Hit it with the whole load (part 2)

Painting 

This is my color scheme in case you want to replicate it. Whatever colors you use, I recommend some PVA glue mixed into your base coat, to help cement things together. I inject PVA directly into the crevasses around the outcroppings to secure them. I also like to add small stones and model railroad talus to places where shattered rocks will appear in life. This can also be used to reinforce weak joints and seams.

I like to start with a dark base coat ( black , dark brown, I went with black )

I then go up with a heavy laden dry-brush of  50/50 black /grey. I then dry-brush a 25/75 black grey  the a 50/50 grey /white , especially on the top surface. Follow this up 25/75 grey /white light dry-brush. Bits of lichen,clump foliage ,and or flock can added, especially to the edges which are less visually impressive than the upper surface.

Hope you enjoy

And for my 40k friends ....

Hit it with the whole load!

Smash hills....

My smash hills are great for desert terrainor a rock out cropping , and can be used for all games (Warmahoards,40k ,Fantasy, , FoW etc...)and modeling sizes .This technique produces a surface that looks very convincing and yet is flat enough to accommodate your miniatures. This is a very durable terrain . It is also simply a lot of fun to make.

Materials needed 

A bread knife or if you own it a foam cutter ( knife or wire )

1/8” hardboard (I use MDF but if you were mounting it to a play board no need to )

pink foam insulation. I'll be using  1 1/2 in. pink foam, which is tall enough to block line of sight for most of the heroic scale models. Don't use beaded ploystyrene as it won't work.

Wood glue ... Trust me 

Paints. I use cheep craft paints like  Apple barrel or folk art

And a Hammer !!!

Build Steps

I start by cutting a basic shape on the MDF . I prefer  kidney-bean or ovialish shapes for natural objects, since straight lines look out of place. The more books and crannies  the more places for model can hide and the more your hill  will be used. 

Next, using the wood glue , go ahead and glue the base plate to the foam. Let it sit for 2 to 3 hours. Go watch some television ,do a load of clothes ,what ever you want ,just leave it alone .

After it dries, using a knife or foam cutter trim the foam to the profile of the base. I use a straight-up cut, with no slope. I have learned that some foam has seams ,that cause it break into  16 in widths during house construction. Place these seams face down if possible.

Now comes the fun part! Beat it with a hammer. Tap the upper surface of the hill with a hammer. If you’re hammer sinks completely into the surface, you’re hitting too hard. If you’re not cracking the surface, you’re not hitting hard enough. The hammer should bounce back a bit, and you should be able to set up a good rhythm. Once you get to the edges, strike at an angle so that the edges flair out a bit, creating outcroppings and mashing the edge down a bit. Remember not to get to carried away this , since the outcroppings are weaker that the rest of the model.

Repeat as many times as you want hills ...

Next up Painting !!!