Scratch Building a High Fantasy Gaming Board

[DeafNala]

You have crated an idyllic scene, BEAUTIFULLY  crafted & WONDERFULLY imaginative. VERY WELL DONE!

[King Arthur]

Hello Adventurers!

A small update before the waterfall....

I arranged some miniatures on the board to show a sense of scale and also how they balance on the static grass and other foliage:











Next update will be coming soon......

[Captain Blood]

In this idyllic and bucolic setting, I was expecting gorgeous elves, dryads, centaurs and fantasy knights.
Instead, zombies and zombie hunters

(Surely your miniatures will need beautiful bases that blend in seamlessly with your beautiful gaming board? The big black slottas are going to jar somewhat? )

[Lost Egg]

I'm intrigued to see where that game is going...once the minis have had an equally spiffing paint job.

[King Arthur]

In this idyllic and bucolic setting, I was expecting gorgeous elves, dryads, centaurs and fantasy knights.
Instead, zombies and zombie hunters

(Surely your miniatures will need beautiful bases that blend in seamlessly with your beautiful gaming board? The big black slottas are going to jar somewhat? )

 

Don't worry Richard, those were grabbed from the nearby shelf just to show scale, the Zombies and Hunters belong to another project 

This board will indeed be used for Fantasy miniatures.

[King Arthur]

I'm intrigued to see where that game is going...once the minis have had an equally spiffing paint job.

Sorry to mislead my friend! Just for scale purposes! Although after placing the models, the contrast between an idyllic setting and a ravenous bunch of Zombies is somewhat 'appealing' in gaming terms.

Perhaps I can appease Richard by having Gorgeous Elves vs the Undead 

[Lost Egg]

Sorry to mislead my friend! Just for scale purposes! Although after placing the models, the contrast between an idyllic setting and a ravenous bunch of Zombies is somewhat 'appealing' in gaming terms.

Perhaps I can appease Richard by having Gorgeous Elves vs the Undead 

Ahh you fiend for misleading me  Well I guess some elves will have to do 

[OSHIROmodels]

I think the zombies work well 

[King Arthur]

I think the zombies work well 

Indeed, the very thought of a mass of Zombies defiling this picturesque setting works in a weird and wonderful way! The contrast is what makes it work I'd say!!

[Lost Egg]

Indeed...I could see an angry group of gardeners clashing with them...."GET OFF MY BLOODY LAWN!" 

[Michi]

...I could see an angry group of gardeners clashing with them...."GET OFF MY BLOODY LAWN!" 

...and I can hear the zombies answering him collectively "BRAINZZZZZZ....!"

[King Arthur]

Hello once more!

Well the time has come!!! Waterfall time 

The first set of pictures will show how I set about building the foundation and ensuring that the overall look was as realistic as I could achieve!

The first part of the process was to paint in very thin strips, some Liquitex High Gloss Gel onto a piece of plasticard. The Gel dries transparent and doesn't stick to the plasticard, so once dried, I just peeled it off. It can be cut to size/shape. To achieve a 'natural' look bend in the water as it cascaded down, I cut thin strips from an empty, circular, container, as the plastic is vacuum moulded it retains it's shape after cutting, this was attached to the Gloss Gel, firstly by pressing it in and the by using more Gloss Gel to act as an adhesive.

I also lightly dry brushed the Gloss Gel with White acrylic before peeling it off, this helped to give it that look of fast moving, thin water you get with waterfalls.



















That was the first stage, ensuring that the water bent then hit the rocks midway down, before falling into the pool below! A great point to this Gloss Gel is that it blends into itself, for example, although it's dry, I used more Gel to attach the waterfall to the river up top and once the Gel had dried you couldn't see a single join.

More to follow shortly.

[OSHIROmodels]

That's looking great so far. It's got that ethereal quality that waterfalls have 

[King Arthur]

That's looking great so far. It's got that ethereal quality that waterfalls have 

Most kind of you James! There were several trials and errors at first, either the Gel I laid down was too thick, then one attempt I bodged the white, put too much on and lost that ethereal look you referenced, I used of course, real waterfalls for reference as at first I was apprehensive in using white paint, but that's the look, you have to find that balance of having the water look white but still ethereal.... took some time before I was happy to take the 'plunge' and start sticking the Gel strips down, which was the point of no return 

[King Arthur]

The fun doesn't stop with the last post, oh no! Here's the next stage in the Waterfall process!!!

Once the initial shape was built from several Gel strips, I begun the initial water rippling works, blending the Gel strips into the Resin water and surrounding scenery and plugging any unwanted gaps. At first I thinned the Gel with some water as I was a tad frightened of having the ripples look to aggressive, but once this had dried it looked to tame.... so in subsequent Gel layers I used it undiluted.















You can see in the few pics, I added a few more small strips of Gel to plug some gaps and started to build up the layers where the Waterfall meets the pool.