Terrain for Historicon - Part Six

The next step is adding another layer of texture to the boards. The first thing I add are chips of brick that I picked up from discards at a nearby construction site. The main areas I want the stones are along the river banks and the slopes of the hills, but I'll place a few near roads to tie all of the boards together visually. The pics in this post are of a road - it is sunken where it meets the hillside and though is darn near impossible to see in these pics, it gradually rises to the level of the ridge. The cluster of stones at the top and bottom of the first photo mark out the point where the road enters the slope. I attached these using a hot glue gun, but other glues will work fine. I picked the hot glue gun because it dries instantly.

Now we need to add smaller rubble. I scatter patches of rubble, paying particular attention to the edge of roadways and rivers and around the "boulders" I placed earlier. I also cover up parts of the putty where the knife strokes seem too obvious. You can add patches in open ground as well (see the photos below) but remember that you also want to leave room to place loose terrain pieces. Your models will look fine teetering on a pile of rock, but although your cottage model will be in no danger of falling over, it won't look as good if one corner of it's base is off the ground.

 

The material I use for this size texture is coarse ground coffee. I started using this years ago when someone at work was about to throw out a huge tin of Maxwell House that co-workers thought was too strong. I rescued it, thinking to use the tin for the basis to build a tower. I was about to embark on my first set of terrain boards at the time and realized the texture of the ground coffee would be perfect for mid-sized rubble! That was ten years ago... and I still have some of it left. I have since found that choosing a flavor of coffee that matches the period you intend to game in adds another level of realism to your boards...

Ok, I made that last part up, but you were already thinking about what kind of coffee would go with your Belgian countryside terrain weren't you...

Anyway, I put down a small patch of glue, smear it around with a damp brush, and sprinkle on the coffee grounds.

At this point, the rubble areas will look heavier than they will end up. After letting the glue dry overnight, I vacuum the boards to remove any stray grounds before moving on to the next step. Remember the advice I gave you about the iron a few posts back? This goes doublely for the vacuum. Best not to even risk this when your significant other is home...