It took much longer than it should have, but I finally finished this vineyard for my 15mm-scale moderns. I based it on photos of Lebanese vineyards, & am intending it for use in a 'Lebanon 1982' setting, but it's generic enough to be multi-use. It's based on a hand-sawn & sanded plywood offcut, with regular lolly sticks for the basis of grassy strips. I textured the top with
paint thickener (ready-mix filler), before flocking it with sand. After painting the reddish 'Bekaa Valley' earth, I added the strips of grass using
Gale Force Nine Summer Flock, along with tufts of static grass &
GF9 Meadow Blend. The grape trees (sections of cocktail stick covered in filler) & stakes (sections of hobby 'matchsticks') are glued into holes in large lolly sticks, using wood glue. The foliage itself is trusty old hobby lichen. These strips can be removed from the base.
At least that's how it should have gone first time round. I actually made the mistake of beginning by hand-drilling the holes for the grape trees & stakes in the base board, before realising that having the strips removable for vehicle & troops placement would be more practical. Then I used a dark brown colour with
GF9 Foundation Dirt for the base, which turned out looking nothing like the photos of fertile Middle Eastern ground that I had seen. So the sand went over the top, & then the whole thing was repainted. I also treated myself to a £20
rotary multi-tool, which sped up the drilling by a considerable amount, compared to my GW hand drill! Hopefully I can use the rotary tool for the sanding in future too (a very boring & time-consuming element of scenery-making).
The finished vineyard is shown here with a fireteam base of IDF infantry (I'm experimenting with basing up my 'Lebanon 1982' figures for
Crossfire, having been introduced to these unique rules by my friend Dom). I'm in the process of making another similar vineyard, which can tessellate with this one at various angles to create a track passing through the area, & I also plan to do a citrus orchard.
It took much longer than it should have, but I finally finished this vineyard for my 15mm-scale moderns. I based it on photos of Lebanese vineyards, & am intending it for use in a 'Lebanon 1982' setting, but it's generic enough to be multi-use. It's based on a hand-sawn & sanded plywood offcut, with regular lolly sticks for the basis of grassy strips. I textured the top with paint thickener (ready-mix filler), before flocking it with sand. After painting the reddish 'Bekaa Valley' earth, I added the strips of grass using Gale Force Nine Summer Flock, along with tufts of static grass & GF9 Meadow Blend. The grape trees (sections of cocktail stick covered in filler) & stakes (sections of hobby 'matchsticks') are glued into holes in large lolly sticks, using wood glue. The foliage itself is trusty old hobby lichen. These strips can be removed from the base.
At least that's how it should have gone first time round. I actually made the mistake of beginning by hand-drilling the holes for the grape trees & stakes in the base board, before realising that having the strips removable for vehicle & troops placement would be more practical. Then I used a dark brown colour with GF9 Foundation Dirt for the base, which turned out looking nothing like the photos of fertile Middle Eastern ground that I had seen. So the sand went over the top, & then the whole thing was repainted. I also treated myself to a £20 rotary multi-tool, which sped up the drilling by a considerable amount, compared to my GW hand drill! Hopefully I can use the rotary tool for the sanding in future too (a very boring & time-consuming element of scenery-making).
The finished vineyard is shown here with a fireteam base of IDF infantry (I'm experimenting with basing up my 'Lebanon 1982' figures for Crossfire, having been introduced to these unique rules by my friend Dom). I'm in the process of making another similar vineyard, which can tessellate with this one at various angles to create a track passing through the area, & I also plan to do a citrus orchard.
That's quite effective. Did you get square rods through the drilled holes?
ReplyDeleteI like your squad basing as well.
Crossfire is a superb rules set, you need lots of scenery.
Thanks Barks. Yeah the matchsticks & the cocktail sticks both fitted neatly through the same drill size, once I started using the rotary tool rather than the tiddly hand drill.
DeleteI'm looking forward to getting going with Crossfire! I have quite a large amount of Middle Eastern buildings & walls, but I'm trying to flesh out my collection of hills, foliage, & depressions.
+2 to everything Barks said - great job!
ReplyDeleteCheers, Paul. I'm very eager to get going with Crossfire - there's so much enthusiasm for it online (& from my friend Dom who introduced me to the rules). I am still keen on Force on Force, especially for 'spec ops' type scenarios, but it does have a tendency to get overcomplicated with larger forces. I'm looking forward to see what AA Games do with their 'return to roots' revision of Ambush Alley.
DeleteI collected a ziplock bag full of that same coloured lichen when we were up in Shasta for our anniversary. Never thought that it would look good for vinyards, but you've done a solid job.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dai. I ordered mine over t'internet in a pack of various colours :-s Seemed fairly good value though.
DeleteIt's not really much like vineyard plants, but I think it's an OK stand-in at this small scale.
Well, living next to wine-country, California I can agree for the most part, but for tabletop scenics I think the scale lends well to helping gloss over details like that, when the end result is enough to convince the eye otherwise.
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