Ice board - Printed version found [07/02]

[AndrewBeasley]

Having basically ruined the big board with the use of Realistic Water   I've moved on to an ice board for use with 15mm fantasy Inuit figures from MY miniatures

As normal full details can be found on my main blog www.blog.kings-sleep.me.uk but here are a couple of pictures of the naked board:

The basic cake board:

With the foam stuck on:

]

Next step is to coat the board with Flex Paste to remove the flat surface and fill in the join.

Andrew

[dijit]

That already looks pretty good. I'm guessing your other board can't be saved at all?
Duncan

[AndrewBeasley]

I think I have become so discouraged by the bubbles from the Scenic Water that I really do not want to use it!

[dijit]

I know the feeling, now I just paint and use gloss varnish or PVA.
Duncan

[AndrewBeasley]

A couple more shots now with the second layer of Flex Paste on it:

The join in the boards (shown here) did not cover well but once paint / scatter is added it will be fine for day to day gaming.

[Harwood Hobbies]

Looking good!  Thanks for posting the step-by-step.   

[AndrewBeasley]

Managed to get the board covered in white household paint today (but spots still wet - hence the touch of pink in places)

Still to lighten the edges, dry brush and add crackle glaze over it.

Any ideas how to easily add colour into the cracks?  I was thinking a wash and dry brush

[AndrewBeasley]

I had planned to use a crackle glaze on the water but wondering about the Galeria Large Grain Gel acrylic medium:

First paint Anita's Ocean Blue over Woodland Scenics flex paste:

Then cover in medium:

and let dry for a couple of hours:

OK I plastered it on a bit thick so give it a couple more hours:

Not the greatest effect but quite interesting as the light moves over it.  Depth wise I do not think it will impact the figures as the blue foam here is 10mm thick and you can only just see the gel:

Thoughts / comments / criticisms folks ?

[dijit]

Looks good, though the pictures I've seen of arctic/antarctic waters, the water seems to be a little darker, though the tone seems perfect. It might also help to create a little more depth to the ice as you'd get greater contrast between the darker colours underneath and the glossy shine.



Duncan

[AndrewBeasley]

  Thank you for that picture - just the look I would love to create!

[dijit]

Thank you for that picture - just the look I would love to create!

I've always wanted to see a terrain board like this, so I'm eager with anticipation.
Duncan

[al will]

Here is an interesting ice look and how-to

http://bennosfiguresforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=5258&hilit=ice

Enjoy

[AndrewBeasley]

@al will

I have seen the wax method discussed but discounted it as the ice is in the middle of the board and I want to put figures on to it and have visions of small round marks all over it 

Nice find though - who knows this may not be the last board I make...

[dijit]

It seems that guy put a piece of plexiglass over it, thus protecting it. Might be worth a try, it sure looks effective

[Connectamabob]

It also greatly depends on what type of wax you use. Store bought candles are cocktails of different waxes (mostly paraffin and/or beeswax, but with lots of little additives that change the properties), and can be pretty soft, relatively speaking (beeswax ones especially).

You can get pure paraffin wax at the grocery store in the baking/cooking isle (it's used for making DIY preserves). Straight paraffin's pretty hard: it won't get marked up just from your figure bases. Wax takes oil/enamel based paints very well, so a good hard clear coat to further toughen the surface should in theory be a simple thing (I've yet to try it myself). Paraffin's pretty cheap too, and looks a lot like scale pack ice right out of the box.

IIRC there's also additives you can get for candle and soap making crafts that will strengthen wax (the local craft store chain here has a whole isle dedicated to that stuff), but I don't know much about that yet myself. Google will probably tell.

A glacier or a pack ice board with wax has been on my "experiments to try" list for a while, but I've yet to get around to it.