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Friday 18 February 2011

The portable wargame: My first pieces of terrain

On the spur of the moment, I decided to take the plunge and make some terrain to use with my portable wargame. The first terrain items that I chose to make were some hills that are the same dimensions as the grid squares on the vinyl chessboards I have bought, and I made them from some foamcore board that I acquired a few weeks ago.

I have never used foamcore before, but I had heard that it was quite easy to work with if one used the right tools and methods. I therefore carefully cut out ten two-and-one-quarter-inch squares using a sharp modelling knife and a steel ruler. The foamcore cut quite easily, and it was a simple job to keep the edges square and not to tear the foam too much. In fact, it was a lot easier to work with than balsa wood or basswood, and the finish was a lot neater.

I then painted the edges of the hill squares with two coats of green acrylic paint to help protect them from damage. Once the paint was dry, I then applied two coats of the same colour paint to the top of each hill. It is my intention to eventually paint both top and bottom surfaces of the hill squares to protect them from minor damage, and with a bit of luck they should be ready for use by tomorrow lunchtime.

6 comments:

  1. can this cockpit hold
    The vasty fields of France? or may we cram
    Within this wooden O the very casques
    That did affright the air at Agincourt?

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  2. Are you going to paint the hills the same colour on both sides? or paint one side green and the other tan?

    I like the look of the 15mm Colonial figures best but I think a similar base of 20mm plastics would also look good.
    -Ross

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  3. This all sounds highly portable - I look forward to seeing photos of the finished pieces.

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  4. Conrad Kinch,

    What a very appropriate quote ... and from one of my favourite Shakespeare 'History' plays!

    All the best,

    Bob

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  5. Ross Mac,

    I have painted both the top and bottom of each 'hill' green. I had not thought of painting them green and tan to match the existing grid squares ... but if I make some more, I may well do so.

    I think that you might be right about the size of the bases being almost as important for the 'look' of the game as the height of the figures. (I think that you made a similar comment on your own blog recently.) The bases the 20mm-scale figures are mounted on are large for the number of figures on them, and it would be quite easy to fit two 20mm-scale figures onto the smaller bases that I have used for the 15mm-scale Colonial figures.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tim Gow,

    With a bit of luck, you may well see the vinyl chessboard and the hills in use sometime very soon!

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete

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