I've been working on a table for Rhett's Guadalcanal Game for a couple of months. Compared to the North Africa table, this one has been pretty straightforward, with the exception that I need to figure out how to make a good blue water pacific beach.
I started out with three 3'x5' wood panels and glued 1' thick pink foam to them. Then I carved out the beach, a lagoon ("alligator creek") and the Lungga River using a wire brush. I had some spare hills lying around, so I glued one to the table to represent the high ground near Henderson Field.
Studying satellite images of the island, I went with a dark green textured paint as a base color to represent the dark volcanic soil.
I then applied dark pigment for the roads and slightly lighter pigment for the soil. I used ochre colored pigments for the riverbed.
Fixed the pigment with denatured alcohol. Great stuff.
I Let all that dry in the basement for a good long while while I went on vacation in Maine with my family.
Back from Maine, I added flock to the panels. I used some Woodland Scenic stuff that has been in the basement for years, and I cannot remember what colors I bought, but I used dark green for the jungle areas and a light green (burnt grass, maybe) for the open areas near the airfield.
Layered and blended blue pigments on the ocean parts, leaving the runoff from the Lungga River flowing into the sea.
I used ochre pigment to replicate vehicle wear on the roads.
Now I am faced with a water effects project the likes of which I have not tried yet. Going to do some testing with acrylic gloss gel medium and then go for it later this week. This needs to be dry and ready for the game in two weeks. Stay tuned.
I started out with three 3'x5' wood panels and glued 1' thick pink foam to them. Then I carved out the beach, a lagoon ("alligator creek") and the Lungga River using a wire brush. I had some spare hills lying around, so I glued one to the table to represent the high ground near Henderson Field.
Studying satellite images of the island, I went with a dark green textured paint as a base color to represent the dark volcanic soil.
I then applied dark pigment for the roads and slightly lighter pigment for the soil. I used ochre colored pigments for the riverbed.
Fixed the pigment with denatured alcohol. Great stuff.
I Let all that dry in the basement for a good long while while I went on vacation in Maine with my family.
Back from Maine, I added flock to the panels. I used some Woodland Scenic stuff that has been in the basement for years, and I cannot remember what colors I bought, but I used dark green for the jungle areas and a light green (burnt grass, maybe) for the open areas near the airfield.
Layered and blended blue pigments on the ocean parts, leaving the runoff from the Lungga River flowing into the sea.
I used ochre pigment to replicate vehicle wear on the roads.
Now I am faced with a water effects project the likes of which I have not tried yet. Going to do some testing with acrylic gloss gel medium and then go for it later this week. This needs to be dry and ready for the game in two weeks. Stay tuned.
Wow steve wow! these tables are something else. Having just worked on a tiny display for my orks, I am amazed at working at these large scales. It is wildly different and quite a difficult beast!
ReplyDeleteThanks Greg!
ReplyDeleteThe only real challenge is space. I need to get a studio where I can work on a full table indoors.
This project is hung up on water effects. I need to come up with a method that I can use indoors (no ventilation) that will be dry by next Sunday. Acrylic gloss gel medium will not work--my test panel is 5 days old and still not even close to dry. It could take a month or more for it to go completely clear. Going to come down to the wire.
Epoxy and liquid plastic are not options due to ventilation. I'm going to try straight acrylic gloss medium tonight and see if I can get that to work. Need something that provides some depth/volume, though.
Any ideas?
Don't know the budget, but liquid scenics might be available in bulk. I recently found you can get crackle medium in gallon containers on ebay!
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