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Now I'll have to go by all three of those places tomorrow .
It looks great for gaming, plenty of spaces for figures . It might look better in more clusters, but then harder for figs to move around.

Muahaha. May check big lots and dollar general too but I now have two sets . Didn't wanna risk missing them. But if there are still street lamps when they hit 75% off...

Im in the process of making them into clusters that mostly have one inch gaps for movement. Trying to decide on snow though baking soda+PVA+white paint is sounding promising.

..

Layout looks good - is it going to be a permanent thing in terms of the terrain mounted to the board?

Thanks. And yes. I do believe so. The hills, trees, water, and some rocks etc. I plan to leave some gaps. They'll look funny if left alone, but i plan to make them sized to fit either preexisting scenery or custom pieces I'll make. I want my cabin to fit, I think. And stuff to set it for certain games, like wrecked iced over cars for TNT and so on.

Aye, agreed on that looking great, and surprisingly natural as well. I like the idea of leaving space to tie in whatever game system you are playing on it.

So many Christmas trees of all different shapes and sizes

Board is looking good.

EDC

Great score! The board is looking really neat.

Nice layout plan! that should make a nice woodland zone!

Well I checked Aldi, big lots, and dollar general today.....no trees .ive got some free time tomorrow and I'll check family dollar, Kmart and some other spots.

Now are the great apes living in these frosty forests, or invading them?

Thanks guys. Rolling right along with the board.

Good luck theo. Took awhile till I finally found them at Kmart.

Here's a progress photo of the board so far. Cabin won't be locked in place, the hill is also large enough for a 6" square deadzone outpost.

I'm holding it all together with two inch screws. I know people usually glue them but I had the screws left from building the tables and they seem to work pretty well. Plus nothing will be locked down till I start surfacing. I think I'm just gonna get some black gorilla tape to take around the outside edge of the board. Even with the screws there is some minor flex with the grain of the board, but I'm hoping not enough to cause issues with surface materials.

The kids have school and daycare today so I may have some hobby time. Usually I'd be working but the weather outside is frightful.

I've heard a small selection of horror stories about baking soda breaking down and yellowing to boot, I may try talc powder first and see how it looks.

Looking good. First time I've been to Kmart in almost 4 years.....was not impressed. But I did find the trees I'm $10.74 poorer thanks to you .

Thanks. Suck it up, you wanted them or you wouldn't have bought em


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There was supposed to be a in there...


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Tried out Cam's mold, impressed. Not so much with the woodland scenics one. Or their lightweight hydrocal. Gonna get some dental stone but gonna wait till I'm more flush with cash as you have to buy it in bulk.


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About as far in board as I can go in one day, everything needs to dry/cure. I hope my snow mix has good coverage... gonna need it I think.

Glad they work. Some have good results with construction molding plaster. Cheaper. Mind you I find the dental plaster just fine.

Boards looking good.

Seem really nice. I want to make some kind of dungeon out of the stone variety but I have to decide how to mount them etc.
I saw the dental stuff in amazon and its flagged for ordering...just waiting a bit. We'll see how that goes.

Hoping the board turns out well. The finishing could end up amazing or terrible.

It is possible to make your own dental plaster. Mix 1 part Portland Cement to 4 Parts Plaster of Paris. I've had the recipe for ages but not tried it yet. If you do, tell us the results.

Huh I'll have to consider it though I'm kinda bad a mixing things like that.

Small board update. The Spackle I used to smooth over the plaster cloth and foam frame is drying slowly. I suspect that cold is playing a part as well as thicker layers of the stuff than they reccomend. I also used water on the upper portions to smooth it out so there's that too. Kinda grinds me to a halt because I can't proceed till its dry. Its also cracking kinda bad, though I can fill those if it ever dries out properly. I just hope it doesn't start flaking off entirely. Im wondering if I should put a thin coat of pva down before paint or not.

Speaking of the snow, I think that's going to work out fine. Looks nice and powdery when it dries, it's fairly sturdy too. Gonna be a chore mixing a huge batch and slopping it on the whole board but I think it will have a nice look. I think aside from the pond bed , rock faces, and a couple of patches of exposed ground, I'm just gonna paint the whole board white under the snow. I know the light or melting snow looks can be great, but I'm thinking a largely undisturbed area after solid snow.

Still trying to decide if I want to test run a clear pond or if I want to paint it a darker blue/gree to imply depth.

 GrimDork wrote:


I've heard a small selection of horror stories about baking soda breaking down and yellowing to boot, I may try talc powder first and see how it looks.

Board is looking ace.

