Over the last few days I have been able to spend time working with the bits and pieces I found a Spotlight that I mentioned a few blogs ago.

I wanted to concentrate on building up some hex based terrain items first, but was still determined to leave some of the “bushes” and “moss ribbon” for other projects as well – particularly my dark age village I have planned for Saga games (another blog).

The emphasis I have when building terrain is that first and foremost it is for war gaming on and not a model railway display, as such it has to be functional to game on. Pretty terrain that figures cannot be moved easily over just does not work for me. In saying that the table top still has to look good. Achieving the balance is the difficult part.

For my hex terrain I start with 100mm hexes (100mm across the faces which is standard for most hex terrain mats) from http://www.back2base-ix.com/

These hexes form the base for all of the terrain items.

Firstly the bushes.

Each packet had 12 “bushes”, with three looking about right for each hex. These were glued on randomly.

I made up 12 as that was the maximum that I thought I would use for any game. This left 5 of the 8 packets I purchased for other projects.

They looked a bit mono-colour so I decided to use various spray cans to add some variety. The trick with this is to spray them from about 50cm away so that only a light spray reaches the bushes. This provides a very light covering that is enough to add depth without just changing the colour. I used purple, orange, bright fluro green and yellow. Using this technique it doesn’t seem to matter if the paint is gloss or matt.

The next photo compares the spray canned “bushes” with the two centred that are unpainted. You can choose what you prefer.

Next step was to add the static hobby grass for effect.

Finally, the hex’s were flocked and the edges were painted to provide a “frame” for the terrain.

Secondly Ploughed fields:

Having put together what felt like a whole house lot of flat pack furniture from that Swedish company we all joke about, I was left with lots of corrugated cardboard that I decided to turn into some “ploughed” fields.

I started with the same hexes, and rolled out the cardboard. I “painted” a generous amount of PVA glue to one side of the hex and stuck it onto the cardboard.

I decide to do these in two lots of six.

After a few minutes they started to lift at the corners so I placed my cutting board and block of steel I use as an anvil for making my own wire spears as a non too subtle persuasion to stay flat This worked well.

After they had dried I used a pair of very sharp scissors to cut off the excess cardboard.

The process was then repeated for the second lot of six.

To add some “earthy” texture the hexes were brushed lightly with PVA Glue using a 40mm wide paint brush and sprinkled with fine beach sand (after all I do live on an Island). This gives a rough texture without the cost of textured paint, although this is another alternative if you are not a lucky enough to live by the sea.

The hexes were then lightly sprayed as for the bushes with Tamiya TS3, “mission brown”, red and yellow spray cans using the same method.

Finally, the hex edges were painted to provide a “frame” for the terrain.

Thirdly the moss ribbon.

It has taken me some time to think about what is the best way to utilise the ribbon. I wanted to use them as a form of cultivated garden to complement my cabbage patches (see an earlier blog).

Again using the hex bases I tried a few options to represent a cultivated garden. I chose to cut the ribbon into squares as one option and then into thin strips to represent cultivated rows. I was not sure how they would turn out but I am reasonably happy with the finished results.

As the moss is a bit see through I chose to spray paint the hexes in Tamiya TS3 Desert Yellow first. This will provide a suitably earthy look underneath the moss (oops – cultivation). I use TS3 for all of my undercoats as it provides excellent coverage and doesn’t look out of place if a bit shows through – just looks like some dirt.

Once the paint was dry I glued on the squares and strips of moss.

Again some subtle persuasion was required to ensure the grass remained flat.

The flocking and static grass etc. were added and the hex edges were painted to provide a “frame” for the terrain.

There you have it – 36 new terrain hex tiles in just a few nights work.

“But when his horse had put its hoof
Into a rabbit-hole
He dropped upon his head and died.
His lady saw it all
And dropped and died thereon, for she
Loved him with her soul.
O my dear, O my dear.
The chambermaid lived long, and took
Their graves into her charge,
And there two bushes planted
That when they had grown large
Seemed sprung from but a single root
So did their roses merge.
O my dear, O my dear.”

The “Three Bushes” by William Butler Yeats.

While I am hardly as prosaic as Yeats, like all good war gamers I am always looking for those items that might be of use for terrain items.

This weekend I was dragged through Spotlight” by “She Who Must be Obeyed” looking for new linen for our “crash pad” when I can across these wonderful items.

