Saturday, August 16, 2014

Terrain Projects Ongoing Part I: Hedgerows

Well in a recent post I challenged myself to start upping my game with terrain.  Here is a small project that will hopefully yield big results: hedges and hedgerows.

I got a terrific idea from many fantastic blogs out there to glue lichen to painted popsicle sticks (UK - Lollie sticks?  Is that right?).  The resulting line of foliage looked great but also had that rural "unkempt" look to them.  So I did what any country gentlemen farmer would do - hire a gardner!


PSC 15mm Germans malingering around for scale.

 The huge pieces of Lichen I used poured over the sides of the stick and really towered over my 15mm models and vehicles.  After applying a pear of gardening shears (scissors) to them, I trimmed the edges and the tops to make them a "tad" more groomed.  Then I soaked them in glue overnight and the resulting hedges look a little more neat and tidy.  I will put some flock on the sticks and call it a day on these.

straight hedges.  Much cleaner looking than they were before!

These are appropriate for 15 or 20mm scale now.

Here's an idea of the scale.  These are 15mm SYW Austrians marching through and singing of course




looking down a hedge-lined road.  Nice and subtle!

Speaking of roads - that brings me to the next part.  Proper roads.  Does this road look familiar?
 Roads are another challenge I've been thinking on.  I really like the look of the raised cork railroad beds for my roads.  Upping my game entails coating them with sand, painting and dry-brushing them for a more dusty rural look. what you see here is the first part of my road project.  This is covered with sand and waiting for a coat of paint. Have to find some curved pieces though...

FOr road-ways, I'm also trying out felt as well.  I have a few different pieces of felt soaked with glue and others sprayed with a matte sealer to harden them prior to painting.  May yield the same results??

paper house downloaded for free from "junior general" website (linked to the right on this blog).  
 Another idea I've been thinking about is basing my buildings.  This has a few benefits I'm thinking.  First, it protects my building models and second I can assemble urban areas by butting them up against each other.
SS Trooper in the flower garden.  




9 comments:

  1. As rubberised lichen is apt to dry out and get brittle, it's not a bad idea from time to time to give them a water spray with a mister or something similar.

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    1. Great idea, AP thank you. I'll make sure and maintain the stuff.

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  2. Add some small gravel to the bocage, both for weight and looks.

    Bocage from what I saw when I was in France a few years back, was all the debris from the pasture piled up into rows to act as fencing and windbreaks and to clear the land. Once the hedging and trees grew through it hid most of the crap.

    You could see large rocks etc in the bocage. Broken twigs etc can really make it pop as well.

    Great progress Steven. Nice one.

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    1. Will do, Paul and thanks. I was planning on throwing some flock at the least in there under the hedges. Some rocks and twigs will most certainly be going in there as well to jazz them up. I've got about 15 of these with more planned. Perfect for a good Normandy breakout scenario!

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  3. Good stuff, nice photos! The gardens around the house look great too. I used tongue depressors as bases for stone walls (glued and painted) that framed fields. Thanks for posting.

    http://petitguerre.blogspot.com/

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    1. Cincinnatus,
      Added your blog to my blog roll! I love your Texas War of Independence stuff! I had once considered running the TWOI in 15 or 20mm using Johnny RebIII rules. Were those rules you used home brewed? I loved the battle reports!

      I'm going to be building out some stone walls next after I'm finished with the hedges. Thanks for commenting!

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    2. Oh and glad you liked the gardens around the house. I figured some color couldn't hurt!

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  4. Looks great. I did something similar with lichen and cut up mounting board.

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    1. Thanks, Sean. I will be hunting through your blog soon to see them!

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