watered down PVA which still had a very adhesive quality and covered well. It also extended the use of the PVA. 

This was the covering for the Earth Blend, which would be excessive coverage if I was using some of the other colours.

Use one colour at a time and let it dry. In this way you can conserve the different colours without mixing them all to one homogenous colour.

This is one completed. It now requires a covering of watered down PVA.

Once the last colour has dried then you can cover the whole surface with a thin layer of PVA and water. This helps the fine flock stay on your scenery. It will dry clear and harden the surface. I would normally add more clump foliage or bushes. 

This is a modular tile which the tutorial for was in Wargames, Soldiers, Strategy magazine. While it does not fit into the modular height of the other tiles, I have made some tiles to flank this which will bring it into use. Of course I have added some clump foliage. The brown circles on the top right are places for the trees which are not permanently fixed to the tile. This is so if there are knocked they fall over and so not snap off. 

In this case, I intend to place modular terrain such as roads, fences, stone walls and bocage on top, so making the surface more uneven would defeat the object of the terrain.

Hello There! I recently attended a club night at the New Buckenham Historical Wargamers Club. It was a busy night with a good turn out. Two games were on and a third was being prepared for the following day.

The game I was involved in was these rules. I was a bit apprehensive at first as they were entirely card driven, (a situation that usually make me go cold), no dice throws and no measuring.

Here is a view of the overall table. The table is divided up into grid squares. Here all the terrain is 600mm x 600mm squares so this is easier to imagine. Four squares to each tile. Units occupy a square. In some situations more than one unit can occupy the same square. Units draw a card to decide if they can move. Initially a card is drawn to see if the unit, (or the brigade on the first move), and the size of the number on the card gives an idea of the chances of subsequent moves. If the next card is less than the previous card, then that brigade can no longer move until the next move.

The pack of cards are two sets of normal playing cards with the picture cards removed.

This was the battle for today. Part of the seconds Barons War and not readily known.

The Scots side was particularly well painted. There was also no need to put the units into smaller base sizes and so each unit was on a single base. This would probably prevent damage to the pikes.

At the same time a table was being prepared for the tournament game which would be held on the Saturday.

This included many bystanders who would also be present on the day.

Lastly a Spanish Civil War game in 20mm.

The first game went really well. While I cannot attest to the historical accuracy of the game, because I have little knowledge of the period, the game had a smooth flow and the rules were easy to pick up with guidance of Nick, who was familiar with the rules.