What does West Texas/Arizona look like?

[Argonor]

I'm going to sand a board somewhen during the next week or so, but how should I paint it to get a good 'wild west'-look?

I'm aiming for West Texas/Arizona or the likes.

Any colour suggestions?

(And where can I get some suitable vegetation; cacti, tumbleweeds... ya' git da picture?)

[Hammers]

I camped out in the Sonora desert outside Tuscon, Arizona few years ago. The saguaro cactii (chimney cactus) grow as so dense there you could almost consider it a forrest. The sand/dirt/gravel is mostly grey tan but can be quite yellow and read in other places. Apart from the saguaro I would say, from what stuck in my memory, that what dominates the landscape is the dried up washes (it rains something wicked there during rain season) and the Catalina mountains in the distance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonoran_Desert

I camped there in november at a natural camping site in a copse of cotton wood which was empty of people except for me and a couple of Californian stoners. Together we tore down almost a whole, dead cotton wood bush and made a bonfire to keep the cold (and coyotes) at bay. The Californians, of course, lit up a fatty but I, like the good Christian boy I am, got hammered on Makers Mark Small Batch Kentucky Straight Burbon. Sitting there by the fire, making up lies to each other under the full moon and with the coyotes howling in the distance is one of my most profound memories from my stay in the US. Or the parts of the incident I still remember, I mean. :-)

[Luckyjoe]

Used to live in El Paso, did a quick google image search for El Paso desert. Here's a pic: http://www.scan2008.com/imgs/plant.jpg

Luckyjoe

[Argonor]

I'm going to make a 'plain' board for use as well for towns as for 'wilderness' adventures.

Should I go for a pale dusty buff or yellowish look?

[warrenpeace]

Should I go for a pale dusty buff or yellowish look?

Pick the one that you can stand to look at whenever you play.  Either one is fine.  Dirt and sand in the Southwest looks different in different places.  Buff, off-white, tan, dull yellow, grey, or rust red are all valid, depending on where you are.   It's mostly buff, tan, or dull yellow.  But in the high mountains there is a lot of light grey rock and that comes down the wash.  Also, some of the most dramatic terrain in the Southwest is the red-rock country in southern Utah and northern Arizona.  If you have a red sand playing surface, you can also use it for Mars.

[Hammers]

A trip from the rim of Grand Canyon to the river below is vertitable trip down the earth tone scale. The rock changes color not just by the various lights of day. As you decend it goes from buff to tan to yellow, ochre, oxide green, lilac, red in layers until you reach the basalt black of the very bottom.

I still maintain that *from a distance*, which is the useful perspective when you do scale scenery, the Sonora desert looks a monotone buff just as the redrock country warrenbruhn mentions looks, well, a rusty red.

On a side note: I was quite surprised when I saw sections in Zion national park which had that peach to pink colour the SAS painted their desert landrovers in. I always thought that was a bit of a gimmick.

(As you may have noticed I am quite taken by the big deserts. They are so different from this Frozen North, this Ultima Thule to where I am banned)  

[Argonor]

Ill probably go down to the nearest paint shop and see what acrylics they have, then.....

Now, where should I look for vegetation (cacti, trees/bushes)?

Is there a good way to make tumbleweeds for gaming?

[Hammers]

Is there a good way to make tumbleweeds for gaming?

Tear a loafah apart and cut it/shape it into balls.

[Overlord]

Is there a good way to make tumbleweeds for gaming?

I use rubberised horse hair cut into a rough ball shape with scissors. It doesnt even need painting.  :mrgreen:

[mousy brown]

I have also used rubberised horsehair to make my tumble weed .
I just pulled off a smal chunk and rolled it around between the palms
of my hands until I had a ball about the right size. Then I dipped the
ball into a dish of watered down pva glue and placed the ball onto some
greaseproof paper to dry..

..when the glue was still not completely dry i rolled the ball around
between my hands again just to ensure a neat finish as some of the
horses hair can stray spoil the effect.

Good cacti are available at Grand Manor
http://www.grandmanner.co.uk/shop/prodtype.asp?PT_ID=74&numRecordPosition=56&ph=&strKeywords=&&strSearchCriteria=

[warrenpeace]

Now, where should I look for vegetation (cacti, trees/bushes)?

Monday Knight Productions has both Saguaro and Barrel Cactus packs:

http://www.mondayknight.com/mkpindex-Desperado-accessories.htm

You could make patches of tall grass from the packs of that kind of stuff in model train stores.  It comes in different colors, from dark green to yellow and brown.  I would recommend the colors that look more dried up.

There are lots of small plants in the desert.  Maybe some bags of dried moss from a flower shop or craft shop could be used to make patches of low vegetation.  I've seen bags of the stuff that looked pretty brown.  Sage brush is very common.  It should only come up to between the figures' knees and waists.  I recall that the green parts look sort of blue-gray much of the year.  There are small cedar trees or pines in some of the deserts.

[Argonor]

Rubberished horse hair, OK... dunno if it's legal to import that to DK (animal stuff...)

[Argonor]

Is there a good way to make tumbleweeds for gaming?

Tear a loafah apart and cut it/shape it into balls.

What is a 'loafah', btw?


I'm on a setback on this project, as I'm waiting for my local timberyard to get some 'cut-to-order' harboards from another store, as their saw is out of order (jeez...!)

[revford]

What is a 'loafah', btw?

It's a bit of a plant.  Used like a sponge but much more coarse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luffa

[grubman]

What is a 'loafah', btw?

It's a bit of a plant.  Used like a sponge but much more coarse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luffa

You usually find them in the health and beuty sections of department stores...you can usually find them at dollar stores too.