More Hex Terrain: Major Rivers and Forrest Testing

 The major river hexes I need for "Secret Project 12AZ36" are pretty much finished and I've laid them out on the table.  Ignore the hexes in-between the rivers as they are more for spacing purposes.

Whew - I made enough plus 6 extra.  Usually in these type of projects I make too few and need to add.

Why are a handful of hexes not fully done?  I suspect there will be some form of special terrain there...

 I like the look of the hexes but also see I need to pay more attention to flocking the edges.

And the progress to date.  I have really enjoyed making these hexes and look forward to a lot more.  One of the more enjoyable aspects is each hobby session can result in some finished hexes - as they are small at 4" across flat side to flat side.  Most terrain projects tend to drag on over multiple sessions so that sense of accomplishment is often delayed.  Equally positive is one also fails fast, which is just as good.

It's a good thing I have found making hexes fun as one does need a lot of them.  To fully cover a 6x4 gaming surface one needs 216 hexes!

A close up on one of the river hexes and two road ones.  The texture on the river banks was super easy - just. a few passes with a wire brush and *presto* "instant" sedimentary levels.  The roads are also the same width as a minor river within the GHQ "Terrain-Maker" format.

Speaking of failing fast...

I've been experimenting with how to make tree's and forested hexes.  Standard Terrain maker forests have the trees permanently affixed to the hex, which looks great but can be difficult to play on if one is attempting to move troops on a hex in the middle of a wide board.  This issue is magnified for those of us who are encumbered with, ummm, excess provision storage around our waists (hey, I resemble that remark!). 

I've been experimenting with different ways to make both trees and make them removable without excessively damaging the hex.  I think I've come up with a way that works by using small plastic tubes as sabots to hold the trees and covering the area with a forest floor flocking.  I've also been experimenting with making wire trees and pine trees from bumpy chennel.  By the way, there is a great "2 Minute Terrain Tutorial" on how to make 6mm pine trees on the Little Wars TV Channel - heres a link.

The green color is a little too bright so I washed all the pine tree in a 50/50 water / vallejo russian green primer.   I think it will look fine.

The copper wire trees proved to be too delicate so it's back to the drawing board there.  The plastic tube sockets worked great, so that's a keeper.

Once I figure out the tree method I'll do a more detailed "how-to" post.