LORD OF THE RINGS MODELING ARTICLES.
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Terrain
tile modification 1, Escarpment.
Materials and components used.
2’ x
2’ Polystyrene Terrain Tile.
Pieces of 4” & 1" Expanded Polystyrene sheet.
PVA adhesive.
Interior
Fine Surface Filler. 2 x 3
Metre rolls of Plaster Cloth.
Lichen.
Selection
of pebbles, (round and flat).
Two Part Epoxy Glue. Spring
Meadow Static Grass.
EC Scenics
Real Water. EC Scenics
Water Effects.
Other item's you will need.
Mixing
bowl for the Fine Surface Filler.
Spoon or Spatula, (to mix the Filler).
Jug or
bowl of water. Sharp
craft knife, Stanley Knife or similar to cut the Polystyrene sheet.
Knife or
Spatula, (to spread the Filler).
Small piece of
sponge, (the bit you get in the GW Blister Packs is ideal).
Wooden Barbeque skewers . Cocktail sticks. Large and medium brushes.
Paints used.
Codex Grey. Fortress Grey.
Jade Green. Skull White. Bleached Bone.
Chaos Black. Regal
Blue.
Purity Seal varnish.
Introduction and notes...
I wanted to create some
terrain for my LOTR games that utilised some of my stock of 2’ x 2’ modular
terrain boards. I had purchased
several plain grass terrain boards from various War games shows during 2003,
with the intention of modifying them myself.
For this project I have used a 2’ x 2’ tile as the basis for my terrain project, but you could use anything of a suitable size as a base for your terrain. MDF, Plywood or even thick card would be suitable.
I have used pieces of 4” and 1" Expanded Polystyrene sheet on this project, however any Polystyrene sheet or packaging would suffice.
I used a non-branded Fine Surface Filler to texture the terrain, Poly Filla or any other similar brand is identical to the product that I used. I used the unbranded Filler simply to save on cost, as it is less than half the price of the branded version. For overseas readers of this article, Fine Surface Filler is used to fill cracks in walls etc prior to painting or wallpapering, and should be easy and relatively inexpensive to obtain.
You will also need a selection of pebbles or small stones, about 40 to 50 or so should do. Use flat pebbles as well as round ones to vary the effect, please see the accompanying pictures for reference. You should be able to find something suitable lying around, however if you are not able to obtain anything suitable, you can purchase similar pebbles or stones from Garden Centres and Aquatic Centres.
On to the construction
stages...
Stage 1...
Take your baseboard and
some of the larger pieces of polystyrene, and start to build up a cliff face
across one side of the board. Remember
to include different levels to add some variety and interest.
I decided to use four levels, as I did not want the terrain to be too
high, and as the escarpment was starting to get on the large side by this point,
the storage aspect of the finished tile had to be considered.
Glue the pieces of
polystyrene into place using your PVA adhesive. You will find that you
will probably need to cut and shape the pieces of polystyrene to suit. I
‘shaved’ the edges of the large blocks of polystyrene to create a more
realistic feel to the surface of the rock.
I had also made sure that the ledges were wide enough to place miniatures
on for gaming.
Add any additional levels or
ledges to the escarpment that you want at this point, making sure that you leave
sufficient room on each ledge for the bases of your models to sit comfortably.
Construct a pool at the base of the Escarpment by building up small pieces of polystyrene into the desired shape, build up piles of rubble around the edges, also add small blocks of polystyrene on the ledges above the pool, to define where the edge of the waterfall will be located. At this point I also cut a groove approx one inch wide in the tile for the stream which runs off from the base of the pool, this was cut to the edge of the board. Please refer to picture 1.
I used the Wooden Barbeque Skewers to pin the polystyrene blocks in place, leaving the whole lot to dry overnight.
Stage 2...
Take your rolls of Plaster
Cloth and cut it into strips approx 3 inches wide, dip each strip into water and
apply a layer to all of the surfaces of the polystyrene. By
the time you have reached the end of applying a layer of plaster cloth to all of
the rock face areas, the area you first applied the cloth to will be dry enough
to texture with the Fine Surface Filler.
Please note that the plaster cloth does not take long to dry at all, it
will have set in about 20 to 30 minutes or so.
I had started to texture the rocks with the filler mix within about 10
minutes of finishing applying the plaster cloth.
