Modelling 8/12/04 5:27 PM Page 26

MODELLING MASTERCLASS
By Stephan Hess

with the smaller side of the available space,

players would only have 55cm to move back
and forth. As real WM fanatics we plan to play
as often and as comfortably as possible, so we
will have to place the table depth along the
wider side of the room. This will give 75cm for
players to move which is much better. The
table can be placed flush to the wall on one
side and this allows a 210cm table width and
Part One. The Wargames Table 50cm of room to move around the side of the
Just as a home-cooked meal tastes better than table and get out of the room. 210cm will
a microwave dinner, a game with painted easily allow battles of four thousand points. So,
miniatures fought over well-made terrain is for this example, we might decide on a table
much more enjoyable than a battle between size of 150x210cm.
empty bases over a bare kitchen table. Reaching the centre of the table will only be a
It is my intention to explain in some detail, problem for those thinking in bigger
over a series of articles, some of the many and dimensions. Usually you would want to be able
varied methods used to create terrain for to reach units placed in the middle of the table,
Warmaster. This first article is mostly so the depth should not be more than 180cm,
concerned with materials and making a table. give or take a bit depending on the length of
These are matters that may be understood by your arms. This doesn’t affect our ‘example’
old hands but which it seemed necessary to design as our table has a depth of only 150cm.
deal with first for the sake of completeness. You also need to consider storage and
To keep things consistent all dimensions have transport of the table at this stage. If you can
been described in cms throughout. As this is leave the table permanently set up there will
the standard system for Warmaster this be no problem. If the table needs to be set up
shouldn’t present any difficulty. for each game you will have to consider how
the table is to be moved and stored when not
TABLE SIZE & LOCATION in use. In addition the weight of the table itself
The first and most important step in making a might be a restriction, especially if you want to
games table is to determine the table size. For be able to set up the table on your own
the sake of clarity, the short distance between without help. Instead of making the table
opposing players is referred to as the table smaller you can divide it in sub-tables that are
depth and the long direction is the table width. easier to handle and store than a single big
table. Just as a reminder you will be able to
The size of your army dictates the minimum
transport a board of 80cmx120cm in most cars,
dimensions required for the table. For a small
but you would be advised to check first.
Warmaster battle 120x120cm is enough, but a
depth of 150cm is more desirable as it allows If you elect to use prefabricated tables or
players to deploy in battle lines, something boards this will also influence table size. I.e.
that is rewarded in Warmaster. It also gives you you buy three ready made folding tables each
more room for sieges and scenarios that do not 120x60cm. This will give a total area of
use the ‘opposite side deployment’. The table 180x120cm. As this is an inflexible option it is
width should be at least 120 cm, better 150cm best to measure out the room and satisfy
which is just enough for two-three thousand yourself the tables will fit before buying.
points. A width of 240cm should cover all
Warmaster needs. GAMING TERRAIN
For the purposes of this and the following
When deciding on the depth and width of your
articles I’ve split terrain into two broad types:
table you also need to consider how much
‘ordinary terrain’ and ‘modular terrain’.
room it will take up in your gaming room and
where you will set it up. For example, assume Ordinary terrain is the most common type of
you have a total gaming area of 260x300cm terrain. An ordinary terrain (OT) set-up uses a
available. We have already decided that the usually flat table surface covered with some
table should be at least 150cm deep, but if we basic texture, like grass, sand, earth or snow.
place the table, so that the depth is aligned On top separate terrain pieces will be placed

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Ordinary Terrain Modular Terrain

depicting all other kinds of terrain. The table into sub-tables it is usually a good idea to
number of pieces, their position and rotation make all sub-tables the same size and if
can be varied to give an endless number of possible you should make the length of the
different battlefields. The other big advantage wider side an integer multiple of the length of
of OT is that you can start playing as soon as the smaller side. All considerations that apply
the table is finished and add terrain pieces one to making a big table apply to making sub-
by one. tables as well, so the following pages cover
both. For the sake of simplicity the word table
Modular terrain (MT) set-ups consists of
is used for table and sub-table alike.
modules arranged like the squares of a
chessboard. Each module is a complete albeit Returning to our example table, we will make
very small wargames table with fixed terrain. two sub-tables 150x100cm each, because it is
Varying the position of the modules and their easier to transport and set-up than one big
rotation can change the battlefield. Because 150x200 table.
the playing surface is made from modules you
will have to build a minimum number of them,
before you can start to use your new table. The
main advantage of MT is the more professional
look and the sturdier construction.
It is important that you decide what kind of
terrain you want to use; the OT which is faster
to make and more flexible, or MT with it’s
more professional look and greater durability. COME ON, MAKE MY TABLE
Whichever you choose will have implications There are three main ways to make the
for the size of the table. For example, many tabletop. The first is to use a thick solid sheet
players place OT on top of a suitably coloured of some material. The second way is to make a
cloth, and the size of the cloth will effect the frame and mount thin sheets on top and
size of the table. For MT the module size has an bottom. The third way is to buy a ready made
impact on the table size. I.e. if you already have table or tabletop – a kitchen or dining table for
decided the module size (you may already have example.
some modules from an earlier project) make This last option has some virtue to it. It doesn’t
sure an integer number of modules fit on the amount a lot of work and can be reasonably
table. If you haven’t decided the module size priced (a table of 80x120cm can be as cheap as
yet, just make a short calculation to see if a £20). However you will be stuck with a limited
sensible module size will fit onto your table. In choice of sizes – often rather narrow for our
practice a square grid size between 25cm and purposes. Usually edges are chamfered and the
40cm is preferable – I will discuss the why in corners are rounded off. A table with heavily
the next article. If your modules are to have chamfered edges and/or round corners is
individual frames don’t forget to take the frame unsuitable for an OT sub-table.
width into account, usually 1 to 5cm per side
depending on the kind of frame chosen. WOOD I?
If you can’t use or find a suitable ready made
TO DIVIDE OR NOT TO DIVIDE? table the next simplest method is to use a solid
In course of the above you might have already sheet of some material – generally wood. Your
decided whether you will use one big table or local DIY shop will have different kinds of
multiple smaller sub-tables. If you haven’t now wood for you to choose from and will offer to
is the time. Good reasons for using sub-tables cut it neatly to any size you want.
are: restricted storage room, restricted access
One thing worth bearing in mind is that wood
between storage and gaming area, and
is hydroscopic and this makes it warp. In fact
available materials. If you decide to divide the

