Super-secret side project… REVEALED! Part II

I completed the first part of my desert terrain project a couple of weeks ago and last night applied the finishing touches to Part II.  Again I’ll provide some detail on how I made each piece for any readers wishing to follow my example.

Rocky outcrops and spires

Large Rock spire - constructed

Firstly I used cork board to mark out the rock formation areas, this provided a starting block and would help to tie in the various aspects of the outcrops and provide some height.

Small Rock spires - constructed

 I then used a bread knife to carve 1” thick blue high density styrofoam (insulation board).  I never use the lighter white polystyrene used as packaging as it is bloody awful to use and it gives a poor finish; also if you have a partner you won’t be in good books with all the mess it creates!  I used a hobby scalpel to do any fine carving once the main shape was created. 

Small rock spires - filler applied

Large rock spire - filler applied

As seen the styrofoam was cut into rough circles and carved at the mid point to make a double ridge.  A 1” thick ridge would be out of scale I felt.

Outcrop 1 - filler applied

Outcrop 2 - filler applied

The styrofoam was filed, then a layer of filler applied to soften the edges and blend in any areas that were still a bit rough, then filed smooth.  

 

Rock spires ready for painting

Outcrops spires ready for painting

Various grades of gravel were added to the outcrops to keep them model friendly and also look a bit better on the finished item.

Similarly to the terrain in Part I a layer of watered down PVA was painted on to seal the filler and sand, preventing any loose material coming off in the heavy drybrush painting that would be applied later.

Sand dunes

Sand dunes - at filler applied stage

The sand dunes were very simple, literally a large piece of high density styrofoam glued to the baseboard, then carved to shape with the bread knife.  Similarly to the rock spires and outcrops filler and sand was applied.  I did try and take extra care sculpting the dunes to create the crescent shape seen in real deserts, though I had to be mindful this was wargames terrain and as such had to be usable too. 

Oasis

Again a very simple technique; I used off-cuts of the styrofoam to build relief around when the water area would be and smooth the transition with filler.  The photo to the left shows the oasis in its most basic shape, I added lots of smaller off-cuts to ease the burdone of the more expensive filler. 

 Once the filler had dried I re-carved the  contour with the bread knife to get a more appealing gentle slope, the filler was re-applied at this point to further enhance the oasis' shape.


I did add a lot of slate and gravels to the fringes of the oasis to make it a bit more interesting.  The photo to the left shows it ready for painting.

 Painting was identical to Part I, however the spires and outcrops were differentiated by painting them Scorched Brown, then drybrushing Beastial Brown, then Bubonic Brown and finally Bleached Bone.

I finished off the terrain by applying some Army Painter tufts as well as some static grass sparingly.

Finished desert terrain Part II: 

Rock spires

Oasis

Sand dune

Rocky Outcrop 1

Rocky Outcrop2