Scale Terrain, no train in sight....

[nebeltex]

I have found the need of some terrain for wargaming. not quite finished yet, but here is a preliminary photo. cheers, c.b.

[Amazyah]

Wow! Very cool!
That is exactly what I need as well! Some flora and fauna!
Bushes, trees, grass, and definitely rocks and boulders.
I would like to try and do flowers in that scale as well.
Everyone uses flowers in their landscaping somehow.

That scene looks great, c.b.!
Very nice work! Thanks for the picture!

Russell

[nebeltex]

i like the idea of flowers. certain ones bloom at different times during the temperate seasons. you might even see some in cultivated sections, except in red russia (no time for flowers on collective farms). i have found a lichen here in my area and the brachs have small circular ends. some look like tiny suction cups and others look like lilly pads...lol! seems like a good place to start a bloom. in the mean time, here is a close up (of our old hetzer, figure by preiser) after more progress. good terrain can be like a movie set. the possibilities are not endless but they are extensive. i might have to do some stop-action filming. some photos translated into black and white look very "period".

[shoki2000]

Outstanding!!!

I wish I was able to do something like that for my planes

[nebeltex]

thanks for the kind words guys. S, there is no reason it cant be done with planes. mostly, it's about the angle of the photo and the cropping. natural light works best too. the war board is 2'x4'. for individual models at small scale, 1'x1' could do. but for low angle shots and larger scale, i wouldn't recommend anything smaller than 2'x2'. carrier decks would be trickier. for black and white period photos, when the color washes out, the lighting and figure details start to count for more. shaun suggested i do a tutorial for my next terrain project.... if anyone is interested in displaying their models this way, this would be the thread to "speak up". finally, here is a preview of our mobelwagen designed in collaboration with "paperwarrior"....

[paper warrior]

Whoa, nice job Cliff! And your final of the Mobel still amazes me.

[shoki2000]

I should be more specific...
I created a little something which is 24x36 and it will do for a plane but what I meant to recreate was the terrain

[nebeltex]

...o.k., terrain cover. though there is "no train in sight", most of the techniques are fairly common to railroad terrain. after envisioning what you want and sketching it out on a flat piece of wood (sorry, no foam board), you should have an idea of what coloring need to go where. using a water based paint (acrylic), paint those areas appropriately. if there will be rocks, set them first. the first photo shows "bouldery" terrain. most of that is paper-mache textured with sticky spackle. some of the rocks are real, for effect. they are all sprayed with the same color of fleckstone paint. they are then given a black wash to help bring out the applied texture. real rocks don't need much (if any) texture. next, paint your dark brown surface areas, then the green, and between them, medium brown. this is so if any of the flocking from the next step ever wears thin, you don't end up with an unsightly patch. next i add the bushes and trees. lichen, foam, home-made trees and/or bought, in various shades. i use hot glue to attach them. it takes practice not to leave a bunch of glue "webs" on the board but they are easily removed at this point.
to enable the flocking to stick, i use polyester laminating resin. use a small disposable bristle brush to apply the liquid resin into place over the separate color variations, one step at a time, in the same sequence as the painting. don't apply it to the rocks. they are done. if they seem too shiny, dry-brush some light ashes on. for the dark areas (freshly turned or churned dirt, under trees, etc.) i use tea leaves (used and dried). for medium brown, i used an appropriate color-fast railroad ballast. the green areas are also commercial flocking. between each step, i use a wider bristle brush to sweep the excess off (save it, just in case). it is a cheap brush also but when the ends get a bit caked, you can trim a new "end" to the bristles. finally, i sprinkle on light colored sand, without resin or glue. this is brush blended with the other areas. i store the board horizontal because there is still a "sand table" element to the display, but this allows changes or updates to be made as needed. beach sand is not color-fast and does not work well with resin. spray glue would work better, but you must practice it's application or you can make a mess of all you have accomplished.

[shoki2000]

There is a huge difference between knowing how to do it and being able to actually do it
You have to be an artist to create something which looks believable and I will admit without a shame that what you have created is way beyond my abilities....
You don't take custom orders, do you?

[nebeltex]

sorry, while i'm always open to suggestions, i rarely do custom orders. also, the scale would have to be 1/72.... at that scale, i'd be happy to thread demonstrate a setting. no cost to you. many resources are inexpensive, once you know where to look. i'm thinking of an aircraft presented in a revetment or taxi-way. german aircraft parked away from a satellite field at the edge of a forest. or many other possibilities.....

the three best features though (for any finished model photo) are, in no particular order;

natural looking setting
finished model
appropriate figures

all three, hard to take a bad photo.
two out of three is not bad.
one out of three in a pinch.
zero out of three, you may be wasting someone's time.....lol!

[shoki2000]

With model and figures I have two-out-of-three for 1/33 scale so you guys will have to survive my feeble attempts at diorama setup