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wood will warp with every change of humidity

and moisture. The stability of wood and its
tendency to warp are different along or across
the grain. It warps up to 10% along the radius
of the annual rings (i.e. the width of the tree)
but only 0.2% in the direction across (i.e. the
height of the tree). A large single board will
therefore tend to warp significantly in one
direction. This and the fact that good solid
wood is relatively rare and expensive make it a
bad choice for a tabletop.
To overcome this problem ‘composite’ boards
were invented. The following list is not all-
inclusive, but will give you a good idea what
kinds of suitable composite wood you will find
at your local DIY. All weights given are for
boards of 150x150cm and the minimum
thickness specified. The thickness given is the
minimum thickness to get a useful, flat
tabletop. If you want to be on the safe side take
a thicker sheet.
• Plywood (weight 38-44 kg, 18 mm but there
is always the risk of warping). The most
common kind of composite wood is plywood.
Gluing thin sheets of veneer together under
high pressure makes plywood. The run of the
grain of each subsequent layer is always
rotated by 90 degrees, which gives good
stability in all directions and reduces the material is cheap and looks it. Even the more
amount of warping. The number of layers is expensive veneered chipboard does so
always odd because the grain has to run into because of the raw edges. If you decide to go
the same direction on the top and bottom for chipboard, I recommend you take the raw
layer. Multiplex boards are like plywood, but board without veneering. It will take glue
use thicker sheets. While plywood/multiplex is better and the surface will always be covered
more stable and has less warp than wood, you with terrain or modules, so you will not see the
will never really get rid of the tendency to veneer anyway. In contrast to laminated
warp. Plywood takes glue well and nails and chipboard, raw chipboard takes glue well.
screws will find hold easily, nails do so even on Nails and screws will find hold easily, but when
the sides. inserted in the sides the wood may crack. To
get rid of the ugly looking sides you can use a
suitable edging material. These come in the
form of veneer strips that are glued, nailed or
(wonder!) ironed on.
• OSB (weight 31-35 kg, 15mm). Oriented
strand board is a variant of Chipboard with
long chips of defined length and thickness. All
• Block board/CLV (weight 22-26 kg, 13mm). chips are generally oriented in the same
Block board is made by gluing individual direction, which makes the board more elastic
lengths of wood side by side, and then than ordinary chipboard. Method of
mounting veneer sheets on the top and manufacture aside, for all intents and purposes
bottom. Block board comes in a thickness of chipboard and OSB can be considered the
13mm and above. 13mm is usually enough for same.
our needs, except if you want to have a single • MDF (weight 39-42 kg, 15mm). Medium
large table of over 150cm width. When getting density fibreboard is very smooth and has good
the block board cut to size have it cut so that stability. The idea behind the fibreboard is just
the wood runs along the wider side. Block the same as with the chipboard, but fine fibres
board takes glue well and nails and screws will are used instead of chips. The fibres are not
find hold easily, even on the sides. necessarily from wood but can also include
• Chipboard (weight 40-45 kg, (if veneered), tough plant materials like rape or flax. MDF
19mm). The chips (made of wood not of takes glue well and screws and nails find hold
potatoes) are glued under pressure and heat to well. Boards of 15 mm or thicker will hold
form boards. Usually the boards have three fixings well even in the sides.
layers the two outer layers being denser. The • Rib boards (weight 4--5 kg, 10mm). Made

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from Polypropylene or Polycarbon, these are For the top and bottom layer you can use any
transparent or translucent. There appears to kind of wood. It should be at least 3 mm thick,
be a bottom and top layer resting on internal but there is no reason why it should be thicker.
ribs 10mm apart, but a sheet is cast or Plywood, MDF and hardboard are available in
extruded as one piece. The ribbing give high the required thickness, chipboard is usually
stability along its length, but the board bends not available in sheets so thin, and would be
rather easily in the other direction. So the use very brittle.
of supporting stands is recommended instead The frame itself will be made from lengths of
the use of screwed on legs. Rib board will not timber. Timber of 2 cm (width) x 3cm (height)
take nails or screws and it does not really like are quite ideal, but 2 x 2cm will do for smaller
PVA glue. An MT table made from rib board will tables. You will need 6 to 10 pieces depending
look cool. For an OT table it makes only sense on size and design.
if you use gaming cloths on top, but you will
not see the surface anyway, so I recommend
using a material that is easier to work with.
• Honeycomb cardboard (weight 3-4 kg,
20mm). This is a kind of composite cardboard.
It is not really one card but a honeycomb like
mesh with a top and bottom layer of paper or The outer frame consists of 4 pieces. Your DIY
cardboard. It is very stable for it’s weight and shop will cut them to the size you specify;
the version with cardboard top and bottom can some shops will even mitre the joints for you if
be used as tabletop when the thickness is at you wish. However, the simplest way to make
least 20mm. The edges should be protected the frame is by using blunt or butt joints. The
with plastic ‘U’ profiles. It can be cut and glued long pieces need to be the full length of the
like any other cardboard. table and the shorter pieces need to be cut to
the table width minus the width of the timber.
To make a long story short, composite wood of
When doing mitre joints each piece has the
one form or another is the material best suited
same length as the edge it will be mounted on
for a solid tabletop. It is easily available, it is
and the edges are mitred at 45 degrees.
reasonable priced, it is easy to work with, it’s
sturdy and very importantly for an OT table it Within the frame you need to position internal
takes glue very well. Foam and Honeycomb lengths of wood in such a way that there is no
cardboard might be an interesting alternative unsupported area larger than 30x30cm. This
for special situations like tournaments.. can be done with a diagonal or orthogonal
cross arrangement inside the frame. You can
GET FRAMED also run parallel lengths of wood along the full
Instead of a solid tabletop you can use a frame width of the long side spaced about 30cm from
with thin layers if lighter material mounted on each other. If you want to screw legs on, it is
top and bottom. The bottom layer can be recommended to insert additional supports, so
omitted if you desire, but the board will not be that the screws will always be set in a support
as stable. rather than the table itself.

