Monday, June 29, 2015

Sectional Terrain: Initial painting of the Forrest plates

 Most of the weekend was taken up with sailing so there isn't a lot of progress to report.  Last night I did manage to basecoat the tree plates and land sections.  Not the most exciting of updates but one that needs to get done.
 I'm using a latex paint I had made at a local hardware shop based on paint samples from Vallejo Flat Brown (984) and Iraqi Sand (819).  I wanted a darker color for the forrest floors and went with straight Flat Brown rather than the 2/3 Flat Brown and 1/3 Iraqi sand mix I used on the terrain panels.  The rocks are a flat Liquitex grey and then I mixed a little brown in the unused grey to paint the tree trunks.  Once this has dried for 24 hours (the latex paint takes a long time to dry), I'll dry brush the details and add a few "easter eggs" on the forrest floors.  After that, it's some flocking time and we're done!

The terrain for the ironclad game also got a base coat.  I was planning on putting some 1/600 scale houses on the terrain but have opted not too, so I can used the pieces for both 1/600 and 1/1200 scale naval games.  The hills are painted flat brown and the shoreline is Iraqi Sand.  The hills will be covered in woodland scenics clump foliage and I'm still deciding what to do (if anything) for the sandy areas.   Two other larger sections where also painted but are out of the picture.

I ran out of woodland scenics trees so one of the forrest plates will be homemade pine trees "liberated" from my old model railroading stockpile.

After both the tree plates and naval scenery is done the only remaining steps are

(1) Make some roads - I'll be using matt board (normally used in picture framing) and flexible caulk for those)

(2) Pour the resin for the river sections - I'm really nervous about the resin as there isn't a way to "un-do" a bad poor and I don't have time to re-build new river sections so the river may just get a few coats of gloss finish.

(3) Build a cart that will accommodate the terrain panels and troops easily - transporting this "crap" easily and safely is a big concern

(4) Edit and print out all the player aids for both games

T-Minus 16 days to HCON, with only 11 usable days given a business trip.  This one will go down to the wire.

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