Updated Model Pics

Well I have worked on the board section and gotten a lot done. I am going to post some step by step pictures so you can see how it was done. The base material is foam insulation (commonly blue or pink but in this case I got the lowes brand which was in green). I used the 3/4 inch size which seems to be ideal at deviations are at about model height but slightly less for a 28mm model. The first this I had to do was cut out a 2 foot by 2 foot square (the sheet comes in a 8 foot by 4 foot section). I did this using a 2 foot by 2 foot piece of pine plywood as a guide and cut the sheet with a retractable hobby knife. I did this by cutting along the board edge about half way down and then snapping it apart. This meant that I had to cut off a 2 foot by 4 foot section and then cut that in half. This produced a nice clean cut. I don't have any pictures of this stage so I will use a stock photo from the web.

Once I cut out the basic 2 foot by 2 foot section I had to think up what I wanted on this particular board. I would be combining it with 7 other sections to make a full game table of 8 foot by 4 foot. I had the general idea in my mind of what I wanted it to look like and I sketched it out on a piece of paper. I then made a computer drawing in photo shop.

In order to accomplish this I had to cut out the hill that would be in the corner. I cut this from the same insulation board that I cut the 2 foot by 2 foot section and then glued this to that section. Since there were no river section or other type of depression that pretty much took care of any designing I had to do on the board. Again I don't have a picture of this step so I am using one from the internet to give you a general idea.

The gives a basic idea. From here I had to provide some kind of texture to the board to make it appear less like a piece of Styrofoam and more like a landscape. Since I still wanted a relatively flat surface for models to sit upon I used paint mixed with sand. This provides some texture but still allows models to stand upright. If I was building a static scene like a model railroad layout I would use modeling clay or plaster to made a more realistic landscape but for this I wanted something that balanced between looking good and being functional. This is a picture of the board section while the paint was still wet.

The rest of the pictures are different progressions on how I painted and then dry brushed things. The hill was first painted over with a medium gray. Over top of this I threw on a black wash. I then went back and drybrushed medium gray and followed up with progressively lighter shades of gray all the way to a very light dusting of white. The dirt areas was done with raw sienna and then dry brushed with a mix of raw sienna and yellow ochre. I then dry brushed yellow ochre and finally hit it with a very light dusting of a bright yellow. I then applied various kinds of ground foliage from woodland scenics to give a grass and bushes affect.

The board is basically done. I am going to apply some trees and the one off shoot on the dirt trail that leads to an open spot is going to house a cottage.