Re: [Epic][E40K] Terrain

From: David Lado <lado_at_...>
Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 15:09:30 -0400 (EDT)

>Hi all,
> just to get some more talk on terrain going (I'm trying to get
>motivated to make some more), have any of you folks tried making some
>modular terrain boards, a la latest WD. Any success, tips, favourite
>materials...

I came across some pieces of insulated styrofoam which I used to make
modular terrain. Since I don't have any way to accurately cut the
styrofoam, I use each piece as a single unit.

I then use sand paper to carve out a shallow riverbed (about 2-3 mm
deep). The rivers all enter at one of 4 pre-chosen points (2 on either
side), so that they can be lined up. Frex

                                  __________________
                                 | |
 the arrows indicate | |
 possible entry points | |
 for rivers. So --->|** |<---
 basically, I just connect | * |
 a river between two entry | * |
 points (or it can dead end) | *** |
 An example is shown by the * | * |
                                 | * |
                                 | * |
                                 | ** |
                                 | ** |
                                 | * |
                             --->| ***|<---
                                 | |
                                 | |
                                 |__________________|

This allows complicated rivers to be set up from a limited number of
boards. Though it's not as flexable as a truely geomorphic board, it
is alot easier to make, requiring only sandpaper and a ruler.

Once I carved the rivers out, I lined them with 2 thick layers of
Gesso (the stuff used to prime canvases for painting). The gesso
can be dabbed with a paper towel while wet to give it a "muddy"
texture. I then painted it base black and dry-brushed colors onto
it. I found out that if you blow-dry wet gesso, or the black base
paint over mostly-dry gesso, it will cause bubbles to form over
the surface (you have to get it pretty hot). These actually end
up looking pretty nice when you dry brush them.

I also used some foilage to line the edge of the river for effect.
As a final touch I poured acrylic "water" into the river beds (I
stained the water with blue and green to give a dirtier look). It
looks very nice, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it since it is
fairly expensive and makes a huge mess. Frex, if you leave any holes
in the gesso cover, the acrylic will leak through the styrofoam making
an enourmous mess. Also, the acrylic makes the boards heavy, and I
had to back the boards with wood sticks to make them sturdier, or they
break if you lift them by the small ends. In retrospect, I might have
just carved the rivers a little shallower and painted them to look
nice.

I also made broad flat hills from the same styrofoam sheets which can
be stacked to form higher hills. All the hills and base boards were
painted with green latex wall paint and flocked with a green/brown mix
of model flocking. Finally, I sprayed everything with a sealer. As
another arguement against the acrylic water, you can't spray sealer
on it, or it stains the surface (I had to cover it with plastic wrap).

David
Received on Thu May 15 1997 - 19:09:30 UTC