Terrain Project

[abu iskander]

My thoughts on good terrain have evolved over time. So, I've given my old boards to a friend and have begun a new set. Here on the left one of my old panels, to the right, its replacement.



It served me well, but now I am embarking on a new build, looking to merge modularity with real sections of contour maps for greater realism.  Here are the first sketches. Some hills, flats and rivers are represented along with a small creek.




One of the main objectives is not to have any flat--as in pancake flat--panels.  All panels will have sort of relief while remaining modular.  You can see the beginnings of this here:



I've gotten down to finishing the first hill panel. After I work through these components I'll come back to the river and other panels.  Following a fairly typical method of blue foam construction here.

Cut and shape panel. Put a little backdrop behind it to help illustrate slope.



Next, some additional shaping with wallboard compound and some larger scatter in the draws along the ridge.





Next the bulk of the grit.  In this case, it's sifted dirt from my yard. I gently highlighted this before flocking.



Flocked in several layers of railroad ballast, fine sand, turf and static grass. Saturated with Modge Podge and drying...



Dry, and while the Modge Podge has seriously bonded the flock and grit to the board, the finish ultimately darkened and the dirt really showed through.



So, another layer of light colored extra fine ballast and some yellow static grass.  I think it's a good model for the remaining panels.



Thoughts?

[OSHIROmodels]

Very nicely done 

I must admit I prefer the brighter colours of the first one though even though I can see and appreciate the amount of work that's gone into the second one 

Looking forward to seeing more progress.

cheers

James

[FramFramson]

Looks great! Nicely done!

Can't wait to see how the rest go.

[Dr Mathias]

I've been considering doing something similar myself, thanks for posting this.

Will you be able to do any different configurations, or will the irregular edges prohibit that?

[abu iskander]

Thanks all.

Dr. M--the slope at the edge of each board is common @ 30 degrees, so they all meet up. Now, there are two different exit points for the ridges. One panel type has the slope exit at the midpoint of the edges, the other at the 1/4 point. I've designed a couple ridges that transition between the two types. So, yes once all the panels are done they should be very interchangeable/modular.

Here's a new shot in somewhat better light of the finished panel:

[Glitzer]

This looks great

[Dr Mathias]

Excellent work, very lifelike and believable. 

[Captain Blood]

Beautiful. Great finish on that ground surface.

[Silent Invader]

Really nice work

[Sixmilletoe]

Lovely! Very inspiring.

[Malamute]

Great work and a lovely view from your front drive

[Belgian]

Great work and a lovely view from your front drive

Was just thinking the same, both great pieces of scenery 

[abu iskander]

Cheers, all.

Two more panels finished and drying, about a dozen sculpted and ready for gesso.

A little low ground; I need to detail the rock outcrops a bit.



Another ridge panel. Along with the Ür-Pänël (left) and the other from the photo above.

[pacarat]

My thoughts on good terrain have evolved over time. So, I've given my old boards to a friend and have begun a new set. Here on the left one of my old panels, to the right, its replacement.

Hmmm... I like the old ones better.

But I might be biased, seeing as they're now downstairs in my hobby room... :-)


Seriously, though... great looking finish and contours on the new ones.

[Modhail]

Now that is good great looking kit!

The view's not half bad either.