Games of the North: 20/5 completed carts, commerce & captives (GoT)

[Dr. Zombie]

This whole thread annoys me!

I am annoyed at the speed of it.
I am annoyed by the quality of it.
And I am annoyed that I cannot do something similar!

[sukhe_bator]

Amen Dr Zombie!

[Malamute]

Great stuff 

Next thing, buy a decent camera 

 

cheers

James

 

Its looking excellent, very, very good indeed.

[sukhe_bator]

Amen to that too Malamute. My camera is s***e

[Silent Invader]

Thanks folks  

For record keeping shots the iPhone camera is just so convenient ..... So, James, I shall ignore you and everyone else  

The really important thing is that none of this is difficult. That's not me being conceited or anything, as the techniques are not at all hard to master. The major challenges - if you put to one side time, materials cost and working space - are in visualising the finished terrain then organising the order of work, which are really only issues the first time one has a crack at it. I'm not suggesting every wargamer should make terrain like this but if you want to (and I do because I like to make it, look at it, and play on it ) then its eminently doable.

I just wonder how happy you are with using wood glue for the main body of the water?
Its really difficult to tell ( from the photos ) just how much 'depth' there is in it??
I know your river was never meant to be deep, but is it properly 3D? If you know what i mean?

I only ask as iv'e been looking at various scenic resins and water products for a board i'm about to start construction on and using a gallon or so of wood glue would save a very serious amount of money....

I'm very happy with the suggested depth and '3D' effect of the 'water'. Seriously, if I didn't like the effect I wouldn't use it (I've been known to take a big hammer to or to set fire to projects that don't please me   ).

In terms of game play, for me physically deep water doesn't actually add many positives versus the negatives (ie, great aesthetics but costs more, generally is harder to work with, depth adds to board size thereby increasing storage required, etc).  Fortunately, the water effects I do tend to be muddy or dirty so a darker basecoat to the river bed and tinting the wood glue works to create the '3D' of suggested depth. Having stuff like boulders rise through the water also helps. However, if I wanted crystal clear water with depth, then I might well go the physical route.

Regarding the wood glue, I use Evostik Exterior Grade Wood Glue (blue bottle) which cures clear (but not crystal clear) and while very strong retains a little flex. It contracts a little as it cures and is not self- levelling. It can be layered on itself (the best way to apply it). You can't avoid getting bubbles in it as it's poured then teased into position with a brush and previously I had good luck in vibrating the bubbles to the surface and if necessary popping then (for turbulent water I don't bother, I quite like bubbles being there). Incidentally, I use this glue for everything I'd have used PVA for and it's about £9 for a litre. It can also be bought in quite small pots and it might be worth picking one up to try it out.

As to pictures in extreme close-up, these were really difficult to get a focus on (I left all the excess static grass etc in place, convincing myself it'd help the focus) so the following are far from perfect examples.

The physical (ie, actual) depth of the water:



Seeing into/through the water (around the rock):



Variation in the height of the river bed at the ford, the muddy floor being apparent at the ford as there is less physical depth (as well as suggested depth) to the water:



I plan to add a bay/loch/lake to the project and will be using the glue for that as well.



Edited for typos!!!!

[Dr. Zombie]

These closeups of the water look very convincing. I saw a tutorial on water once where the guy used a straw to blow out unwanted air bubbles. That looked like a very easy and effective way of getting rid of them.

[verd]

WOW!  So many awesome ideas here.  Thanks so much for sharing!

[Mason]

The undulating surface of the glue makes it look very convincing!
 

[Silent Invader]

Thanks chaps 

Have brushed the excess static grass and clump foliage from the tiles and took a photo in daylight (poor daylight but nevertheless it was daylight!), which does a better job of showing the colours.



The new tiles are a fraction lighter than the old but they should be fine once they've had their fixing coat of hairspray.

In terms of what's left to do, it's really just titivation now. Tufts, bushes, reeds, gravel, drybrush of the roads, tidy up any excess or build up where necessary around tile joins, etc.

[sukhe_bator]

A marvellous looking board! Just don't leave any sections in sunlight for too long... flock colouring fades horribly quickly, as I've found out to my cost in the past

[Silent Invader]

A marvellous looking board! Just don't leave any sections in sunlight for too long... flock colouring fades horribly quickly, as I've found out to my cost in the past

Thanks  but also sorry to hear that 

As soon as they're titivated they'll be going into boxes (Tjena by IKEA).

[OSHIROmodels]

Spot on mate 

Really has that washed out look that the North tends to have 

Now then, the important question is, when do we get to play on it 

cheers

James

[Mason]

Now it looks great, and it even has the stamp of authenticity from the Northern Barbarian.
 

In terms of what's left to do, it's really just titivation now. Tufts, bushes, reeds, gravel, drybrush of the roads, tidy up any excess or build up where necessary around tile joins, etc.

Dont forget to brush it!
 

[tyrionhalfman]

Amazing results. Thanks for sharing

[Silent Invader]

Thanks folks! 

Hairspray (non glossy) is a great fixitive for all the loose fibres.

Really has that washed out look that the North tends to have 

Now then, the important question is, when do we get to play on it 

 

The minimum I need to finish for it to be used in a game is the titivation, the inside of the inn,  the inn crew and the wagon with crew. We shall have to talk