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Lay out the lengths of wood on a flat surface put either use clamps or nail the top onto the
and glue them together. There are numerous supports. I usually use a staple gun because it
kinds of glue suitable but we shall concentrate is easy and fast. With staples or the nails you
on two types. The ordinary white wood glue will see the nail heads. Using clamps will avoid
and so called contact glue. Wood glue is this; you will need about four per metre.
available as water soluble or insoluble. Both Alternatively, you can glue the frame pieces
sorts are useable but the water-soluble is directly to the underside of the table surface
usually cheaper and easier to work with. We piece by piece. This is slower but works as
will use wood glue later on as well, so you can well, when done with care and does away with
go out and buy a bucket now. It is easy to work the need for so many clamps.
with and will dry transparent. The bottom layer can only be fixed once all
Apply wood glue on one or both of the support is in place and everything is
surfaces using a brush or a toothed putty knife. reasonably dry. You now can use a hammer and
Join the pieces while the glue is wet and clamp nails or staple gun as nobody will see the table
them together until the glue has dried. This bottom (unless hiding in shame after a
makes alignment easy and excess glue can be humiliating defeat). Alternatively, find a
wiped off with a cloth while still wet. On the suitable flat surface where you can place the
other hand you will have to clamp the parts bottom sheet, glue the frame/top layer
together for quite a while depending on assembly on and put weights on to ensure the
material, kind and amount of glue between frame makes contact as cleanly as possible.
twenty minutes and four hours. For comparison purposes a 150x150cm table
Contact glue works differently. Apply it to both using 2x3cm timber and 3.2 mm hardboard for
surfaces using a toothed putty knife. When it top and bottom layer would weigh 14-16 kg.
feels dry (after 7 to 15 minutes) the objects are
pressed together. Only the amount of pressure ON THESE LEGS RESTS THE WORLD
is essential for the bond not the length of time The simplest and quickest way to set up the
it is applied. This gives us the opportunity to table is to use trestles or stands. There are
get a strong bond quickly, but adjustment of different kinds, usually made of wood or
the objects is only possible with small objects. metal, prices ranging from £3 to £30 apiece.
This does make it quite difficult to align the top They all have a width from 70 to 80cm. Do not
and bottom boards onto a completed frame. be too sparing, it’s better to use one too many
The best approach is to glue the frame in place than one too few. As a rule of thumb place one
piece by piece onto the board surface, in which trestle every meter of table (but a distance of
case you only have to place the bottom board 120cm will not be an undue strain) and the
on as a single piece. overhang should not be more than 15cm.
Depending on the size of the pieces you are The advantage of trestles is that they can be
gluing, clamps, duct tape or rubber bands folded and so are easy to store. They offer
come in handy. For making the table you will support not only at points but over their entire
need a band clamp to hold the frame together width. This makes them suitable not only for
until the glue has dried. Then join frame and wooden table tops, but also for tables made
top layer. To make sure the top surface stays from rib board, foam or honeycomb

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cardboard. Sometimes the tabletop does not you use a framed tabletop the hinges should be
rest secure on its stands because the top of the mounted on supports.
stand and the bottom of the table are both very The complete height of the table should be
smooth. A small strip of rubber between both between 75 and 80cm and you have to choose
works wonders. If you set up the table and the length of the legs accordingly. The width
stands in a specific arrangement you can glue should be chosen so that there is no overhang
small timbers on the table bottom to act as a of more than 15cm. If the table is wider than
guide for the stands. You could also use Velcro 150 cm, you should plan for additional legs in
or a slave to hold them in place. the centre sections.
The second method (nearly as simple as the
first) is to buy ready-made legs from you local
DIY shop. The legs come in different materials,
forms and colours, and prices start at £2.50
apiece. Depending on the material and
thickness of the table there should be a leg
every 70 to 120cm and the overhang should Of course you can also use another table as
not exceed 15 cm. The bad news is they need pedestal, especially if the table is in the gaming
something firm to be screwed to. This reduces area and you can’t move it out of the way, but
their use mainly to wooden tabletops. And if make sure that you add support where needed
you use a framed table top it is recommended so that the overhang doesn’t exceed 15cm.
to mount them at a place where all screws can
be fastened on to a wooden support, adding If your table is stationary you could use racks
supports where necessary. Storage and like the famous IVAR from IKEA as a pedestal
transport are difficult if the legs are permanent for the gaming table. This gives you a handy
features. If not, screwing on the legs before place to store modules and miniatures.
every game is a nuisance. Some legs have a
useful mounting plate as separate piece. You ANOTHER FRAME
fasten the mounting plate to the tabletop and If you use MT you might want to consider ways
than screw the leg on the plate without the to prevent the modules from being shoved off
need of additional screws. This is quite fast, the table. There are many different and
but a single leg with mounting plate costs ingenious ways to achieve this, like using
about £8. centre pins, guiding rods, Velcro tape or
interlocking modules, but most need precision
An alternative is to make a folding leg work to function satisfactorily. The best and
mechanism, as shown in the diagram below. If simplest solution is a frame that runs round
the outer edge of the table.
This frame can be made from wood
glued in place as already described.
Remember that the overall space for
playing will be reduced slightly by
the frame, so take this into account
when deciding on the size of table
required.
If you are using sub-tables it is better
to drill holes along the table edge
and insert wooden dowels to create a
barrier that will stop the lemming
like behaviour of the terrain
modules. The dowels can be
removed where required. Space the
dowels at intervals equivalent to half
the width of a module placing first
dowel is placed about a quarter way
into the edge. I.e. with a 30 cm sub-
table the dowels would be 15 cm
apart and the first would be 7.5 cm
from the edge.

CONCLUSION
So much for the first article and I
hope it answered many a question.
Hopefully in a future issue I will
discuss the construction of all terrain
types.

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MODELLING MASTERCLASS part II

By Stephan Hess

right at the start. Surprisingly, metal will often

take wood glue reasonably well if you score the
surface.
A metal base less than 1mm thick will be
perfectly stable. Thicker sheets are rather
heavy and more difficult to work with.
However, any base thinner than 2mm is hard
to pick up, and often leads to it being picked
up by a delicate feature instead of the base
Foundations itself. This can damage the model and the
If you followed last issue’s article you are now whole thing will come apart if handled
well on your way to becoming the proud carelessly.
owner of a new wargames table. Before we
start filling it with terrain we’ll take a look at Cardboard. It is possible to glue multiple
the bases or modules for the terrain itself. OT layers of thin card together to get a thicker base
(Ordinary Terrain) style terrain pieces will and for stability. This adds another step to the
need their own integral base whilst MT building process and does not cure the major
(Modular Terrain) will require a base for the drawback of warpage. Corrugated cardboard is
module itself which I call the module body. preferable to ordinary cardboard, but is still
liable to warp and can be bent, creased and
BASING SCENERY FOR O.T. nicked more easily than other materials. You
Bases make terrain easier to handle and stop it will need to use an all purpose filler to get
falling over. This is especially important for closed and smooth edges because of the
trees and card buildings which might corrugations.
otherwise be knocked over or displaced during Plastics. These come in many quite different
play. In the case of woods and similar features forms. The soft expanded foams will easily
the base conveniently demarcates the area snap if used in thin sections of 5mm or less.
covered by the entire wood/feature. This also They also tend to bend under the weight of all
allows us to use relatively few tree models but the lightest terrain features. An exception
thereby permitting practical movement of is ‘architectural foam’ or foam-board as it is
models within the wooded area. often called. This is a layer of soft foams
Larger bases are needed for multiple or sandwiched between layers of cardboard top
complex terrain features; a river running and bottom. This material is good for most
through a wood for example. In the case of purposes and can be obtained from some
villages I prefer to group several buildings onto hobby or art stores specialising in architect’s
a single base. This makes it possible to add materials.
streets, fences, a well and whatever else you Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) & Polystyrene
fancy and turn the makeshift assembly of (PS). These are the most widely accessible
buildings into something more interesting. types of hard plastic. Polystyrene is available in
It is highly recommended that you stick with hobby shops while PVC can be found in DIYs.
one style and one kind of material for all your ‘Hard-PVC’ is most suitable. It can be worked
bases. Even where terrain pieces don’t really using wood or metal cutting tools. PVC can be
need a base it looks better if all terrain pieces glued to PVC with contact glues. It can be
are based in the same way. The thinner the bonded to other materials with super-glue or
base the less obtrusive it will appear. I prefer two-part epoxy. After roughening it will hold
such a base not to be thicker than 5mm, 3 to wood glue well enough. Polystyrene is very
4mm being the best compromise between widely used and is familiar in the form of
appearance and ease of handling. model kits. It can be worked with ordinary
tools. With power tools you will need to use
Metal sheet. Most thin wood or card gets
high revolutions and slow stepping speeds.
rather wobbly, but a sheet of metal retains its
Polystyrene can be glued using ‘plastic glues’
stiffness in really thin sheets. Admittedly metal
or polystyrene cement, or by means of
is harder to work than card or wood. Some
solvents. It will take wood glue well enough
metal sheets are supplied with a coating of
but it is best to score the surface first.
grease to prevent the metal from oxidising.
Make sure you wash off any residue of this kind Acrylic glass. There are two qualities; cast

