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Sunday 20 November 2011

Project Earth painting complete (-ish)

After three weeks of on and off graft, the boards are now painted and ready to go to the Wargamer show on 11th December - all, that is, except the water features, which require some coats of varnish.

The biggest issue is getting the green right. Just what colour is "grass" anyway??? Yes, I know "green", but what shade? The boards are for 28mm figures, seen at a distance of about four feet for the average veiwer, so what looks right? The initial attempts at a yellow highlight left me thinking $%£&&$£!££!!!!!!!!!! The second highlight left me a lot happier. One major issue I still foresee, however, is that the show will be under yellow lighting and I was largely painting outside..........

I will post photos when I get some batteries for my digital camera.

I can also start posting some more photos of my figures now I have a stage on which to show them.

Stay tuned for both.

G

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Project Earth

Hello again dear readers!!!

And the next big thing on the G agenda?????????????????

Building terrain for a Thirty Years' War demo game to be staged at the Wargamer show in Great Barr, Birmingham, on 11th December. I have some figures (quite a few in fact) and a lot of desire to see this period, and this conflict in particular, on the "scene" much more often than has so far been the case. I have six weeks, I am one week into those six weeks, I have to start from scratch, but I have some valuable help in the shape of Nephew no2 - no less a personage than "Beithir", as seen in the Followers section of this very blog!

There are ten boards in all, making 8 feet x 6 feet (approx) in old money. Each board is actually 600mm wide by either 1200 or 600mm long, which is not quite two feet by four/ two feet, but is not far off. You used to get more for your money in the good old days of Imperial measurements!!! Boards are 50mm polystyrene, mounted on 6mm MDF, with 25mm polystyrene raised features and textured with whatever I had!

A special mention must go to Paul Darnell, of Touching History fame, whose books on terrain making, along with a few others over time, have inspired this particular opus, at least in terms of the methods being used to create the final picture. But, sorry Paul, my water will not be gleaming blue.I refuse to believe even the cleanest of streams and rivers was ever blue, even before mass pollution.

T minus 33 days and counting....................



The Full Monty, laid out on an only just large enough kitchen floor. I could not resist a minor gouge to get me started....

Marked out, after having drawn a scale (-ish) plan on paper as a guide

One of the two four by two boards.

A two by two, with curved road and trio of higher ground pieces.

The four by two above, with road done using brown paint mixed into white filler, and more filler to ease the slope

The other four by two, with road and river in filler, textured with sand, sawdust and model railway ballast (use medium or fine!)

Two by two with the same treatment

And again