Re: BSC2021 Will Bailie The Approach to Leonforte: AAR July 11th

[Hammers]

I bet this is going to be a real stonker.

[Andym]

Ohh, that Pat Smith book looks good! It may have to be put on my birthday wish list!  Thanks for the reply.

[Will Bailie]

Ohh, that Pat Smith book looks good! It may have to be put on my birthday wish list!  Thanks for the reply.

Definitely worth it, but be sure to grab a copy soon, before they are all sold out!

I have procured the remaining supplies.  A hot wire cutter for the foam board:


And an 8' sheet of 1" insulation board.  If my project crashes, maybe it could be an alien monolith...


I will start cutting and forming the hills on the weekend.

And finally, just to show that there's no point doing a project if you're not going to over-do it, here is an RCE survey team, kitbashed from the Perry Desert Rats and Zulu War British Infantry boxes.  The dumpy level is made up of two heliograph sets, and the level rod is an infantry flag pole with the end chopped off.  They aren't part of my BSC2021 entry, but once the boards are finished, they will be active on it.

[Poiter50]

Love that RCE survey team, very clever idea.

[Will Bailie]

I just noticed that I put the wrong year in my BSC2021 title, so I've edited my entry to catch up with the rest of you!  (It's like we all mysteriously lost of year of our lives and didn't even notice....  )

Today was a lovely, warm and sunny spring day, so I was able to set up the tables on the patio and get started on building the hills.  😃

Following the plan I'd prepared, I set out the insulation board and got to work.  (and reminded myself to take photos to document the build process 😉)



I checked my assumption that 2" was enough height for the bridge over the gorge.



Looks OK to me!

I started cutting:




Following the advice from Pat Smith's "Setting the Scene", I was careful to just use points of glue - he points out that if the entire surface is covered in glue (especially with white glue), it will not create a bond.




Moving on, I traced the desired cut lines on the next hill as the glue was setting for the first.





It was about now that I realised the white glue was not creating a bond between the insultation board and the plywood base.  So I decided to try an alternative: double sided carpet tape! 




Carpet tape turned out to be just great.  I probably overdid it, but the only way those boards will shift is by tearing them apart.

To mask where two boards come together, I decided to put a mini-gorge.  Not the best photo, but the gorge can be seen in the shadow.  Hopefully it will be a bit clearer as the build progresses.



I got into the swing of things, and didn't photograph everything.  This is how the boards looked at the end of the day.







My original plan was to go for a 4" maximum height with the boards, but I now think that 3 layers of insulation board (3" max height) will be enough.  Compare the current progress with the photo of the valley.





I keep reminding myself that this is a representation for gaming on, not an exact scale model.  If I need additional height on the side slopes, I might add some removable hills to fit the corners.  Any comments greatly appreciated!

[Will Bailie]

One more thing, and I didn't take a photo of this, but I made sure that the 3" hill sections line up, so I can turn the boards 90-degrees to create up to 8' of hills! Or any combination of the 2' boards if I only need 4' or 6'...

[Bravo Six]

This is looking great Will. Looks like you have a great outdoor space to work in out there in N Van! 

[Will Bailie]

Thanks, B6 - I moved and am now in Burnaby!

[Codsticker]

That's coming along nicely. It looks to me you've managed a really nice compromise between the reality of the steep slopes and a playable surface.

[Bravo Six]

Thanks, B6 - I moved and am now in Burnaby!

Well then, perhaps I'll get to see this close up (once the pandemic is over I mean) because I'll be moving to BBY before Xmas. 

[AKULA]

Good progress there, and a clever idea to make the boards work in a different configuration

 

[Will Bailie]

Good progress there, and a clever idea to make the boards work in a different configuration

 

Thanks.  Here are a couple of shots showing the alternative layout:





Since I don't have an 8' table, I can't lay all four boards out 

[Will Bailie]

Today I added some texture to the boards.  I decided to try some plaster cloth since I picked some up on clearance from Michaels.  It comes as a roll of mesh impregnated with plaster.  To use, cut into strips, dip in water and then lay on the table.  It's pretty messy, but easy enough to do.



I started with one board, completed layered it with plaster, and moved on to the second.  This is how much I was able to cover with one pack, roughly 20 cm by 3.5 m.  When I ran out, I went back to Michaels and picked up the last two packs they had in stock.
 




This is as far as I got with the total of three packs.  It didn't quite cover the entire surface.  The main thing is that I covered over the plywood base and all the joints for the insulation board.

The mesh pattern is visible in the plastered areas.  In future steps I'll cover this up with more texturing, with sand, gravel etc.

[Codsticker]

Although I have made terrain off and on for years I have never used plaster cloth- I think that looks very good so far.

[Will Bailie]

Thanks, Codsticker.  Jury's still out on the plaster - I'm letting it set for now, and will be back at it in a day or two.  I'm also curious to see how it turns out!  I'm finding that it's fun to make a plan, try things out, and then see if I should continue or try some sort of pivot