Project Foy - Finishing Part I

The two things that really set a terrain piece off from the rest are the finishing step and detailing. You could very easily place some buildings and model train trees on your rough board and have a reasonable playing surface. We strive to add more realism to our pieces so that you actually feel like you are part of the game. A properly finished game board should introduce elements that make the game more challenging. One of the first games I ever played with what would become the Battlefield Hobbies group was Brecourt Manor. This game board has an elaborate network of trenches. One of the MG positions was so well camouflaged that I did not see it until my squad was taken under Op Fire (even though the figures had been sitting there for nearly an hour). That's what we are trying to achieve.

I probably mentioned this earlier, but I like to use as much natural material as possible. That means my finishing activities start with a trip around the yard. I am looking for anything that will 1) look reasonable at our scale (20mm in this case) and 2) fit in the general geographic area we are modeling. You would generally not see a 50' flowering bush, so you need material with small details. I try not to get too caught up in trying to exactly match floral and fauna, but you certainly would not use a palm tree in Northwest Europe.

Recall our game takes place on Christmas Day. This simplifies the trees that we need, but makes the foliage a bit harder to find. Luckily we are building in the fall so I have been able to find plenty of dormant plants. I have never been very happy with the pre-made deciduous trees so I was pleased to be looking for winter landscape candidates like this:

In general, you will find one or two bushes or trees in your yard that produce the type of look you are after. I find myself picking through a fair amount of trimmings before finding what I am after. Of course, you want to take care to find varying sizes and shapes.

While I am at it, I pick up as much brush-like material as possible. Weeds, rather than actual plants, have been more productive for me. Michael's Art Supply is a store that we have found invaluable. It feels kind of odd browsing around a crafts store (all the employees want to HELP you!), but they have a great selection of lichen and moss. I was able to find two varieties in their floral arrangement area that seem to work great for my winter scene. If you don't have a Michael's in your area, you should be able to find similar products at any arts and crafts store.

For the evergreen trees, I found a spectacular line from Bachmann Trains - SceneScapes. These are somewhat expensive, but the quality is outstanding. I am planning to make the evergreens removable on the board so I can maximize this investment. I am using the snow-covered version for this game. We will probably also use them on an up-coming Winter War series of games. They look kind of strange right now, but once the snow cover is down, the effect should be perfect.

Once you have a nice selection of trees, lichen, moss, and other brush we can start the finishing process. A nice by-product of sifting the dirt earlier is that you wind up with a pile of small rocks. I pick out a few of these and that's where I start my finishing. The rocks are glued down with Tacky Glue (from the art supply store). They need to be randomly placed and grouped. Generally larger rocks can be by themselves while smaller rocks tend to be grouped together in piles. I use enough glue that it squeezes out the side when I press the rocks in. After everything is placed, I go back and sprinkle dirt around the rocks, making sure to cover all the extra glue. Once this dries, you can sweep away the extra dirt and the rocks look more naturally embedded in the soil.

In this shot you can see one of the larger rocks right in the middle of the picture. Notice how it looks nicely weathered and you can just pick out the band of dirt around the base.

Placing trees is the next step. For these, I just start going through the branches I collected and find interesting and varied shapes. You need to try and mix big with small and thick with thin. Remember here too that you are making a gaming table so you need some room for figures unless the area is supposed to be impassable. Once I find a suitable shape, I just break off the branch and snip any outlying pieces. The finished "tree" is then simply pushed into the game board. For the thicker trunks, you may need to actually cut a hole with a hobby knife to avoid the springing effect of the poly board.

Here are a couple shots showing the trees in place:

Once I have the trees placed, I go back and secure them with Tacky Glue into the hole and the same dirt finish as the rocks. I still have not found a reasonable method for trees with leaves. I do not like the look of the ones you can buy. Next summer, I will be on the lookout for a good source in my yard. I'll let you know if I find anything. Next we will go through the final finishing steps ...