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(GS) and extruded (XT). Cast is more anything less than 30 degrees and the edges
expensive, but is easier to work with and will will break too easily.
not splinter so readily when cut, milled or A scroll saw is ideal for cutting bases. Scroll
drilled. It is not a natural choice for bases saws are the power version of fretsaws and are
because of the cost, but for a display table or if at home cutting any kind of shape.
you have different basic terrain (i.e. sand as
well as grass) it might be worth it. Acrylic glass MAKING THE BODY FOR MODULAR
is available in some hobby stores or architect’s TERRAIN
shops. It can be worked using ordinary tools, Modular terrain consists of individual modules
but tools designed for treating metal are that can be arranged in as many ways as
recommended. Solvents like Dichlormethan possible. To ensure flexibility without chaos I
will bond it very well and without a seam, begin with a grid – the smallest division of a
either to another piece of acrylic glass or other grid being a single square or cell. Each module
soluble plastics like polystyrene. Use contact is designed to fit exactly into a single cell or
glue and silicone to glue it to other materials. into a pattern of adjacent cells.
Wood. The most suitable is plywood, HDF The narrower the grid and therefore the cell
(High Density Fibreboard) and hardboard size the more varied and intricate the scenery
which can be used as thin as 3 mm. Hardboard and the more modules you’ll need to fill the
is despite its name rather soft and edges get table. I find 25cm is about the minimum width
damaged easily even under normal handling that allows for a feature like a (wide) river or
conditions. For bases this is not too much of a the slope of a hill. Consequently, choose a grid
problem as most bases will not have vulnerable size of at least 25cm to produce a cell edge
pointed corners. Plywood is the wood that will length (CEL) the desired distance. Keep in
warp most easily and is the most expensive. mind that choosing too wide a grid will reduce
HDF is first choice because it is well suited to the flexibility of the system.
the task and it is not expensive.
You can also design modules that spread over
Making your Bases more than one cell – which gives you the best
In my view irregular shaped bases look better of both worlds. In practice a CEL of between
because they naturally distract the eye from the 25 and 40cm has proven the most practical.
edge itself. Regular shapes can be chosen to The exact size depends on the size of the
underline the nature of a terrain piece or when gaming table.
more than one terrain piece will be arranged It is perfectly possibly to design a modular
touching each other. If you base your buildings system based around hexagons, but I find
on rectangular bases you can place them next squares work much better on the whole. The
to each other to create the impression of a best reason to choose a hexagonal grid is that
larger town. you can rotate a module in six instead of four
Naturally the base will be need to be bigger steps, and of course we wargamers all love
than the feature that stands on it. By placing hexes. I have built a table with hex modules
the terrain features close to the edge, within and got rid of it because the gain is very small
5mm say, the surrounding edge will tend to for the increased complexity.
look like an integral part of the feature. On the With both cell shape and size sorted, the next
otherhand it is sometimes a good idea to leave thing is do decide how deep you can dig into
a space large enough to place an infantry stand any module. A good dig-in-depth (DID) for
along the edge – allow 22mm for possible Warmaster is 3 to 5cm. So you can have gorges,
overhang which allows you to deploy within a rivers and gullies up to five times the height of
wood without the trees getting in the way. a Warmaster miniature. A depth greater than
When the bases are not meant to fit against one 5cm is of no great use in this scale except for
another, chamfered edges will give a more very specialist terrain pieces and for those we
professional look and minimise the apparent can find a different solution. This ability to dig
thickness of the base. An angle of 45 degrees is in to the terrain is one of the advantages of
fine. Flatter angles might look better but modular terrain. To make the models you will
need dense insulation foam as thick as the
DID, so check first what’s available at your
favourite DIY.
Cell shape, size and edge length will naturally
define a set of standard modules. For hex cell
modules you will also need half cell modules
to match the table edges.
For square cells we only actually need one
design of module, but as the time needed to
make a module body varies little irrespective of
base with town its size it is a good idea to include double and

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should be covered by double cell modules, and

the other half by quadruple cell modules.
About 50% of all cells covered by the modules
should be ‘open ground’ and the open ground
cells should be spread evenly over the three
standard types.

