Terrain building question

[offline]

I have just started playing 40k with a few friend of mine. We are still in the process of painting our armys but im already think of how i wanna build the gaming surface.

I was thinking about building a mars type of red desert, with few scrubs and petrified trees, some huges dinausores type bleached bones coming out of the sand and bunch of rocks and other stuff. I would like to have some area of dryed earth like in the pics below. But i have no idea how make that exept from sculpting the whole thing in foam or some thing. So i tought : maybe the guys from CMON knows of a puty our product that could imitate dryed crackled or flaky earth.

thanks

 

[QuietiManes]

You could try some crackle medium. It\'s paint that cracks as it dries. There\'s a process to applying it, that makes it crackle. Something to do with the top layer reacting with the bottom layer. Should be able to get them at the local craft shop. In with the Apple Barrel, Folk Art and Ceramcoat paints and all the Krylon sprays and that sort of stuff (ask the staff if you don\'t see any).

Another option is using spackle (drywall compound). Just spread a thin layer on the surface then scrape away the cracks. Or you can let it dry and scratch the cracks into it.

Last thing I can think of, which would work more for that first picture, is to use some granite or stone/rocky texture paint then knock it down a bit. Basicly, you can get spray paint that has texture to it, bumps. So spray that on, then you can use a flat edge, drag it across the surface to squish things down a bit. I\'ve seen textured paint in regular cans/bottles too, but not often. This is probably not the look you\'re after but it is alot easier than cutting out all those lines.

 

[Einion]

What kind of area are you looking to have the cracked mud cover?

One of the older hobby methods for doing this was to start by lining up your references, so you have a really good idea of what you\'re doing before you start. Then spread a layer of plaster or patching compound (e.g. Polyfilla) and cutting into it carefully with the tip of a craft knife, held vertically, to form the cracks as the plaster dries. That would be for really deep cracks obviously. This can tend to leave obvious knife marks in the bottom of the cracks (which I think look terrible) but this can easily be filled with another layer of the plaster, thinned down and brushed into the recesses.

For something less pronounced than this there\'s another thing worth considering but I\'m guessing you want something more like the photos.

Einion

 

[airhead]

Thinned drywall joint compound. Spread it in the area you want crackled, let it dry. It should dry, shrink and crack. You can mix tempra or arylic paint in with it or paint it after.

You are doing this on plywood or on extruded polystyrene? Not white beadboard....(the drywall compound will shrink and warp the beadboard.) This may or may not give you the level of cracking you are looking for. Try it on a scrap as drywall mud is cheap.


Your other option is the crackle paint kits that Quietmanes mentioned. Two spray paints. Seal the foam first so the spray paint won\'t disolve it.

 

[offline]

Thanks for the tips and pointers. Ill try the dry wall compound first i got some hidden in the garage i think.