LORD OF THE RINGS MODELING ARTICLES.

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Terrain tile modification 2, A River runs through it.

Materials and components used.

2’ x 2’ Polystyrene Terrain Tile.    Pieces of 4” & 1" Expanded Polystyrene sheet.   PVA adhesive.   

Interior Fine Surface Filler.    Selection of small pebbles.    1 ½  3 Metre rolls of Plaster Cloth.

Two Part Epoxy Glue.    GW Static Grass.    EC Scenics Real Water.    EC Scenics Water Effects.

Lichen.

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.     Scorched Brown.      Bestial Brown.

Purity Seal varnish.

Introduction and notes... 

This tile was constructed primarily as a companion board to the Escarpment tile, and also to fit in with my other modified terrain boards.  The Escarpment continues onto this board, as does the stream, which expands into a small meandering river across the board.

For this project I have again used one of my 2’ x 2’ tiles 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.  Please note however that if you use MDF, Plywood or card, you will need to build up the banks for the river, as opposed to gouging out the polystyrene as I have done here.

I used one block of 4” Expanded Polystyrene on this project, however any Polystyrene sheet or packaging will 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 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...

The rock face on this board only runs for a short distance, and decreases in size and width, this was deliberate, as I wanted to be able to use this board in conjunction with the Escarpment tile.

Take your baseboard and a large (ish), block of polystyrene, and start to build up a cliff face.  The block was cut into a rough triangular shape, so that it would ‘taper off’ approx half way along the tile, it would also decrease in size as well as in width.  The idea was that the rock face on this board did not use too much of the available ‘gaming’ area of the board, thus allowing me to use different scenery combinations if so needed.

Remember to include different levels to add some variety and interest.  I matched the end of the this rock face to the rock face on the Escarpment tile, also mark where your stream/river will be located.

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 this part of 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.  Please refer to picture 1.

I used the Wooden Barbeque Skewers to pin the polystyrene blocks in place, leave the whole lot to dry overnight.

Mark out where you want your river/stream to run on your board, and then carve out the desired shape, removing the polystyrene as you go, you do not need to go too deep, I dug my river bed out to a maximum depth of half an inch at the widest point of the river, but only to about a quarter of an inch deep in the shallow areas.  Be careful when you are removing the polystyrene as it is easy to slip and cut yourself.

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 rock face.  When you have finished the rock face, apply a layer of the plaster cloth to the river bed.  The plaster cloth will dry quite quickly, so by the time you have applied the plaster cloth to the river bed, the rock face will be dry enough to texture with your Fine Surface Filler.

Mix 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 polystyrene.  Remember though, do not apply too much in one go, and make sure that you can still see the 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, add whatever pebbles and stones you are going to use.  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...

Now undercoat the river bed and river banks with a dark brown colour, I added a little Black into some Scorched Brown.  I then added some Bestial brown into the mixture and stippled the river banks again, blending the lighter brown into the lower darker brown on the bed of the river.

Stage 5...

When the undercoat is dry, it is now time to dry brush all of the rock face and add more definition to the river banks. 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.

The river banks were again stippled with Bestial Brown,  a little Jade Green was added to this and lightly dry brushed onto the highest part of the river banks.  The small rocks and stones in the river were painted in exactly the same manner as the large rock face.

Stage 6…

Glue clumps of Lichen into the cracks and crevices and between some of the rocks with the Two Pack Epoxy Resin or the PVA adhesives, use as much or as little as you like, it is up to you.

I applied the first layer of EC Scenics Realistic water at this point, the river was filled to a depth of 1/8^th of an inch as per the instructions on the bottle, and left to cure for 24 hours.

Stage 7…

I now applied the GW Static Grass to the remainder of the grassy areas, and onto the small island in the river.  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 second 1/8^th inch layer of EC Scenics Realistic Water, again this was left for 24 hours to cure.  Two additional layers of Realistic Water were added to give parts of the river more depth, again each layer was given 24 hours to cure fully before proceeding onto the next stages.

Stage 8…

I next added the Water Effects medium, which was applied and textured with one of the Barbeque Skewers to create ripples and splashes to the areas around the rocks and stones in the river, this was done to give the water a more realistic and turbulent effect as it passed around and over obstacles in the stream.

When everything is completely dry, give the whole board a light coat of Purity Seal varnish, being careful not to spray the water, as you do not want the water with a matt finish. The grey primed High Elf model gives an idea of scale to the terrain tile.

I hope you have enjoyed this terrain building article and that it inspires you to build your own versions.