Making the module bodies

As all module bodies are made in the same way
I’ll only describe how to make those for the
standard type.
DIY stores will cut the wooden sheets to size
for you but only in rectangular shapes. So if
you do square cells, you can leave the shop
with ready-made module bodies. For the table
described in last issue you would need to buy
9 sheets of 30 x 30cm, 7 sheets of 30 x 60cm
Mapping out your hexagon modules and 3 sheets of 60 x 60cm.
For hex cells it is not that easy. For single cell
quadruple sizes too as this makes them quicker
modules get sheets cut to a length of twice the
to build. To begin I suggest this rule of thumb:-
CEL and a width of 1.73 times CEL. Mark the
about eight cells should be covered by single
centre of both smaller sides. Mark the quarters
cell modules, about half of the remaining cells
of both wider sides. Draw lines from the centre
to both adjacent quarter marks and cut along.
CEL Size
For half-cell hexes get the sheets cut to CEL
To find the optimum CEL size for your table and a width of 1.73 times the cell edge length.
divide the width once by 25cm and once by Mark the centre of one of the wider sides. Mark
40cm and note the results. The results the centres of both smaller sides. Draw lines
indicate the range of cells that will fit the from the wide side centre mark to both other
table width. For all possible cell numbers centre marks and cut along. For the other half
we calculate the cell width (rounding down cells get sheets cut to a length of twice the cell
to the nearest cm). Now divide the table edge length and a width of 0.86 time the cell
depth by the cell width and see how close edge length. Mark the quarters of one wider
you get to an integer result. 30cm would be side. Draw a line from each of the marks to the
the perfect cell size resulting in a grid of 5 x closer of the opposite corners and cut along.
7 cells. If you’re not satisfied with any result Did I mention that hex modules are more
reverse the role of width and depth and try complex than rectangular modules?
again. Like so often in life this reads more
complicated than it is. Foam of the kind with a foam core is best for
making module bodies. The standard
Hexagons are more complex so I will be expanded polystyrene foam used for packaging
brief – you will find further explanation on is the least suitable material. Dense insulation
my web site (www.brumbaer.de). Remember foam is the way to go. It comes in different
with hex cells you can never fill a rectangular kinds, colours and thicknesses. Try to stay with
table completely. To do so special edge cells one type as this will ensure a consistent depth
of at least two types are needed and so you and appearance.
will have to make some special modules for
the sole purpose of using a rectangular table You can either make the module bodies from
efficiently. To make everything as simple as foam alone or from a foam core within a frame.
possible the hex cells should fit in the way I’ve built both types and those with wooden
shown over. frames are now seven years old and don’t show
any wear other than dust. On my Warmaster
Divide the table width once by 75cm and table I decided to dispense with the frame and
once by 120cm and note the results. The now after one and a half years the corners are
results indicate the range of double cells that chipped and some edges have broken
will fit the table width. For all possible although I must admit that I’m not the most
double cell numbers we calculate the CEL. If loving kind when it comes to terrain though.
we go for 5 rows we will get a CEL of 24 cm.
Note that the orientation for hex cells is Frameless Bodies. For those who are perhaps
important and the cells will only fit on the more easy going on their terrain that I am,
table if properly oriented. Note that any we’ll deal with the frameless version first. DIY
feature running from one module to another stores won’t usually cut foam so you will have
must not be wider than 24 cm in this to do it yourself. A large circular saw is useful.
example. Like so often in life this sounds as Few table saws provide a sufficiently deep cut
complicated as it is. and most struggle with pieces of 5cm

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thickness. With a circular saw it is difficult to Because the saw cuts sheets at a 90 degree
get cuts that are accurate, especially after angle and the corners have to be at 90 degree
changing the settings of guides and rulers, so it angles we can join the pieces together using
is a good idea to cut some spare or scrap simple butt joints – there is no need to mitre
material first until you are satisfied the saw is the joints. Thus we need only two sizes of edge
set-up to cut the exact length you want. piece for all our standard modules. Both will
An alternative method to make wooden have the same nominal ground height and the
templates for the standard module sizes. Then length of one is CEL minus sheet thickness and
put them on the foam and cut along with a the other is twice the CEL minus sheet
long bladed knife or saw (thermos thickness.
saws/polystyrene cutters are good for that).
This works reasonably well so long as you are
careful to maintain a right angle: the thicker
the template the more guidance it provides.
Framed bodies. To make a framed body you
will need to construct a foam core with a
wooden frame. This makes the module
extremely robust and you can increase this
even more by adding a wooden bottom piece
so the foam is supported all around. A bottom
piece will also help to align the frame sides. If Standard framed module
you use sturdy battens for the frame this is not
such an advantage, but if you use thin sheets Get yourself some sheets 30cm by the specified
for the sides I recommend adding a bottom length. This will mean three sides are already
sheet as well. There are different ways to build cut to the correct dimensions. All you need to
the frame, but to save space I’ll concentrate on do then is use a circular saw to cut off strips in
the method I find fastest. You could try using the required width (the nominal ground
hard plastic sheets instead of wood but as you height). You can use any other saw but a
will need to glue the plastic this is likely to melt circular saw is quickest. Remember to check
the foam so experiment beforehand if you that the saw is set-up to give the correct size by
want to pursue this option. cutting a spare piece first. If you don’t have the
I prefer to use sheets of 5mm HDF for the means to saw strips accurately it is better to use
frame and bottom. This is the minimum thicker wooden battens for the sides instead
thickness I’d recommend. If you can’t get HDF (see below). As you will need plenty cut some
use plywood or hardboard whichever you extra when you’re at it.
prefer. Hardboard however, is a poor third With hex cell based modules mitre joints must
choice as far as I’m concerned because the be used. For a cell sized module each side
edges get damaged so easily. piece needs to be as long as a cell edge and will
The bottom sheet must be cut to the module’s require a 30 degree mitre joint at the vertical
dimensions. On a module intended to lie at edges. You will need to make two different half
ground level on all edges (e.g. a stretch of hex types. For one you will need two standard
plain grassland) the sides will need to be the sides, two sides of half length with one 30
same height as the foam core. Before you build degree mitre joint and one 90 degree joint,
your first module measure the foam you intend and one side 1.73 times the standard length
to use. It might be specified as 4cm deep but it width minus twice the sheet thickness – this
may well be slightly thinner or deeper and it is with blunt edges. Of course you can use mitre
best to check before committing yourself. This
will determine the height of all ground level
sides that you will ever build. If the foam is
thinner than specified use the specified
thickness as you can raise the foam insert
slightly in its frame, if it is thicker use the
measured thickness as your nominal ground
height.
To start with we’ll look at making standard
modules as quickly and efficiently as possible.
More complicated shapes are built using the
same methods but need a bit more thought.
For the sake of clarity we’ll only concern
ourselves with module bodies that have edges
aligned to ground level, more complicated
matters can be left for later. Similarly we’ll start
with modules based on square cells. All the tools for the job...

