Custom Terrain Board Part 2

Okay, having gotten the plaster backbone in place it was time to start adding some details to the terrain.

I started by putting some chunks of torn up cork in random places, to create a small bit of height variation. I added a few tank traps and a barrel for variety. I cut those pieces down so they'd look like they were half buried in the ground.

I re-established the crater with more cork, then smoothed out the sides with spackle. Lots of texture there, but it will all get covered with sand.

I used some crackle paste I got in a bin from Michaels, which account for some of the large very white areas, in the above picture you can see a chunk of it on the right center. You can actually see the 'cracked earth' effect in a few places. Unfortunately this stuff was very unpredictable. In some places it cracked so much that it chipped away. In other places it didn't crack at all. I had a couple of bottles of GW's Agrellan Earth laying around, so I used one of them to add more cracked earth details to these areas.

Next I covered the board in scenery glue (also called PVA glue, also called wood glue, also called Elmer's school glue). I mixed this glue one to one with water and added a drop of black paint to make it easier to tell where I'd put the glue. The glue dries quick enough that I did a bit of the board, sanded it, and then did more. This took a lot more sand than I thought it would, but I had enough.

The sand I used was a mix of two or three parts fine grain sand to one part medium grain. I got this at a train store. I love train stores. :) The two things I wish I'd done differently: Not sanded the crater, at least not the way I did. It needed some kind of contrasting texture. I also would have done the crackle areas after the sand. I think they would have blended a little better.

Next installment I'll cover painting.