Hi everyone. I am starting to build my own WWII terrain. I have just built my first rock. I cut a piece of styrofoam and carved it. Then, when I was satisfied with the look, I rolled an aluminium foil ball on every surface to add texture. For the painting, I began with mixing Mod Podge with black primer paint to make my rock more resistant. After that, I painted most of the rock with a dark grey acrylic paint. Then, I drybrushed it with a lighter grey and finally I lightly drybrushed with a light beige color. After the painting was completed, I add a black wash on all its surface and let it dry. I then decided to sprinkle some clay on the top. To make sure the clay stayed in place, I use an eardropper to cover the clay with a mix of 50% water and 50% white glue. I let it dry and add another layer of this diluted glue. Once everything was rock solid, I added some static grasses. I mixed different colors of static grasses because in nature all the grasses are not from the same species. And that’s about it. I am now building a second rock, a little bit different this time.
Quicker and easier is to use drywall joint compound (aka "mud") mixed with 120 to 400 grit sand (sand blasting sand is best but even coarse play sand will work). Put the mud in a bucket putting what you'll be using. Mix in the sand until it visible in the mix everywhere (somewhere by volume about 1 to 3 to 1 part mud). You can apply this over any sort of underlying form like wood, Styrofoam, etc. It takes hours to dry even in thin layers so you have plenty of time to work it. Coarser sand will give a rougher finish. By adding sand, the mud won't crack and will dry hard with just a small amount of shrink. You can add additional layers on top of the first if you want or need to. Joint compound is relatively cheap and you can get it at any home improvement store. Plaster of paris and joint compound are the best two materials to use to make things that are masonry, rock, etc.
Well. It's been a while since I posted here. Here is the my first completed tile for a WWII 6mm miniatures wargame. Eventually, there will be lots of other tiles so I could create different terrains.
If you want to make lots of trees cheaply and fairly easily, the process is this: Go to the home improvement store and buy: A roll of 16 to 18 gage steel wire. A quart can of the cheapest matt varnish they carry A couple of cans of flat black spray paint A roll of small diameter sisal rope or thread You'll also need: Some paper bags, lunch size. Flocking from a hobby shop, color is optional for your trees. What you do to make them is: 1. Cut a length of the wire a little more than double the height of the tree you want to make 2. Fold this over so you have like a clothespin where the two wires can clamp stuff in between them. 3. Cut some of the sisal rope to lengths about the diameter of the tree you want and unravel that into individual threads. 4. Stick the threads in between the wire so they are clamped in place (you can just hold the wires together right now) and the threads stick out equally in all directions. 5. Using a small vice clamp the closed end of the wire (where it was bent over) into it. 6. Using a pair or pilers, grab the open end of the wires not letting the threads fall out and then twist the wires together. You now have something resembling a leafless tree. 7. Trim the threads to the shape of the tree you want when finished. 8. If you want a better 'trunk' dip the trunk end in joint compound and set your tree aside until it dries (best if you're making a bunch at once). This is optional 9. When the compound is dry, if you did step 8, take your tree and spray paint it flat black. 10. Take some of your flocking (you can use fine sawdust died to the right color too as an alternative) and put it in a paper bag. 11. Dip your tree in the matt varnish (just dip it into the can) and then let any excess drain off. 12. Holding the bottom end of the tree place it inside the paper bag holding onto the tree base. Shake the bag vigorously. 13. Set your tree aside to dry. You'll end up with a very nice-looking tree that you can either stick on a base or stick into your terrain. This system can mass produce trees that cost pennies each in quantity production.