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joints entirely here as well. In this case the long your foam core. Put some wood glue on the
piece is the full 1.73 and the half sides get one bottom of the core and insert it into the frame.
30 degree and one 45 degree mitre joint. The Do not take too much glue as it will take a long
other half-hex types will require one standard time to dry. You might think it possible to cut
side, two sides of the same length with a 30 the core first and use it as the former to hold
and 60 degree mitre joint and a long side the the frame as it is assembled. However, bear in
same length as the outer diameter width of the mind it is difficult to cut the foam exactly (even
hexagon – this will need two 60 degree mitre using a circular or a thermo saw/polystyrene
joints. Have the sheet cut to about 30cm by a cutter) and that the foam is soft and will give
bit more than the required side length under the strain of the band clamp.
(depending on your tools between 1 and 5cm When the core is inserted in the frame you
to allow for cutting round). If you haven’t might find there is a gap between frame and
already guessed as much, square cell based core (it happens). Use suitable filler to cover it.
modules are the easier to make. There is a type of filler especially designed for
foam but it is not needed. I recommended any
ready made filler.
With a bit of practice you can make a square
module body as described here in less than 10
minutes no matter whether it is a single cell or
four cell module.
If you make modules using shapes that are not
standard rectangles or hexes you will have to
consider two additional points. The first is that
you will have to make a stencil so that the band
clamp will work and secondly the standard
sides you created earlier will not be sufficient
and some additional side pieces with new
dimensions will have to be cut.
Hexagon module frames If you do not have a circular saw it is simpler
for you to use wooden battens to make the
Before assembling the frame it is a good idea to sides of the frame. The main point is to buy
make a wooden former to hold it in place as wood of a dimension that will give you the
this will save time later. We will obviously need correct height for the module straight-away. In
a different former for each of the standard practice it is just like using thick sheets. If you
modules that we intend to build. The former can’t get battens that give exactly the desired
has exactly the same footprint as the module height get some that are slightly smaller and
body’s bottom sheet with every edge inset by sand the foam down where it touches the
the width of the sheet. To help support the frame. Alternatively buy them slightly higher
sides during assembly it is helpful if the former and set the foam core higher in the frame to
is quite tall – ideally the same height as the side compensate. Glue the side pieces together
pieces themselves. with the aid of the former. There is no need for
Take the former and arrange the side pieces a bottom piece – the module will be plenty
around it adding a bit of glue to the side pieces sturdy enough because of the thick frame.
where they join. Fasten with a band clamp. Put When the frame is dry put it on a flat surface.
the bottom piece on top of the assembly and Take the foam core and sparingly apply glue to
use a staple gun to fasten it to the sides. You its sides before inserting in the frame. Press the
can add some glue for good measure but it is foam down so that it is flush with the top of the
not necessary. When the bottom is fastened frame and let it dry.
remove the band clamp and, if you have used So far we have only dealt with modules
butt joints, use the staple gun to lock the intended to reach uniform ground level at
connecting sides firmly in place. And don’t every edge. Some modules will need edges that
forget to remove the former before the glue rise above or fall below this level. The most
starts to dry! obvious examples are hills and rivers. We
It is possible to use a hammer and tacks to join expect any river crossing a module edge to fit
the frame rather than use the staple gun, but it at any other river edge of another module. This
is much slower, not as much fun and more can only happen if the river crosses the module
dangerous for your thumb. It is also possible to edge in the exact centre of a cell. The riverbed
use glue alone, but you will have to wait until has to have the same shape on both sides of
the glue is dry before you can go on and that is the centre line. What the river looks like on the
rather slow. module doesn’t matter, it can turn to a lake or
a rivulet but where it runs to an edge the river
Next put the former on the foam and, using it must have the standard shape and size.
as a template, cut out along the edge to create

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The best way to do this is make a standard river it butts to its neighbour.
template. Take a standard single cell sized side Models that incorporate slopes often have
piece that you have already prepared and cut edges that are higher than ordinary ground
out a shape that corresponds to the desired level and you will find it useful to have
profile of the river bed. This must be absolutely additional formers of the required height. If
symmetrical so either use a computer to create you don’t have a former of the required height
an outline pattern or draw one half on a piece it is a good idea to have plenty of spare packing
of folded paper and cut out the shape to make material at hand to level it up so you can fix the
a pattern. Use the pattern to copy the river bed bottom piece in place.
profile onto your template. Be careful to mark
out the exact centre of the template first. Note
that if you are making your frames with butted
edges the centre of the frame piece will be off-
set by the sheet thickness, so your template
will also need a profile that is off-set by the
thickness of the material. Even so, you will still
only need one river template for any size edge
because just by flipping it over you can
accommodate a length that butts at either end.
Make sure your river template is carefully
labelled so that you don’t accidentally mix it up
with pieces you cut from it. To use it place it
over any standard side piece and draw a pen Assymetrical
along the river bed. Because of the thickness of module frames
the pen the outline will be smaller than the
templates cut, but that is no problem, because If you use battens for your frame you can cut
all sides will still be the same. into them to provide the appropriate profile in
For roads (except high ways in the literal the same way as for thinner material – though
sense) you will not have to change the sides it’s harder work. For features that rise above
but you must still bear in mind that all roads ground level it is not worth attempting to raise
have to have the same width and must always the batten – though this is possible it is hard
be symmetrical to the cell centre point so that work. Instead it is easier to model the terrain
they join up. Of course this means that you will feature over the top of the frame edge. This
never have a river and a road that cross the makes a less robust edge and is less exact as
same cell edge – though this is no problem as the sides would otherwise act as but it saves a
you can construct crossings on the modules lot of work.
themselves. Regardless of the exact type of module I find it
Asymmetrically features such as slopes are a nice touch to put some self-adhesive felt pads
more awkward. Modules can only connect (available in DIYs) on the bottom of the
where the slope runs at exactly the same angle module body. This isn’t strictly necessary but
and distance. Because of this the feature does it’s recommended, as the modules will sit
not have to be centred across the nicely onto the table without damaging either
corresponding cell edge but it is necessary to table or the module itself.
plan out how the pieces will connect relative to And that’s it for this issue. Next issue we’ll start
each other. Wherever you place the slopes, if with real terrain. Have fun but please take care
you are using butted joints you will still have to when using any of the tools described in this
off-set the slope on the frame edge piece article.
relative to its centre depending on which way

Finished modules featuring a

river and slope.

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MODELLING MASTERCLASS p
art II
By Stephan Hess I

just earthy ground are also good choices.

Even a mix is possible, but with OT the bases
will have to be designed to fit (colour and
terrain wise) all the basic terrain types and
with MT adaptor modules, making the
transition between terrain types will be
needed.

