Howdy again.
So, day four of the June resolution found me finishing up a terrain project. My gaming group had requested some bigger rocks than what we had been using. I think they were looking for rocks that actually blocked line of site rather than just offering cover for 28mm. What I did was glue a few selected pieces of pine bark, bought at the local garden store, to a few recycled CDs/DVDs. I found a great sale on the bark, so I have a huge bag of it.
That's about as far as I got, initially, but yesterday I took the time to finish them. I added various pieces of crushed stone (provided by a little cottage business of my two daughters) and some fine grain ballast stone from Woodland Scenics. This gave them a very realistic rocky look and feel.
I pained the bark straight on the bark without any undercoat. I think the way the raw wood soaks up the paint unevenly and the brown spots left gives it that aged stone look with all its inconsistencies and pits full of accumulated dirt and soil. For the grey I used a mix of basic craft paint grey with a rather imprecise and sloppy bit of brown added to it and only halfway mixed so that even the paint had some variation in color. I also used a bit of grey on the ballast and some of the natural stone to blend it with the larger rock.
The base of the CD was painted brown with a little ballast thrown in to add a little texture. I was out of grit or I'd have gone for more texture but with all the layers of stone, I figured I could let it go.
Once everything was mostly dry I flocked the whole thing, sometimes adding a brush of fresh paint to areas I wanted to hold more flock. This gives the rocks a mossy, weathered look. A last bit of dry brushing was done on the main rocks to add an extra layer of texture and weathering. On a few of them I had some ballast sticking onto the face of rocks and so I painted these in reds and yellows in an approximation of a few wild flowers or maybe even mushrooms or lichen growing on the structure.
I really like how these turned out and am tempted to make moreof them, even though I'm not sure I'll need any more. Though they were made with 28mm in mind, some of them would make really nice pieces on a 15mm board as well. In fact, some of the holes in the formations might make good spawn points for goblins and other naties in 15mm games as they would easily be large enough to be cave entrances for figs of that size.
Hope you like,
-Eli
So, day four of the June resolution found me finishing up a terrain project. My gaming group had requested some bigger rocks than what we had been using. I think they were looking for rocks that actually blocked line of site rather than just offering cover for 28mm. What I did was glue a few selected pieces of pine bark, bought at the local garden store, to a few recycled CDs/DVDs. I found a great sale on the bark, so I have a huge bag of it.
That's about as far as I got, initially, but yesterday I took the time to finish them. I added various pieces of crushed stone (provided by a little cottage business of my two daughters) and some fine grain ballast stone from Woodland Scenics. This gave them a very realistic rocky look and feel.
I pained the bark straight on the bark without any undercoat. I think the way the raw wood soaks up the paint unevenly and the brown spots left gives it that aged stone look with all its inconsistencies and pits full of accumulated dirt and soil. For the grey I used a mix of basic craft paint grey with a rather imprecise and sloppy bit of brown added to it and only halfway mixed so that even the paint had some variation in color. I also used a bit of grey on the ballast and some of the natural stone to blend it with the larger rock.
The base of the CD was painted brown with a little ballast thrown in to add a little texture. I was out of grit or I'd have gone for more texture but with all the layers of stone, I figured I could let it go.
Once everything was mostly dry I flocked the whole thing, sometimes adding a brush of fresh paint to areas I wanted to hold more flock. This gives the rocks a mossy, weathered look. A last bit of dry brushing was done on the main rocks to add an extra layer of texture and weathering. On a few of them I had some ballast sticking onto the face of rocks and so I painted these in reds and yellows in an approximation of a few wild flowers or maybe even mushrooms or lichen growing on the structure.
I really like how these turned out and am tempted to make moreof them, even though I'm not sure I'll need any more. Though they were made with 28mm in mind, some of them would make really nice pieces on a 15mm board as well. In fact, some of the holes in the formations might make good spawn points for goblins and other naties in 15mm games as they would easily be large enough to be cave entrances for figs of that size.
Hope you like,
-Eli
Posts
Those turned out real nice. I like the effect the pine bark has for rocks.
ReplyDeleteDevon
Thanks, man.
ReplyDeleteThey really are so easy to make. I made the fifth one before breakfast this morning. I bet they could look even better if I had more foliage supplies available.
Also, if yoy leaves the rocks and pebbles a bit more bare it really gives a good high mountain feel too.
Add more foliage and they would make for great jungle mountain terrain.
-Eli
Good work, Eli!
ReplyDeleteI've been terrain-ify-ing a good bit myself lately. Trying to keep to the "15 minutes a day in June pledge" you began. For that info, check out the terrain blog. I need to put up some pics still.
Speaking of, I have a cave downstairs that needs spraying...
-J
Very woodsy! It looks like this formation could be in the deep woods of the Pacific Northwest.
ReplyDeleteDid you buy the mulch specifically for this project? I thought it would be easy to grab a few peaces from some else's garden. (I try to get most of my terrain bits for free) BUT last weekend was the first time in years that I have even seen the stuff.
The resemblence to PNW terrain is no coincidenc as that is from wence I hail. Up in drizzly WAshington. I just wish the drizzle would come back and flush away all this 80 degree weather.
ReplyDelete-Eli
Oh yeah, nd yes I bought a big bag of the bark. I figured with the sale they had, the convenience of having it on-hand would make the expense worth it.
ReplyDeleteAs it is, I still need to ort through a bunch of it to find usable pieces. You may notice that I have comosited a couple of pieces together to form a larger rock. This is often necsary as most of the bark piecs are pretty one-sided.
-Eli
Cracking terrain piece! I may have to steal the idea for my own terrain!
ReplyDeleteSteal Away!
ReplyDeleteIf you do, would you mind sharing what you come up with?
-Eli
They look excellent !!! I'm well impressed !
ReplyDeleteIan
Thats great, its so simple and looks so good!
ReplyDelete