Fences, Ponds, and Hearty Stew - 28mm Colonial America Terrain

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As some of you may have inferred, my next big project will be set in colonial America. I plan to keep the precise setting under wraps for a little while longer, until I have some figures done to show, but I have already gotten cracking on some terrain. This first batch covers, as you might have guessed, fences, ponds, and a bit of delicious scatter terrain. My Russian cabin is shown here, though some more period-correct buildings will come in time.

To me, the split-rail 'snake' fences are a must-have for a project like this, so I set about making some, drawing inspiration from Mark at Tactical Painter and John Bond.

Here, an anachronistic German soldier shows the scale of these fence sections. I did 8-inch lengths, largely because I typically have to transport my gaming kit to and from gaming stores and friends' places.

It might be better to have one or two 12-inch lengths. If so, I can always make those later.

These ponds are cut from the MDF or hardboard I use for basing most of my buildings or larger terrain. I beveled the edges and made a dip inside with a Dremel rotary tool. This kicks up an unbelievable amount of dust that you don't want to breathe in.

I have it on good authority that these ponds will also look just fine in 1940s France or Russia, not just colonial North America.

I painted them a blue-y color and then poured some 5-minute clear epoxy resin for the water effect. This is the first time I've used any resin like this, and I'm pretty pleased. The one on the left was poured second, and I think you can just see that it's a little more goopy where the epoxy had started to set. Still an interesting experiment.

At some point, I may decide I want a more realistic color for these or my river sections, in which case I'll just remake them, I guess. They're not much trouble. I've just gone for blue colors that evoke water instead of a more green or brown look.

Finally, I painted up this little cooking pot. It's a relatively cheap model meant for Dungeons & Dragons. I think it's made by WizKids. Either way, it was easy enough to mount on a little base and paint up. I'm hoping to add much more scatter terrain like this, both for the new project as well as settings like France and Russia during WWII. I find they add heaps of character to a table.

My hope is to finish off some figures for my next post, so stay tuned for that.

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