1:1200 naval - another coastal module, Dec 2023

[Wirelizard]

I've wandered into 1:1200 naval gaming, specifically the coastal gunboat WW2 end of it. Now, naval games can of course be played with nothing more than an ocean-coloured table covering, but I am utterly incapable of not producing scenery so I'm going to do a few sandbanks, some rocky reef bits, and a few feet of modular/semi-modular coastline to decorate one edge of the table.



For the coastline modules, I'm thinking 12" long and either 3" or 4" deep/wide, and probably fairly low, using 1" styrofoam as the base for the landforms.

The image above is a planning graphic I threw together in Inkscape; the left-hand set is 3" wide and the right-hand set is 4". The two black shapes are nominal building footprints, the top one being 1/2" x 1/4" and the bottom square being 1/2" per side.

Because these coastal strips are going to be a) fairly small and b) not actually part of the full-on playing surface (that's the water) I think I'm going to push the detail as much as the minute scale allows. This is assisted by a batch of lovely buildings I just received from Brigade Model's Small Scale Scenery range, which are gorgeous and inspiring.

1/1200 is seriously tiny. 1" = 100 feet, and 1mm = ~4 feet!

A lot of the standard techniques I'm used to for 15mm or 28mm scenery aren't really going to work, or will need modification. According, I've started a little test piece on a random offcut of board, 3"x3".



The walls are strips of craft wood, just under 2mm tall. The nearer, neater hedge is also craft wood, covered in mixed flock. The foreground area is plain ground foam and I think it works for a grazed pasture or mowed/maintained lawn; the rougher field behind is my standard 28mm flock & ground foam mix and works, I think, for scrubby areas.

The rough hedgerows at the back were made from a mix of flock and white glue, then (because I accidentally used a white glue that sometimes dries glossy) covered with another layer of flock after they dried) and while they work for scruffier hedgerows they're messy. May or may not keep using that technique.

The treed area at the back right is just a blob of coarse turf foam mixed liberally with white glue and splatted down. Keeping in mind that 1cm = 40 feet, I think it works for medium-ish trees. For bigger trees en-mass I'm going to experiment with putting a layer of styrofoam or foamcore down first to lift the coarse foam tree crowns up.

Still wondering about making stone walls that can follow the contours of the ground. Styrene strip glued down with superglue, maybe?

Anyone done any detailed microscale terrain? I'd love to see more links, tutorials, or whatever, a lot of the microscale terrain I've found has been fairly plain.

[Wirelizard]

Progress on this!

The first two coastal pieces are constructed, painted, and waiting for buildings, flock, and detailing. The water still needs some work, but that'll wait until later. These are 12" long and 4" deep, with 3.5" of land at each edge so they're modular.

The river section:


The village section:


Boats (on the right) and buildings (on the left) all primed.


Planning the village layout with the Brigade Models buildings, which are tiny and awesome.


Some of the Brigade buildings being painted. Really fun painting on these, it's easy to make them really pop with a bit of attention.


There's a few more photos and more words over on the blog:
http://www.warbard.ca/2020/01/01/small-buildings-tiny-ships/

[Ray Rivers]

Wow, that looks nice!

Looking forward to see how the terrain boards come out. Already have a pretty good idea based on what you have shown and I think they will be great!

Good luck.

[Captain Blood]

Rather good 
What are the raised dark brown areas? is that where the woods will go?

[Wirelizard]

Rather good 
What are the raised dark brown areas? is that where the woods will go?

Yup, understructure for woodland areas.

Will probably start detailing and flocking the two boards tonight, will share more photos here if so! Stone walls and hedges around the fields and farmyards, and I need to figure out exactly how mad I want to go with backyards and such inside the village.

[von Lucky]

Nicely done - already looking pretty good.

[FifteensAway]

If you can find it in the right colors, dry tempera paint powder will give you finer detail for your flocking. 

[Wirelizard]

If you can find it in the right colors, dry tempera paint powder will give you finer detail for your flocking.

Oh, interesting idea. How do you keep it from dissolving into the glue when you go to fasten it down, though?

I'll share more photos tonight, the village is done except for the forest areas as is the river section, although I've had a bit of a setback on the river section where the matt medium has dried all chalky over my flock!

[Wirelizard]

Just had time tonight for a couple of photos, but here's my favourite of the lot. The village of (damn, it still needs a name, doesn't it?), with the village church of Saint Bob the Swineherd with the memorial for those lost in the Great War next to it, and the village tucked into it's valley behind.

Rather pleased with that war memorial, it's a scrap of sprue not quite 2mm per side. 



Couple more photos and some more verbiage over on the blog: http://www.warbard.ca/2020/01/06/small-buildings-tiny-ships-part-three/

[Vanvlak]

That is so incredibly cool - the memorial is a nice touch.

[Ray Rivers]

Definitely coming out nicely.

When the forests are done it will make a great difference.

[von Lucky]

I agree, it's pretty sweet.

[Captain Blood]

Nicely done 

[Wirelizard]

Thanks, all, glad you're enjoying following along.

I've been really enjoying this scenery build, such a total change from 28mm stuff, although the scale change did my head in at first! It's fun to be doing complete scenes, though, with details like the war memorial and such.

Cranked out a headland so the existing coastal sections can end on-table without looking weird.



Nothing fancy, half inch styrofoam on plastic card base, sanded, plastered, painted, and flocked. I like how the sandbank across the front of the headland turned out, and the general shape of the cliffs.

More photos and verbiage over on the blog: http://www.warbard.ca/2020/01/13/a-headland-for-tiny-ships/

[Wirelizard]

Right, forested bits and some touchup are all done, so except for one last round of touchup (there's always something!) to correct some of the colour along the cliffs, I'm declaring this first round of coastal pieces DONE.

Here's everything laid out on a chunk of grey felt I happen to have around. I might actually use this grey as the basis for a sea mat, overdyed with blue to make a good chilly North Sea/English Channel colour.



Here's a low level look along the coastline, with the village of Nameless-on-Sea in the foreground and a coastal freighter of some sort puttering along just offshore.



I'm prepping to run this naval game and a pulp game in the third week of April, plus I am nominally participating in the current Build Something Contest, so I'm not likely to get back to making coastal pieces until end of April at the earliest, but I do want to do some more, these were a lot of fun and very satisfying to create.

There's a few more photographs over on the blog: http://www.warbard.ca/2020/01/21/coastline-complete/