Designed for florist arrangements I immediately saw the potential as “three scenic bushes”. They are a bit mono colour but a light spray can with a few other colours will make them pop.

I also came across this:

Isn’t it awesome. One side shows up more brown the other more green. I do not know what I will use it for but it has to have a use somewhere on my tabletop.

When they are ready for gaming with I show you how they turned out!!

The one building essential for 28mm modern Afghanistan gaming is a mosque (masjid). I was wanting something that looked substantial but was still suitable for a small village scenario. I have built a number of buildings over the years with foam card and decided that this would suit, but I have tried a few different things this time that I think would be useful to share with others.

Firstly I put the basic building together with triangular corner supports for the roof. I wanted a small entrance area, as the size of the mosque did not warrant a courtyard or “sahn”, and a larger area for the prayer room (the musalla). The building is about 24cm long, 15cm wide and 8 cm high.

The building was then glued on to an mdf place mat available from most good hobby shops like “Spotlight”.

The roof was simply a flat piece of foam board with a polystyrene half round dome glued on to represent the qubba. The dome is available from the same hobby shop in packs of about six.

The windows and doors were a challenge. The solution was very simple and produces an excellent result. I simply “googled” arched windows and doors, chose some suitable designs, cut and pasted these to a word document, sized them appropriately and printed them out.

These were then stuck on “cereal packet” thick card (actually a cat food box) to give them a bit of depth and then glued onto the building. I put them in matching places on both the inside and outside.

I wanted to show other interior details. I started with the floor. Firstly I “paved” the front foyer with card board tiles made from the same material as the backing for the windows and doors. Mr Google also proved useful for the Persian carpet for the musalla area

I decided against including a minbar or raised pulpit as it would make the internals to fragile for wargamer’s fingers.  As the niche in the wall facing Mecca (miqbar) is an essential component of the mosque I chose to represent this by just printing off a picture of one and framing it within an arched cardboard frame.

The tiles were then painted black and when dry, dry-brushed a light grey with a white dry brush highlight.

The door between the “sahn “and the “musalla” was then trimmed with cardboard.

Some hastily repaired “battle damage was added with a scalpel and “boarded” up with cardboard. The roof top walls were also suitably damaged to represent the ageing building.

The roof, dome, and outside walls were then painted with PVA glue. Fine sand was then sprinkled on top. You need to do one wall at a time as you need the PVA glue wet for the sand to adhere.

You will note the sand was only applied to the inside walls above the roof line as I wanted the interior to have a white washed plaster look and feel.

A bit of touch up painting and painting the boarding and door trim was all that was required to finish the building.

It is the small touches that can add to terrain appeal, especially in the gardens surrounding your model buildings. Often these are just bare flocked affairs, but now you can add your very own vegetable garden. There are several craft items that can be used to create a “cabbage patch”. Small rose shaped beads in plastic or material can be found in most craft shops like Spotlight. The plastic ones are generally cheaper but sometimes harder to find. If using the material ones you will need to coat them in PVA first to “fix” them. I chose the plastic ones.

Step 1 is to file the pointy base off the cabbages to help them stand upright. This just requires a few rubs over a course file.

Step 2 is to glue them on whatever base you require. I wanted to be able to create large gardens for my “modern” gaming so used the rectangular coasters from the above store. This enables me to have a small patch of 12 cabbages (just over a punnets worth at Bunnings) or multiples of these. I have kept some aside to have the odd cabbage for the backyards of my houses.

Step 3 is to lightly undercoat them. I use Tamiya TS-3 Dark Yellow.

Step 4 is the beginning of the end. I paint them wtih GW’s Straken Greeen or Loren green although you can use GW’s Genestealer Purple for red cabbages.

Step 5 is to wash them with them with GW’s Coelia Green Shade. Use any brown wash for the red cabbages.

 Step 6 is to provide a highlight by dry brushing lightly with white and gluing the appropriate amount of static grass to represent weeds. I chose a contrasting colour for the weeds.

The finals step is to flock the base to match your terrain and to varnish the lot with Tamiya TS-80 Flat Clear varnish.

And there you have it – your very own cabbage patch doll. Doll is Dixon miniatures WG28’Hurty Gurty’ or saloon girl – raising glass and frock to show garter!

With “Operation Market Garden” now successfully complete we just have to await the German sauerkraut counter-offensive.