Tuesday 18 February 2014

More 20mm Terrain Boards

 I am taking a few days out from painting and working on some terrain. These two boards will combine with my Afghanistan boards to make the game terrain for the 20mm Arab revolt.

Yes there are a few differences between Afghanistan and the Middle east, but really there are more similarities. So with a few modifications they will pass muster, no one will know and let's be honest most wargamers will not care.

The first stage was to recycle two older boards, so much better than making new ones. Firstly it's quicker, secondly cheaper and thirdly no worries about where to put them as you already know you have space.

The next stage is to quickly sketch out what you want and where you want it. As all the other Afghan boards have road/tracks on the centre of 3 edges I decided to keep that protocol to allow for modularity.

In Sketching the boards out it is good to start with a strong idea. And for these two boards I wanted them quite sparse to reflect the town edge.

 Wanting them sparse I have decided on just one building, with some walled enclosures. I had one piece of door mat left so that was positioned and included to help continuity of the boards and to make it look like they were built at the same time (fingers crossed).

One board would also have a small trench. This is a free standing piece so it can be removed or moved in other games. It would also have a couple of free standing hills for the same reasons.


 As you can see there can be issues with recycling boards is that they may need a little cleaning up, where things have been glued down previously. Also as you can see this one corner has a 5mm wide notch cut in it. Most likely I will ignore this and as long as it goes on an outside corner will not affect the game in any way. I could patch it though al lot will depend on how cold and wet it gets in the next few days. Which will impact on whether I can be bothered or not. I know I should and guilt may well make me patch it, but I am tempted to leave it. I'll let you know what I decide.

 The next stage is to lay out and glue down any dry stone walls. Dry stone walls are so easy to make at this scale. Simply cut chipboard into a thin strip all done by eye, but about 3mm wide. You can then simply break this with your fingers to the right height and length. Obviously make sure there are no large and obvious overhangs and simply glue down.

I have put walls at road edges which gives me an indication of where the roads need to go a little later. And that is this stage done. It really does not take very long I would guess it took less than 2 hours to get to this stage.


The next stage is to build the single building. I might make that tomorrow. At present I have no firm ideas of how I want the building to be, other than single story quite long and thin and of a style to fit in with the ones already made so I shall "wing it" as I make it.

That's it for today, with luck I will be able to share the "Casualty bonus round" figure I painted next time. But that does depend on If Curt can get them all on his blog for the painting challenge.

So with luck some painting next time and some terrain making again if the weather holds, before the weekend! All the best take care, Clint

20 comments:

  1. Off to a strong start, I can't wait to see what it will look like when finished!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well we will both have to wait a while longer. But yes a strong start, and I have bought a few extra supplies for it from a local DIY shop today. So If I start the single building tomorrow I will be on schedule.

      Thank you Mathyoo.

      Delete
  2. I'm very interested to see where this goes, as I've been thinking about something similar for myself. Keep posting, please!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Banner Picture of the Armoured car and Larry of the sands is on one of my Afghanistan boards so with luck they should come out like that. You can already see how the dry stone walls will look!

      Thank you Hugh.

      Delete
  3. Off to a good start. I reckon it will be patched by tomorrow if something bugs me It usually does so until something is done about it lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe patched tomorrow. Yes you are right if it bugs me I have to sort it as well. I also want to start the building tomorrow. Thank you Simon.

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. My main worry at this stage is matching the colours. I hope to have it all done by the end of next week, but that might be wishful thinking,

      Thank you Ray. We should be able to do some WW1 Middle East Skirmish games on the boards.

      Delete
  5. I'm about to embark on making a set for the Second and Third Afghan War, South Africa and the Middle East so I'll be watching closely.

    Darrell.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you find something of interest.
      Thanks for the comment Darrel.

      Delete
  6. Replies
    1. Thank you Ad long way to go but I think It can be done quite quickly...... once I get motivation.

      Delete
  7. I do like your "Afghan terrain" and these will be great additions, though I do think you'll regret leaving that notch alone.
    As an idea for the house, have a lean-too on one end and a small ruin at the other ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I am going to rectify the notch. Going up the shed now. As for the house. I like the idea of a lean to. But until I start cutting card no idea if I will include one as they tend to be a little more fragile on the storage and transportation side of things.
      Thank you Jo as ever sound advice.

      Delete
  8. Looking forward to seeing this project with all your camels on it! I agree that the ME and Afghanistan do look similar enough for wargamers, Afghanistan desert is way more salty in makeup! I have been dusted, blinded, and occassionally "eaten" the ground in both places. In Afganistan, Shawali Kowt; I wiped the sweat off my brow with a dusty combat glove; little difference than pouring a salt shaker in your eye! ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks David. Great to get feedback from someone who's been there. (I'm just working from pictures).

      Delete
  9. As others have said, you're off to a good start, Clint. I'd also like to add my voice to the vote to fix that niggling corner of your board. It'll only rankle you further if you don't.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Corner notch is now fixed. It's not elegant and if you look for it when it's finished you will be able to see it. But at least you will have to look for it. Thank you Bryan.

      Delete
  10. Looking good again with the terrain, sorry to hear that weather stopped play for the game!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe the game went ahead. Just I could not get there. Hope to get a bit of a chat at Cavalier. All the best Mate.

      Delete

Please feel free to leave a comment.