Now mix up a batch of the
Fine Surface Filler into a smooth creamy paste, (if the mix is too thin add more
powder, if it is too thick add a little more water), you need to have the filler
mix fairly stiff though. Apply the filler all over the rock faces,
remember though, do not apply too much in one go, and make sure that you can
still see ridges and uneven areas under the filler. Refer to picture 2.
It is better to mix up only a small amount of filler at a time, and mix up another batch as and when you need it, rather than mixing up too large a quantity and then have to throw it away.
Please remember that fine Surface Filler will take longer to dry than either Plaster Mould or Plaster Of Paris. However this is quite important, as you need the mix to stay wet for longer, so that you are able to texture the surface of the filler and add the pebbles and stones. You will not be able to do this if the material you use dries too quickly.
Note... The filler should stay workable for about two hour to three hours or so, obviously the thicker the mix, the quicker the mix will dry and vice versa. I mixed my filler quite thick so that I could work on next step more quickly. If you leave the filler for too long it will start to dry out and you will not be able to work with it.
Now taking the piece of small sponge, dip it into the water and squeeze out all of the excess water, the sponge should be only damp and not wet. Now lightly dab or stipple the entire area of the filler on the base, if the sponge starts to clog up with filler, rinse it in the water and squeeze it out again. You should see the filler taking on a very lightly textured appearance, if the filler starts to lift up with your sponge, the sponge is too dry or you have too much excess filler on it, and you need to moisten it more.
While the filler mix is
still wet, you now need to add all of your pebbles and stones, arrange them as
you please, but a pile of tumbled stones will look better than just the odd
stone scattered about the base. Push the pebbles into the filler, you will
not need to glue them at all, the filler will hold them quite firmly when it is
dry.
The filler should be dry enough to paint within 4 - 5 hours or so, but it would be better to leave the filler to dry out overnight. For reference please see picture 2.
Stage 3...
The next step is to undercoat all of the terrain with a mid to dark grey undercoat mix. I mixed enough paint for the job in an empty jar, (I always keep the old paint jars and do not throw them away, just for this purpose), Codex Grey and Chaos Black at a mix of 85% to 15% was mixed in the jar and applied to all of the base.
You will probably need to paint on two coats of undercoat, as the first coat dries you will probably see small pinpricks of filler appear where the paint has not filled tiny holes in the surface, this is quite normal, the second coat will fill all of these area's.
Stage 4...
When the undercoat is dry, it is now time to dry brush all of the stone areas. I added some Fortress Grey into the Grey undercoat mix, (exactly how much you add at this point is entirely up to you, but do not mix in too much Fortress Grey as you do not want to lighten the colour too much at this point), and dry brush all of the undercoated area’s.
Add a little more Fortress Grey, and a small amount of white into the mix, and dry brush all of the terrain again. Now add a small amount of Bleached Bone and a tiny amount of Jade Green into your mix, dry brush all of the terrain again. Add a little more Bleached Bone and a small amount of Skull White into the mix and dry brush again.
Now mix up a small amount of Jade Green/Golden Yellow approx 65%/35%, and add this to some of your Light Grey mix. Lightly stipple this mix over and around the bases of the stones and into any cracks and crevices, (you can dry brush instead of stippling, but stippling works better in this instance). This will represent weathering and discoloration of the stones, and it will also give the terrain an extra dimension and depth.
Finally mix 80% Skull White
into your light Grey mix, and very very lightly dry brush all of the stone areas
again.
Take some of the original grey undercoat and add a little blue paint into the mix, now paint this ‘dark blue/grey’ onto the areas that the water will be placed, specifically the waterfall and the bottom of the rock pool. Mix up a slightly lighter shade and lightly dry brush or stipple the area again, but do not paint the bottom of the pool again, leave this dark, just blend in the lighter colour on the sides the higher up you go, you will need to blend the inside wall colour of the pool with the finished colour on the upper and outer surfaces of the rocks. This will have the effect of making the water look even deeper in the pool.
Stage 5…
I applied the first coat of
EC Scenics Realistic water at this point. The
waterfall area’s had a coat brushed on, and the pool was filled to 1/8th
of an inch as per the instructions on the bottle.
The plan goes all pear
shaped…
It was also at this point
that I realised that I had a bit of a problem with the pool.
