Thursday, August 27, 2015

The onward march of the Marshes



The next step for the marshes was to give each tile a quick blast of Army Painter brown.  This was the work of but a minute and I managed it while sticking things in the freezer. 


Once each tile had his coat of brown, they were left to dry. Then a biggish, stiff brush and quick dry brush of white over all the tiles. This always looks very odd to me, but it somehow looks better once the base is flocked and so forth. Funny old business, colour perception. 




Once the dry brushing was done, I dug around for something suitably gribbly in a green.  Vallejo Reflective Green was something I had a second bottle of and seemed about right. I mixed it 50/50 with water and then put a loose sloppy coat over all the water areas. This can make the water look very flat and uninteresting, so while the paint is still wet, quickly add some dabs of dark blue and mix it with the green to give the illusion of depth. 





Once that is done, add some dabs of PVA and garnish with static grass, clump foliage and lichen to taste. 



I not entirely sure why I took a picture of my hedgerow pieces, but here they are now that the coat of PVA added as sizing has dried. 



Of course, I managed to forget one of the last steps.  Take a pot of GW gloss varnish (by whatever jolly pirate nickname they are calling it now) mix with water and put a thin layer of varnish over the water.  Don't be precious, it looks better if the rocks and earth are slightly glossy. A good water mix helps avoid a textured finish (GW varnish can be quite thick) and it typically takes three to five thin coats to reach the desired finish. 



The (almost) finished product, though a poor photograph

This tile has had two coats of varnish and could do with some more, but we'll get there.  I have to go buy some more varnish. I must check if Vallejo do a gloss varnish. 

And go get weaving on those hedgerows. 

14 comments:

  1. This project is producing some smashing gaming tiles.
    Great stuff!

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    1. Thank you very much. Here's hoping they are all done in time.

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  2. Don't think I'd have the patience to recreate what you've done but I like it. Cheers for sharing.

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    1. They're actually very easy. I knocked these off in about two and a half hours. Usually 15-20 minutes here and there when I was just home from work.

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  3. That is a nice looking marsh.....I will "borrow" you idea and apply it to my hexes as well. Thanks!

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    1. The trick is to get yourself those pre cut MDF hexes, they are cheap as chips and make the whole process a cinch. They won't be finished quickly, but each step only takes about 15 minutes and then you leave 'em over night.

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  4. That does look good, looking forward to seeing the finished project

    Ian

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    1. They got their first outing yesterday. I shall do my best to get some pictures up.

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  5. Conrad Kinch,

    You have produced some very impressive terrain. Well done!

    All the best,

    Bob

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    1. Many thanks Bob. Another shot in the locker I think. I just keep adding to the collection bit by little bit.

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  6. Replies
    1. Thank you very much FMB. The question now is whether they store well of course.

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  7. Great tutorial. Thanks! Looks great!

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