An idea that almost works - board making

[AndrewBeasley]

Trying to get bits off the list so I can get back to the board for my portable wargame I dug out the swamp board I have been doing for a bit.

The aim was to create a simple board with puddles and little classic grass flock with the odd twist.  First up was the board itself - based on a dry wipe board from Staples closing down sale (two years ago in Grimsby) I covered it in a thin layer of cork matting with a few holes cut in it.  This was then painted and flocked in multiple heavy flock mixes (predominately from railway supplies and not the normal groups) and covered in PVA and matt varnish to stop bits lifting:

The smaller holes had been coated around the edge in WS flex paste and then well covered in paint (4 or 5 coats) before using three layers of 'Magic Water' sprinkled with flock and twigs to show depth as leaves / plants / duck weed.  Interestingly, the camera shows the base paint up more than you see in real life - though the areas around the puddles are covered in less flock, they are not as empty as the pictures infer.

To help break it up, I had some MDF shapes from ERM and cut out larger areas for these:

These I coated in artist paint and crackle medium to represent dried areas in the swamp when the inserts where removed.

Some inserts so far are plain areas, clumps of wood to act as cover (first pic bottom) or trees:

Things learnt during the build:

How to make WS trees
I used UHU glue (clear and sticky) to hold the bushy bits to the frame.  This was then coated in cheap hairspray 3 times VERY heavily and then matt varnish twice - a slight sprinkle of earth flock between varnish coats.
Wear gloves for this - the hairspray is hard on the hands when lots are used and the varnish is a pain to shift!

Use of cork as a base
Due to the depth of the whiteboard I needed something flat and thin to cut to give depth.  Cork matting is great but its a real pain to cut cleanly.  I went through three blades cutting bits out and it still tore in some places.  Note I also cannot draw lines around templates and cut them out - the gaps around the replaceable units are shameful to say the least 
I used PVA to stick the cork down but found that using WS flex paste to give small raised areas pulled the PVA up and split the cork in places despite leaving it a week to dry.  In future I would use thin plasticard or foam to build up the small areas first and then coat with flex paste.

Magic Water is well urm MAGIC
This two part resin is a pain to mix (a good ten minutes solid stirring I find works), fills with bubbles and pours easily (i.e. the flock soaks it up and ANY miniscule gaps leak).  The best bit is leaving the bubbles in for a while, letting them rise up and then just breathing heavily on the top to make them go - it really works!  Takes a good two or three days to dry but is the best I have found so far.

Low tack masking tape is not worth the money
Ended up having to sand the edges where the paint had crept under the tape...  You even have to pay more for this 

The replaceable units work
Not the best selection here, but with care you can turn a small area into different tactical issues or just add a bit of scatter for the fun of it.  As they are the same depth as the cork careful cutting should make this work well.  You do need to plan things out first - I just stuck the smallest I had into the mix and then found I did not have any real idea of what was going on the top of them!

Trees
To simplify storage I based the trees on coins (Queens head down of course) as they can pop in a box separate from the base and even be used for general scatter without the base if needed.  I may make up a few small bushes on coins as well to go in these holes one day.
 
Dry areas
OK not the most obvious thing in a swamp BUT I did not want to leave the flat area plain and I had this one part crackle paint for awhile so I thought I would try it.  I used Deco Art One Step - great fun to use - put it on THICK for good sized lumps between the crackles.  Try it first as you have very little control over the size, no control over the shape and put the dark coat down first (yup twit here did it the wrong way first time around - a wash or two fixes that though)!  Do not over work or stretch it out - thick is the key

Flock
For years I have used the fine GW / GF9 / WS flocks we see around the boards but for this one I wanted something chunky.  A trip to the local railway shop in Hull gave me a total mix of bits from Green Scene (Google cache as the site seems to be down 02/06/14) The colours and size is so different its hard to adjust to the way of mixing (esp as I added strands of lichen and other odd bits I had around) and you need lots more glue than normal.  I then covered it in glue again, added three different WS fine flocks and the odd bit of scatter around!  A couple more coats of glue and spray matt varnish and I'm one happy bunny

Light flock for paths
I had this daft idea to use lighter flock to mark out paths of safe passage - did not work.  Does not look as bad in real life honestly.

[OSHIROmodels]

A good end result on that and there's nothing wrong with learning, I'm still learning and I've been a professional modelmaker for over 13 years now 

cheers

James

[Elk101]

That's a great idea well executed. The inserts could be just about anything.

[richardpate]

this is a most informative entry and i will try some of your methods.  thank a lot.  it looksgreat too.  rick