TERRAIN JOURNAL: PART THE FOURTH

 

As the world climate is tops-y-turvy and Canberra hasn't had the usual cold dry winters we are used to, I've been waiting for weeks upon weeks for a weather window to paint my first batch of terrain boards. At last, today was that window with clear sky, minimal breeze and sunshine. At sparrow-fart, I undertook a rapid raid at my hardware emporium and home-again home-again, jiggity-jig armed with my Dulux tester pots. Nothing could stop me now ... and it didn't.

My 50L air compressor had lain dormant for near a decade under a rug in my shed. Oil ... check, fittings ... check. Got my air guns out, fitted up the hose, switched on, tested and all good to go.

I set out one of my trestle tables in the drive, cracked out a few plastic fruit jars (knew they'd come in handy) cut a few mixing sticks from some scrap ply on the old band saw and away I went.

This is a relatively close shot after the first double pass with my green. I chose a muted, khaki green. Before the first pass, I brushed the fibers so it stood up. I swept the airgun from side to side working front to back, then spun the boards 180 degrees before repeating. So the double pass only hit the fibers from North and South, excluding an East and West application. The first thing to notice is how it knocks back (fades) the original orange/brown synthetic sheen.

The above shot is after the second application of a faded, light tan/brown. I concentrated it along the roads and the fur on the sides of the road edges. This was a less even application - spotting areas and allowing greater coverage on high ground sections.

This is after the final highlights pass with a very light straw colour. I concentrated this again on the road sides and high ground but also was sure to hit across the tops of any higher fiber patches for that tall, dry grass look. I'll have a better idea when I get them under indoor lighting becasue the sun-glare affects how I'm able to register the colour pallet. I can always go back over anything if I feel the need.

Obviously, I'm going for a dry Mediterranean summer look and at this stage I'm considering if I need more green in it. The roads need to be dry brushed with a white/cream and I need to clad the edges with some PVA soaked tissue paper and then paint them with a khaki brown to protect the edges and rid the last of that crazy green the foam came in.

When I finish typing, I'll start building the next six hill board sections to go with the two I have already built but have yet to cover. Once these first nine 'flat' boards are finished, I'll publish some test photos with my British Peninsular troops for reference.