You’ve decided between ordinary terrain THE GREEN GREEN GRASS OF HOME
(OT) and modular terrain (MT), built your Grass mats are a quick way to create large
gaming table and made yourself comfortable areas of grassland. The mat is a sheet of
with the principles of modules and/or bases. paper flocked with static grass. Grass mats
So let’s decorate them. which end directly at the table edges may get
rolled upwards and ripped eventually
PLAIN & PLANE (P&P) though. To prevent this use mats larger than
the surface to be covered and fold them
TERRAIN around the edges. Alternatively, you could
Plain stands for plain simple to build and for use a frame that will cover the edges of the
plain texture and colour. Plane stands for grass mats. Neither frames nor folding can
er... plane or flat. be used with modules, as both will disturb
the module arrangement. The only way to
P&p is used as the kind of terrain OT go for MT is to be extra careful when fixing
wargames tables are covered with. This kind the mat onto the module edges.
of terrain has to be on a vertical plane (flat),
because you must be able to place bases of When choosing a grass mat, do not go for an
terrain features flush with your games overly gaudy or bright colour, be sure that
boards and enable efficient and safe storage the mat is available in a suitable size (ie,
of the table. It has to be plain to be easily large enough to cover a module or part of
made and to allow for simple matching the table) and be sure that the
when making bases for terrain features. manufacturers offer static grass in the same
colour and make. You will need the
P&p is used on each featureless terrain edge matching static grass for irregular shaped or
to allow the seamless (as far as it goes) elevated areas and to cover seams between
arrangement of modules. It has to be plane mats.
because the featureless module edges are
plane and it has to be plain to allow simple Always cut a grass mat larger than the area
reproduction and matching. you need to cover and trim the mat when it
is fixed and the glue is dry.
P&p is also used for what wargamers call
open ground. This gives troops space to Many manufacturers recommend wood glue
manoeuvre in and is in general the place for fixing the mats onto a surface. The theory
where big formations will move and fight. is that you put wood glue on the surface to
Open ground must be plain and plane to be be covered and then put the mat on top and
able to position models on the terrain as weigh it down to keep it flat. Any folds will
freely as possible and with the least risk of be removed, because as the glue dries the
them falling over. mat will contract. However, this method has
never worked for me, I can’t explain why, it’s
Because of its use for the gaming just one of those things. Recently
table/module edges and its use as open manufacturers started to recommend spray
ground, the p&p will decide the overall glue, which in my experience works much
appearance and theme of your wargames better than wood glue. Personally, I get
table. much better results using contact glue.
The typical choice for p&p terrain is Cover (the paper side of) the mat and the
grassland, but dessert dunes, snow plains or table/module surface with contact glue

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using a serrated putty knife,

wait until the glue feels tacky
and nearly dry and then press
the mat onto the surface. You
do this beginning on one edge
and rolling out the mat using a
rubber roller or smoothing it
with your hands – it is very
much like laminating a picture.
This needs some practice, but
gives good results.
Using wallpaper paste also
works, but it is a bit messy. The
procedure is just the same as
for decorating a wall.
A simpler approach is to use Grass mat
double-sided tape. Place the
tape along the edges of the species, so ask, your girlfriend, mother,
table/module and place some additional sister or wife for help! Always use tape or
strips running parallel to an edge glue (a hot glue gun is handy in this case) to
throughout the depth of the module. fix the mat. When you use nails or staples
Starting at an edge you draw/roll the mats the mat tends to rip easily when you pull it
onto the module. Practice will allow you to flat.
get good results.
Wrinkles are a trademark of wrapping
Using double-sided tape These mats are not too flexible, so when you
When in a hurry (ie, you have to prepare ten use them for bases or bumpy terrain you
tables for tomorrow’s tournament) you can might have to cut slits to allow for simpler
use the parcel wrapping method. This is arrangement, or use a number of small
only recommended for OT and is only pieces. Cover any resulting gaps with static
possible if the mat is large enough to be grass of the same make.
folded around the edges. Put the grass mat
onto a table (grass side down), put the base If you can’t get mats that are large enough to
on top, fold the mat around the edges and cover the entire surface of your table you
fix it, just like packing a parcel or wrapping will have to use two mats side-by-side. The
a book in a jacket. The results aren’t great large seams are less obtrusive when cut into
compared with the above methods but it lets an irregular shape and where necessary you
you get things done extremely fast. Scientific can cover the seams with static grass.
research has shown that the parcel packing
gene runs stronger in the female of the Using static grass effectively
Static grass comes in many colours and
now also in different lengths. It is made
from short plastic fibres and because it is
static the grass will align along an electrical
field. This feature ensures that the grass
will stand upright when making a grass
mat.
There are different ways to proceed, but
with all you have to prepare a bedding. The
bedding will take the grass and bond it to
the surface. The bedding I use is made
from wood glue and acrylic wall colour in
the same measure, and a shot of washing
up detergent. Depending on the
consistency you might want to add some
water, but the mixture should not be free
flowing. The wood glue’s purpose is
evident; the colour keeps the glue for a bit
longer and prevents the surface colour
Double-sided from shining through. Choose any hue you

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like, but usually greens give the best result. itself shut. I found some cheap spray bottles
The hue used will influence the appearance for less than a pound each, so it is not too
of your grassland and you can use different big a loss if this happens.
hues to good effect to break up an otherwise
boring stretch of grassland. It can also be Tools and materials
used to mark boggy areas or to make a If you feel that the grass is too sparse you
darker grass for wooded areas. The washing can add another layer of grass while the seal
up detergent will break the surface tension is still wet. When dry you will have to seal
of the glue/colour mix. When a surface is the new layer as well.
smooth (especially with foams) and you
apply colour or glue you will realise that the The simplest, but least satisfying way to
glue tries to form drops, so that some spots apply static grass, is to pour the grass from
do not stay covered with colour or glue. The the bag onto the bedding and press the grass
detergent prevents this. in carefully. Not very surprisingly it will just
look like static grass poured onto a table.
When you have brushed the bedding on,
you will need to apply the grass with one of A better way is to use a plastic bottle with a
the methods that follow. The mixture will removable cap. The cap should have a
dry quickly, so it is best to do a few smaller number of holes of about 8mm diameter. It
areas than one big area. You can add some is important that the bottle is soft enough so
wallpaper glue to the colour/glue/detergent that you can squeeze it. Fill the bottle three
mix to keep the mixture workable for a quarters full with static grass and shake it.
longer time. When dry shake off the excess Hold it about 10 to 15cm above the bedding,
grass onto a newspaper to be used again or opening downwards, and squeeze the
even better use a vacuum cleaner to remove bottle. The grass gets hurled out, hopefully
any excess grass. If you use a wide nozzle aligning itself because of the electrical
and cover it with nylon stocking the grass charge created by shaking the bottle. The
will be caught in the mesh and can be used force should be strong enough to set the
again (a device like this can be seen on the grass firmly into the bedding, but if you are
tools and materials photo below). not satisfied you can press the grass carefully
in (avoid flattening the grass).
The next step is to seal the grass to prevent
it getting rubbed off easily. You could use The hand is quicker than the eye
spray glue or even varnish, but I personally I know of two devices that are designed to
prefer thinned down wood glue ease the process. The first one is from a
(consistency of milk) with a shot of washing company called Noch and costs about fifty
up detergent – no colour this time. If you pounds. It looks like a hair dryer with a
use a brush to soak the grass, the grass might defective heating coil, that runs on 12 volts
start to swim away and/or fall flat, so fill the and has a container for static grass on top. It
glue/water/detergent into a spray bottle works reasonably well, and whilst it is more
designed for spraying water on flowers and fancy than ‘squeezing a bottle’ the results
spray it over the grass. If you do not clean are neither considerably better, nor
the nozzle immediately after use it will glue considerably faster. The other device is from

Tools used throughout this article

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Heki and costs about £500. It is a stick

with a grass container on one end and
two cables on the other. You will have
to mount a metallic piece into the
bedding (a nail) connect one of the
cables to the piece and the other cable
to the power supply and switch on the
device. The stick has a high voltage
generator built in which creates an
electrical field between the grass
container and the bedding via the nail.
This draws the grass into the bedding,
aligning it on the way down. The
results are picture perfect, but the
price tag is too steep for the casual
user.

