Mirage - Making a dry desert lake or river: Tutorial on D&B

[Peithetairos]

I always found deserts to be fascinating habitats. A cursory look will leave you with the impression that it is hell on earth: sandstorms, unbearable heat during the day and freezing at nighttime. Yet, the desert is not only home to thousands of plant and animal species, it also has a simple beauty to it, dominated by the shapes the wind forms. They are thus a worthy subject for the modeler and can provide an atmospheric backdrop for our games. The exploits of the Crusaders come to mind as well as the cultures inhabiting Northern Africa, for instance the ancient Numidians.

In this first tutorial on arid terrain (more to follow) I will show you how to make a dry desert lake or an oasis that is slowly drying out. Using a similar technique I will also provide you with some ideas how to model a partially dry river bed, with only a small stream of water remaining. Per usual I will talk about the materials needed and provide you with step-by-step instructions how to make a cracked lake or river bed and scratch-built a dead tree to add further interest.





This build is pretty straight forward:

1. First we use XPS or foam board to define the lake bed.
2. We apply the crackle paste.
3. We cover everything with filler or modelling paste
4. We embed the magnets/steel tacks.
5. We add sand and animal tracks.
6. We apply a basecoat and drybrush.
7. We add some brushes and a water effect.
8. We make the barren tree and add it as a final touch.

A more detailed how-to can be found on DaggerAndBrush:

https://wp.me/p49oPQ-zm

[Wirelizard]

Your projects are always inspiring, the realism is really a step up from what most of us manage to achieve!

I'm not planning any desert terrain anytime, but the dried out lakebed techniques could be applied to a muddy field or farmyard nearly as easily and that has me thinking. I'm a great fan of relatively flat (easy to store!) pieces of terrain to add variety and texture to the tabletop.

[Peithetairos]

Thank you for commenting. Glad you like my work. I agree, flat terrain with interesting textures adds to the table, but can be stored away without having to think about a special storage solution.

The crackle paste also works for a cracked frozen lake surface and lava lakes. Mud definitely, too.

Cheers

Chris

[Barry S]

Lovely work as usual.

[FramFramson]

"Now, before I return to the fleshpots - which I will be so very glad to do - I have one final question for you Mister Lawrence."
"And that is?"
"What is it that attracts you to the desert?"
"It's clean."

[Hammers]

That's good looking.

[Peithetairos]

Thank you Hammers and FramFramson. A good quote. Given one does not need to apply a lot of grass, vegetation or leaves the arid terrain pieces are overall faster to finish.