A few more pics

Well Im fairly happy with it for now. I want to see how it looks with trees, rocks/cover on it.

May still need more trimming on some of the bits. Ive decided not to flock the middle of the road for now. I stuck some test flock on and it didnt look so great.

Fur + figures

I added paint and some bits of flock to the road today. It looks OK but its starting to annoy me. I made it far to wide in places but there's no going back on this particular feature.

I still need to flock the middle of the roads and perhaps do some more trimming. Never the less I decided to stick some figures on for inspiration.

wolf fur matt - cont

So Ive been working on this thing for a while now. Its not finished though I thought Id update with my progress.

Here shows some of the wolf fur after a coat of die. I used dia-na-flow brass and yellow. I diluted about 1-1 water and then just rubbed in my my fingers. You then need to iron the fabric to make the dye stick. Notice the dark green/blueish pieces here. I made these ages ago and will get back to them.

I decided this was too brown and started to add some green and yellow acrylic paint. This requires a bit more effort but uses a similar approach. Rub the paint into your hands and then work it into the fabric with your fingers. Just pretend your drying your hands well.

I then made a start to the roads. I first painted them brown and then added glue. I used a PVA glue called bartonline. Its listed as a PVA sealer so a bit different to the craft stuff. Its cheap and comes in a big tub. I then added a mixture of sand and grit to the glue and covered with newspaper, weighed down with books. It says 24 hours for this stuff to dry. Below are the pictures Ive taken today after removing the newspaper.

I'm fairly happy with the lighter greens though not so happy with the dark. They look ok in this picture but not above. Interestingly this comes down to the type of light. You see the dark greens look very blue in the above pictures because I used natural light. Below they use common lighting which has added yellow in it! This actually makes the matt look better IMO.

Anyways, comments welcome as usual. Im now going to start painting over the roads.

til text time...

wolf fur has arrived

So,

I now have enough materials to build my faux fur terrain matt for real. Below are some pictures Ive taken of the layout. Here you can see various pieces of material that will make up the fields and grass. I will glue these to an underlying piece of felt that can be painted for roads.

This is the layout. I didnt do any measuring. Just cut it by hand.



This is the uncoloured wolf fur. Its the best fur Ive found so far. I am currently experimenting with dye to get a patchy ground effect.



This is the field colour Ive attempted. Can say Im totally happy with it though it does look ok in this picture.



This is a green fur that I made some time ago. I used accrylic paints and spray paint.

spanish bandits on sample terrain

Hello,

Not posted in a while due an internet problem. I havnt had it! Thanks Sky: youve just reminded me why I hate you.

Anyway, here are some test shots of my spanish. This is just a small force for a sharpes practice group game at the club. The terrain is a test piece Ive made for my new project. This will be 28mm seven years war.

Im looking to sort our the terrain before the figures for a change.
hope you like - Ill be posting more pics of terrain soon - comments welcome.

16th century spanish contingent finished

Ok so still waiting for flags to arrive so "finished" may be jumping the gun a bit.

This was never intended to be a full army. Actually it was never really intended to be anything. There is a mix of foundry and GW figures I’ve hand for ages. I decided to do something with them so added some eureka horse and TAG pikes.
The end result I would call a contingent. The basing is for Spanish fury actions, hope you like!

Hessians on a teddy

New project time! Doesn't seem that long since I started my last project but this is something Ive wanted to do for some time. The french and indian war really insipres me in terms of visuals. I think its the contrast between the indians/militia and the smartly dressed europeans. Both the french and the British also have quite different styles which again helps in regards to variety.

Now Im not 100% sure on the figures yet but it is going to be a semi skirmish affair, probably using Sharpes Practice for rules. Im planning to make an ambitious set of terrain for this. Below you can see a sample of the teddy bear fur I am going to use. I think this will involve attaching "patches" of different painted furs to a heavy undersheet. The space in between the patches will be used as roads, rivers and walls. I have a fairly good picture of what I want im my head but Its hard to explain here.

As far as figures go Im torn between 40mm and 28mm. For 28 I have the wonderful conquest collection to choose from as well as some of the perry AWI range. 40mm still tempts me however. I can really let loose with my painting with these and the overall effect should be very striking.

PS One thing I learned from taking this pictures is that you want a fairly heavy figure base for fur. 1p coin + metal figures is ok but a 2p coin might be better. I plan on using a combination of close order regulars, skirmishers and irregulars. There will be lots of trees, boulders etc to use as cover.