I was reliably informed that volcanoes are made with rum, brandy, pineapple juice, orange juice, and orgeat syrup. Oh and of course topped with a cherry! Nope not the right one?

Big Ben on Heard Island, Australia’s largest volcano.

Volcanoes are openings in Earth’s crust that release ash, gases, steam, and hot liquid rock called lava. When lava cools and hardens, it forms the cone-shaped mountain we recognize as a volcano. Most volcanoes are located around the edges of tectonic plates, on land and in oceans.

Volcanoes on land form when one tectonic plate goes under another. Typically, a thin, heavy oceanic plate moves beneath a thicker continental plate. This causes the ocean plate to sink into the mantle.

Mine were a bit easier than that. Hex hills cut from dense foam board and polystyrene cones.

Undercoated in ochre and then “painted” with a sand, brown poster paint, and PVA glue mix with a toothpaste like consistency.

Sloped on matt black paint.

Dry brushed with yellow orange red and magenta poster paints. Painted all over with a water based gloss varnish (to avoid foam melting) and then some various coloured fibre wool placed in the volcano crater to simulate eruptions.

To make the volcanoes fit into the modular hex terrain, I needed to do one last adjustment. The foam hex hills had tricky edges, so I had to find a way to ensure the terrain fitted together perfectly.

I decided to glue 6mm thick mdf hexes on to the bottom of the volcanoes. These fitted perfectly into the modular board and raised any imperfections above the adjoining 2mm thick mdf hexes to avoid any problems. I will do the same with all other hills.

So volcanoes now extinct!

During the Jurassic period, there was a lot of volcanic activity that greatly shaped the landscape, including about 100 volcanoes located in central Australia. These impressive volcanoes, which erupted between 180 and 160 million years ago, are now buried beneath layers of sedimentary rock, obscuring their once-active forms.

The volcanic area covered nearly 2,900 square miles, making it one of the significant geological features of the time. The volcanoes were active 180-160 million years ago. Their presence was somewhat unexpected because most volcanoes occur at the edges of tectonic plates, but these existed in an area that was mid-plate.

This eruption of lava and ash would have released large amounts of gases into the atmosphere, contributing to changes in the climate. As a result, this volcanic activity not only altered the environment but also played a crucial role in creating habitats that supported the rise and diversification of dinosaurs, allowing them to thrive in a variety of ecosystems across the globe.

Massive volcanic eruptions may have been more important in the extinction of the dinosaurs than we previously believed.

Recent studies in Science indicate that volcanic activity, particularly the huge eruptions of the Deccan Traps in modern-day India, may have significantly contributed to this mass extinction event.

Didn’t quite get these finished today. Just a few touch ups on the base edges to go.

For a rough and ready project these have come out better than expected.

They will make ideal dangerous terrain for the dinosaur game.

The finished product tomorrow.