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

-

 

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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

War in the Woods Game 6: Blood in the Pines

-
Image
  Sergeant Gordon, the old highlander, leaned on his halberd as the British party got into order. The soldiers tried to remain quiet with the smoke from the French and Huron fires rising less than a mile away, but leather creaked and equipment clanked all the same. The highlanders were as much a culprit as the green militia, festooned with weaponry as the Scotsmen were. He and Abercrombie, one of his senior corporals, had bickered about whether the regulars should lead or not, and if they should form in line or adopt an open order. In the end, it hadn't mattered. The fancy Dutchman insisted on taking the militia on ahead. Gordan spat as he watched them form up, wrangled between the Dutch dandy and the so-called mayor of the half-burnt village nearby. At last they got underway, marching off toward the rising smoke where their Mohawk scouts had led them. Christ, he'd seen frothing targe-wielding Jacobites with better-dressed lines. As the militiaman got out in front, Gordon glanc...
Read more

Bolt Action Battle Report - France 1940

-
Image
Last weekend, I headed to the local game store intending to try out What a Cowboy , the recently released Old West shootout ruleset written by John Savage and published through Too Fat Lardies, makers of Chain of Command and Sharp Practice. There will be more on that front soon, but that plan fell through. Fortunately, an old wargaming friend of mine, Curtis, was in town. He's a pretty avid Bolt Action player but isn't as big on Chain of Command, while I feel pretty much the opposite way. We decided to roll off, and Bolt Action won.
Read more

Chain of Command in Stalingrad - Game 1

-
Image
Last Friday, I snuck out to my local game store to get in two games of Too Fat Lardies’ WWII platoon combat game Chain of Command , my favorite for WWII wargaming. I had recently finished my 3-story Soviet apartment building, and we wanted to do a Stalingrad game. My urban terrain isn’t quite up to snuff yet, so we made do with some terrain from the store mixed in with our own. I think we did just fine. I trust you’ll forgive the occasional out-of-place terrain piece or unpainted miniature. Remember, I’m trusting you. -- September 1942, Stalingrad, USSR Serzhant Volkov lifted his head slowly, peering over a crumbling wall toward the low-slung grey factory building, its blackened smoke stacks spearing the broken skyline. “I can see them moving around in there,” he said quietly, to no one in particular. Most of his men, hugging the broken rubble of the bombed-out worker’s settlement, said nothing, didn’t even glance over at him. Off to Volkov’s right, one of the Soviet submachine gunners...
Read more