Recipe for textured terrain boards

[aircav]

Has anyone got a Recipe for textured terrain boards?
Something hard (strong) but with some flexibility?   (I know what sort of comments I would get on Frothers!)

[nic-e]

acrylic paint and sand, thinned with pva would work well.
So would builders silicone caulk mixed with sand a paint.

[Argonor]

Flexibility? Do you want to be able to roll it up or something?

I use chipboard for the board, unthinned white glue, coarse sand, then thinned down white glue (milk consistency) with a little washing up liquid added, to seal the sand. Paint base colour, add one or more drybrushes of lighter shade to taste. Flock in patches if you want (I havent gotten 'round to that part, yet).

This grey board (Moria) was made that way:



If you want something flexible, latex (or silicone, as stated) paint with sand is perhaps the way to go.

[aircav]

acrylic paint and sand, thinned with pva would work well.
So would builders silicone caulk mixed with sand a paint.

I don't think paint on its own would be strong enough as its to cover yellow extruded polystyrene insulation board.
I had thought of a mixture of Caulk, Pva & plaster.

[Argonor]

I don't think paint on its own would be strong enough as its to cover yellow extruded polystyrene insulation board.
I had thought of a mixture of Caulk, Pva & plaster.

Ah, you're putting it on top of expanded foam, thus the flexibility issue. The recipe described above I also used on some hills made of polystyrene insulation (the kind made from thousands of little compressed pellets), some woodland bases made of 5mm foam card, and it won't chip, even though I bent one of them by accident. The adhesion may be better on the foam card because of the card layer, though, so adding some bendable material may be the secure way to go.

[aircav]

Sounds Good, Cheers

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

QUESTION

Has anybody tried to use sawdust as an alternative to sand for texture? - does it work?
(I was thinking it would be less scratchy on painted bases & figures etc.)

Mick

[Col. Aubrey Bagshot]

Use Chinchila dust.
Buy it from any pet shop, its THE best quality very very fine sand.
FAR FAR better than anything ive found elsewhere.

And there is NO dust what so ever in it, some the name is a little misleading....
Because its so fine, it gives you a much finer texture on a base board....

Maybe not use it on its own, but mix it with other sands, like the GW basing sand for a variety.

[aircav]

Use Chinchila dust.
Buy it from any pet shop, its THE best quality very very fine sand.
FAR FAR better than anything ive found elsewhere.

And there is NO dust what so ever in it, some the name is a little misleading....
Because its so fine, it gives you a much finer texture on a base board....

Maybe not use it on its own, but mix it with other sands, like the GW basing sand for a variety.

Cheers, I was going to flock parts of the board & make some of it mud so I will look at Chinchilla dust.

[Col. Aubrey Bagshot]

mix well into a mix of cheap acrylic paint and PVA.

Apply with the cheapest 2" brush you kind find, and use a stippeling motion to sort of scrub the mix onto the board.
If you use a mix of brown and black paint ( i use the cheap kids stuff from The Works ) it acts as a base layer and undercoat all in one.

And if you dont mix the colours too well, you get a non-even/mottled tone of brown and black... blotchy....

Then its just a question of how many dry brush layers you can be bothered to do....
But the more the better the board will look.....

[aircav]

mix well into a mix of cheap acrylic paint and PVA.

Apply with the cheapest 2" brush you kind find, and use a stippeling motion to sort of scrub the mix onto the board.
If you use a mix of brown and black paint ( i use the cheap kids stuff from The Works ) it acts as a base layer and undercoat all in one.

And if you dont mix the colours too well, you get a non-even/mottled tone of brown and black... blotchy....

Then its just a question of how many dry brush layers you can be bothered to do....
But the more the better the board will look.....

Cheers

[DELTADOG]

Never ever use a Silicon based component in a mixture if you want to paint it proper and durable for a long time. The best flexible but strong texturematerial is Latexrubber paste. You can apply it in a thin layer add some structure to it and sand it with every flock you want even after it had already cured (then with Sprayclue from a can). I build my whole battletablesurface with those Latexrubber. To make my math more durable I laminated a mosquitonet in the fresh rubber. If you don`t like sand to texture your stuff, there are several other mineral or pasticlike fillermaterials in perls or granulate which can be mixid in latex directly to give it a rocky texture.

[aircav]

Never ever use a Silicon based component in a mixture if you want to paint it proper and durable for a long time. The best flexible but strong texturematerial is Latexrubber paste. You can apply it in a thin layer add some structure to it and sand it with every flock you want even after it had already cured (then with Sprayclue from a can). I build my whole battletablesurface with those Latexrubber. To make my math more durable I laminated a mosquitonet in the fresh rubber. If you don`t like sand to texture your stuff, there are several other mineral or pasticlike fillermaterials in perls or granulate which can be mixid in latex directly to give it a rocky texture.

cheers 

[Captain Blood]

Keith - my patent gloop is pva / sand / emulsion paint mix liberally applied over the top of the plaster and styrofoam superstructure, used on styrofoam boards.

See my terrain board projects here:

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=12619.15

And here:

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=20284.0

You can thicken this mixture and make it as rough or smooth as you like by adding more sand / coarser sand / different grades of grit.

Including a generously liberal amount of PVA in with the sand / paint mix, means the finished surface sets hard and plasticised - but retains a little flexibility too.

I use exactly the same concoction for basing all my figures too.

I really wouldn't buy GW 'basing sand' or any other ludicrous little pots from Gale Force 9, Army Painter or anyone else...
As I'm sure you know, you can buy a bloody great sack of builders' sand from B&Q for a quid. Or from your local builders merchant for a couple of quid. One sack will last you a wargaming and modelling lifetime. (You can always sieve it to get the grade you require... )
Selling an eggcupful of 'Acme model brand' sand in a plastic tub for £4.99, has to be one of the biggest scams in the history of man

[warlord frod]

Captain Blood your work is AMAZING! 

But I have one huge question. How do you store your boards? I cannot imagine that you discard them so you have to have a means of storing them. I have always hesitated to make said boards because of the amount of room they would take up. I am contemplating making a small 3x4 board to use for my skirmish games. So how do you do it and maybe share a picture or two if its something more creative then leaning them up against the wall.

Thanks