I had originally intended the pool to be quite deep, approx ¾ of an inch
or so, but the first layer of Realistic Water medium was refusing to set, it was
supposed to cure within 24 hours, but three days later it was still soft and no
nearer curing. It looked like the Realistic Water Medium had reacted with
the acrylic paint I had used to undercoat the bottom of the pool, (it was not a
GW paint I will point out, but another brand).
Which meant that I was not going to be able to fill the pool to the level
that I had originally intended, it was at this point I spotted the other flaw in
my plan…
I needed to rethink the
depth of the pool, the other thing I realised was that the waterfall turned out
to be quite a bit larger than I had planned, which meant more water filling the
small pool, so the pool would be very turbulent with so much water going into
such a small space, the other thing with this was that you would now not now be
able to see below the surface anyway. This
as it turned out, solved the problem of how I was going to make the water deeper
in the pool, simple I did not now need to.
I just added more of Water Effects medium, (see stage 7), to make the
water in the pool more turbulent and frothy.
This also meant that I had to add more Water Effects medium to the point
at the base of the rocks where the water in the pool now ran into the stream, it
was supposed to have flowed over the top and down into the stream, but now
instead it comes lashing out at the base of the pool instead.
Not what I had intended at all, but it was a compromise I was happy enough with. Had this been a diorama instead of a board for gaming on, I would have been furious with myself, but I can chalk this one down to experience, and I know better for the future when using this medium.
Back on track…
Stage 6…
Glue clumps of Lichen into
the cracks and crevices and between some of the rocks with the Two Pack Epoxy
resin adhesive, use as much or as little as you like, it is up to you.
Stage 7…
I now applied the GW Static
Grass to the remainder of the grassy areas on the tile.
Apply a good coat of PVA adhesive to the area's that you wish to add the
static grass to, and sprinkle all over the PVA .
Shake off any excess.
Now apply the EC Scenics
Water Effects to create the effect of running water and the waterfall, (as per
the instructions on the bottle). This
is done by applying a coat of the material with an applicator, (something like a
flat bladed knife will do), then
drawing a cocktail stick or one of the Barbeque skewers or similar through the
medium to create the effect of ripples and splashes.
This Water Effects need to
be left for at least 24 hours to cure.
Stage 8…
More Water Effects medium
was added with the barbeque skewer to create even more gushing water, ripples
and splashes, creating a ‘White Water’ or rapids effect on the waterfall and
stream run off.
When everything is
completely dry, give the whole board a light coat of Purity Seal varnish.
The grey primed High Elf model gives an idea of scale to the terrain
tile.
Notes on cost for the
project…
The 2’ x 2’ terrain tile
cost about £5. The polystyrene
blocks I used I had lying around, as were the stones and pebbles, but if you
need to purchase these items they should not cost very much, a pound or two at
the most. PVA adhesive, I generally
purchase a 5 Litre tub of PVA which lasts me for quite a time, the cost of this
is only about £5.00, so is much more cost effective then buying smaller tubs or
bottles, however you can buy PVA in smaller amounts, check out your Arts &
Craft shop. I used two 3
Metre rolls of Plaster Cloth which cost £1.25 for each roll. The fine surface filler cost £2.89 for a large box, there
was more than enough to complete this project with plenty left over for future
projects, again I tend to buy larger boxes as the cost is usually a lot less
than if you buy multiple small boxes.
The cost of re-grassing the
tile with Spring Meadow Static Grass was fairly minimal as well.
I usually purchase Static Grass in loose bags of 100 – 125 grms, (this
is exactly the same Static Grass that GW sell, however their bags are only 15
grms), so this represents quite a big saving.
The cost of re-grassing the tile was approx £2.00.
The most expensive items on this project were the EC Scenics Realistic Water and Water Effects medium, they unfortunately pushed the overall cost of the project up by quite a bit. The Realistic Water cost £13.50, but it is quite a large bottle, and the Water Effects cost £9.50. However on the plus side, I do have plenty of both of the materials left to use on other terrain projects.
I hope you have enjoyed this
terrain building article and that it inspires you to build something similar.
My next terrain project will be a companion board for this Escarpment tile, which will continue with a smaller section of the Escarpment, and will expand the stream into a small river, as I now have loads of Realistic Water to use up….