Now, I've looked in to the snow thing for years, as winter basing is all I'd do if I had my way, but I was never happy with the way snow flock came out (dries too much like slushy melted snow)

I've read a million and one different stories online and each one is different from the last, so I'm still not 100% sure, but:

From what I have gathered, using bicarbonate of soda and decent PVA glue WILL NOT yellow. Using wood glue with it can yellow it. Using anything but bicarbonate of soda will yellow.

Americans seem to have a different naming system than we do, but from what I have read the baking powder has cream of tartar in it which is what causes the yellowing (so will using cream of tartar ofc!) From what I can tell 'Baking soda' is the American name for bicarbonate of soda, but again I cant be 100% sure on that, as I've seen people call it both things.

I made some snow bases for my goblins at the end of last year, including a test base which has taken some abuse this last year (used to 'test' what minis look like on winter bases, left in the sunshine, chucked about etc) and so far no problem. I'm almost confident enough with it to go ahead and base the whole army!

The only problem I had with it at all is that it you have to use everything super clean with it, any dried up paint in the brush will reactivate and stain the snow, as will paint from the base, it can bleed into the snow if its not totally dry- but none of those things that did happen was really noticeable on the minis, except when you really, really look at them hard! Its only a problem if you dont allow for it, and use a clean brush!

Hope this is off some help.

Thanks for that Rex

I did specifically select 100% bicarbonate of soda. I wonder if standard Elmer's school glue will do the trick. My test Patch looks pretty reasonable.

Thanks for the tips

I think I'm gonna drsg my board into the basement so it can soak up the heat and dry conditions to set faster.

Good luck with the snow, I'll be taking note as It might just become a thing with my gaming as well........Wait, me basing stuff

Also check the craft stores or Home Depot and Lowe's. the craft stores may have textured plastic that looks like water, and Lowe's and Home Depot sometimes get the plastic/lexan sheets with a bluish film on them. you could cut that to fit ovet the top to give you more depth. Or just cut clear plastic/ blister packs to fit the size of the pond and draw little fish on the back of the plastic

I think the snow is gonna be fine. What worries me is the Spackle. I'll include a photo below bit it's drying slowly AND it's cracking badly already. Changing my mind about its hobby viability. If i can salvage that, the name should be ezmode.

For water I think I want to do the layers of polyurethane. I think I'm gonna pond bed the texture the pond, and paint it so it looks deep in the middle.

Loving this building log, board is looking great indeed! As for the snow thing, what I've read is that mixing some white paint into the bicarbonate/PVA mix will stop possible yellowing.

Hmmm, cabin on a hill, trees and snow? very nice setting

Mymearan-thanks My tentative mix for snow is baking soda (100% bicarbonate of soda), Elmer's school glue, and some Titanium White craft paint, in a 1:1:1 mix. A test piece looks pretty agreeable but we'll have to see how it covers on a larger area.

Shas, thanks. Have I not linked the military outpost on a hill with trees and snow?

Layers of polyurethane, this will result in a cloudy effect. I tried it years ago. Not a good idea. However, if you don't mind using a 2 part epoxy, this stuff works very well https://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/parks/super-glaze and you cang get it at the local DIY.

For mixing dental plaster... get 5 dixie cups. Fill one with the Portland cement and the remaininig four with the Plaster of Paris. Pour into a bowl and whisk together (don't use a good kitchen whisk). Done. Simples.

Measure out and add water as needed. I think the starting ratio is 3 parts water to 7 parts mix. Less water makes a stronger cement. You can mess around with that. I'd start with a 4:1 mix to water ratio and go from there.

Huh so now layered poly huh? I wanted to try the epoxy resin anyway, does it matter how thick it is in terms of curing, do you still need to do layers?

Well that sure sounds like an easy way to make the dental plaster, may have to try it then.


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So a bag of cement is $10 or so and it looks like plaster of Paris is maybe 15, and you basically get 20% more volume of mix than your PoP which is the limiting reagent. So a 25 pound bag would make upwards of 30 pounds of product endgame, and if I could somehow use all that, I wouldn't need more Portland cement right away further mitigating costs.

Compared to 35-40 dollars for 25 pounds of dental stone. So there's certainly a savings there.

Do you need me release for dental stone, either store bought or home brew?

So a quick update on the state of the board. I think it's gonna cure fully. Some parts are hard enough to tip tap with a fingernail already and even the softer parts are coming around. Keeping it in the dry toasty basement is a big help.

Random photo of my stockpiled vehicles destined for weathering and or being chopped up for scenery.

Ah the old enemy.... drying time!

Nice collection of future scenery.

As to mould release, I use talc, baby talc actually, Sprinkle a little into the mould before pouring, and tap access away. It helps with release, and helps reduce air bubbles as acts as a flow aide too. I have also used olive oil and vaseline, but find talc the best.

So much future scenery! Should be really cool!

EDC

That winter board looks cool! Looking forward to seeing what you do with those vehicles.