New Project

Day 12 of the self-imposed art, model and crafting challenge.

All kinds of work going on. Besides basecoating a ton of 1/72 ACW's, I've been plugging away at more wargame scatter terrain. Some river/stream and road sections. Those are made of plastic "FOR SALE" signs with acrylic caulking for the banks. The stream is painted a dark brown color with Liquitex gloss medium for the water. A modular section for  Islandlwana  mountain. Even on top of an existing hill, its way out of scale. Experimented with Fall type trees. Still not sure about those, maybe mixed with bare trees it will work or have several in a group?

Breaking out books for reference and inspiration for various subjects. Lots of time on my hands makes a mess of the "library". Having blast doing it all.

Day 8 of the self-imposed art, model , craft challenge.

Not a lot of progress today. Mostly cleaning and organizing my workspace, taking it easy. I dont want to burn out, I'm only half way through! The "plowed field" scatter terrain piece looks pretty good for the game table. The rocks I made some time ago. They're made of aluminum foil, crumpled up and lightly hammered into shape. Painted with grey mixed with Mod Podge. Hopefully, a little more active tomorrow.

Day 7 of my self-imposed modeling challenge afternoon update.

This morning's and afternoon's work. Mostly priming. Dullcoted some Zulus. Primed some Nap 28's and a couple cannon. Gave a couple coats of black primer to Captain "Slim". I noticed some bare spots that need another coat. Making a plowed field for the gaming table. I'm using a cheap vinyl floor tile for the base. A hand made comb is used to make the furrows. So far, a fulfilling hobby day.

Day 5 of a self-imposed art, model and craft challenge.

Productive day. Finished some trees for the gaming table. The figures are from Perry, these particular minis make a perfect vignette stand. Thank you to my pard Gary Dombrowski for giving them to me. Check out Gary's blog where he plans on updating his current projects. I also sculpted the boots on Captain "slim". Yeah, that figure didn't bulk up like I thought he would by adding boots. Anyway, it is a character piece and still looking forward to giving it that faux bronze paint job.

I like using unraveled twine for field grass. It has a natural twist or snarl.

Adding putty to base. I use toothpicks to keep the holes clear when working the groundwork. The upper torsos of the riders are glued in place and ready for fleshing out.

Grass

Sorry for the messy writing, I put this together on the go. This is how most of the groundwork will be done. The Jute twine can be found in most garden centers. It comes in this natural color and is perfect for thick weedy grass. Last Spring I picked up a ball of green twine that I will have to try later on. I can't remember who makes the modeling field grass but I want to say Hudson & Allen. It's expensive and cost $8.00 for a small stalk. The fibers have neat little heads that look like weeds. I cut even amounts of both, mix them up and apply.

"A Cruel Misfortune" Part 10

Here's the first figure to be secured to base. I chose this one for obvious reseaons, that being I will be working my way inside out of the scene.
Sculpting and painting the hand onto base was NOT easy, but I'm happy with how it looks. The "grass" is unraveled twine mixed with some Hudson & Allen field type grass and then painted with appropriate colors. The grass is adhered with wood glue mixed with an earth toned color. Adding paint to the glue will help "mask" any shiny spots hiding under the grass. I still have some touch-ups to do on the figure before additional pieces go on.