Flocking The hippy hippy shake!

Grassmats and static grass are both
kinds of flock. There are also other it’s hard on gaming materials as well as your
materials that fall into this category and that hands. I remember a tournament where all
can be applied to bedding and sealed as players had red and sore fingers at the end
described above, but in contrast to static just from taking the dice off the table. Before
grass you just pour them on or shake them you call me a ‘Sissy!’ remember that you do
through a sieve. pick up the dice several hundred times in
Flock used to represent earthy ground or the course of a tournament.
grass is often called turf. Flock to be used for Some people swear by textured wall paint,
leaves is called foliage and coarse flock for but I find it too coarse to represent any kind
undergrowth or small plants is called clump of Warmaster terrain.
foliage. Older hands will be familiar with
coloured sawdust. For modern eyes it looks I’VE GOT SAND IN MY SHOES
a bit crude and has been widely replaced by Desert sand is also quite popular as p&p
static grass or foam flock. terrain. The obvious choice to make sandy
Foam flock (like the one from GW or terrain is to use sand! Use a sand as fine as
Woodland) is made from sponge-like foam you can get, some railroad accessory
and comes in an endless number of colours manufacturers offer sand finer than is
and sizes. For Warmaster basic terrain a fine available in pet shops. Apply the sand using
graded foam flock is recommended, leaving a wood glue/detergent/water mix (no
the coarser grades for representing colour). After the first layer of sand, the
undergrowth. terrain will look rather disappointing, like a
table with sand glued on. A second layer will
Of course you could use sand. Prepare a
bedding as before, pour on the
sand and seal it. Than use a
spray paint to colour the sand
and when dry drybrush it in the
colour of your choice. The
main advantage is that it is
cheap and you can have any
colour you like and using the
same flock for different kinds of
terrain because you set the
colour by painting. For
Warmaster use a fine sand, like
the sand you get in petshops
for use in birdcages. If you can
get finer sand, then great.
There are two drawbacks: for
one painting the sand takes
practice so that it does not look
like painted sand, and second Types of flock

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The major drawback is that flour is

food and I’m not enough of a
chemist to anticipate what it will
look like after a year or so. Also, it
does not take contact with water
very well and is very difficult to fix.
However, if you want to change the
theme of your table for a battle or a
short period, flour is fine and when
the battle is over, just use a vacuum
cleaner to bring the summer back.
For longer lasting winters using
semi-gloss white spray paint works
much better. Before spraying on the
colour you really should apply a
filler or the grain will shine through
as you can see on the picture below.
Using a brown or green priming coat
first and adding the white in a way
that the undercoat shines through
Sand on parts is a nice variant. To increase
improve the look and if you use three layers the appearance even more you can
the result is quite good. sprinkle diamantin into the still wet colour.
While colour works better at representing
You can get even better results by using a snow than representing grass the result is
paste. Mix sand, glue, water and detergent still not that great.
in a bowl until it has a creamy consistency.
Then pour it on the surface, distributing it The best method yet is a special flock
evenly. You will have to attach some frame to distributed by Noch and Woodland. It has a
your table to prevent the mixture flowing off very fine texture and is bright white. It is
the edges. With gaming tables, you could used like any other flock but should be
build the frame as part of the table, but with applied through a sieve. This flock gives
modules, you will have to attach the frame good results which can again be improved
only until the mixture is dry. You will need to with diamantin.
coat the frame with partition fluid. To make
sure that the frame can still be removed Spray to the left and flock to the right
afterwards. You can mix diamantin with your snow or
apply it later on top. It gives a nice frozen
Fine scale modellers will recognise that snow glitter effect. Diamantin is offered by
whatever sand you use it will be out of scale, Faller, but similar products are available
because you will need sand 175 (nominal) from other manufacturers. Faller also offers
times finer than the smallest sand. Some a winter set with diamantin, a special snow
manufacturers offer powders to
be used like flock. These might
be in scale but just like using
paint the results seem less
realistic to the eye. It’s probably
more the existence of the
texture than its grade that
creates the impression of sand.
Still you should use a sand that
is as fine as possible.

SNOW WHITE
In the last few years the interest
in winter-based tables has
increased. A very quick and
dusty way is to put flour
through a sieve over your
terrain. Add some diamantin
(this is a very fine glitter) and
you get some convincing snow. Snow

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plaster, special snow colour,

some leafless trees and some
icicles made from translucent
plastic. There’s not enough
colour for a wargames table,
but the diamantin, trees and
icicles are quite useful.
A note of warning: Because of
the bright white colour, a
snowy wargames table will
show traces of use and dust
much quicker than any other
kind of terrain.

BACK TO EARTH
You might want to use plain old Coarse Sand texture
earthy ground, not only for the
Chaos Wastes, but also for open ground. You be massaged into static grass, whether fixed
can take the real thing remove the stones in bedding or as part of a grass mat. Of
and bits using a very fine sieve and apply it course you can also add stones or gravel of
like you would apply sand. The results vary any variety. Outdoors, model railway shops
depending on the earth. Use only dry and pet shops are good sources for stones
ordinary earth, not special compositions for and gravel. Be prepared to paint the gravel
gardens or potted flowers. before use because the natural look of the
stones will often look artificial and
Woodland offers some flock in different mismatched on a gaming table. Irregular
grades and colours, which give a good shaped stones should be glued on using a
representation of earth. It is just flock like hot glue gun as the area they touch the
any other flock and the same rules apply. surface is very small. When you add
gravel/undergrowth it will look better and
A further method which gives a nice effect is
will be easier to make if you glue on it first
to cover the surface with a coat of thinned
and than apply the flock or static grass.
plaster. Just before the plaster dries, sprinkle
some plaster (as it comes out of the bag) on You can also use colour to increase the
top. Then put some acrylic earth colour on a variety. Just drybrush on some lighter colour
palette and water it down a lot. Use a large or change the colour used in the bedding for
brush and apply the watery colour. If you flock. Using stones or other protruding
just hold the brush to the plaster the colour features to break up the plain surfaces has to
will soak in. Do not dab firmly or brush, just be well considered, because they may easily
let the colour flow into the plaster. Water the be ripped off and can hinder the positioning
colour down with different amounts of of bases and models. This is mainly a
water to create different shades. When dry problem for the p&p covering the wargames
fix it with spray varnish or spray watered table of OT.
down glue/detergent onto it.
This concludes this article, which covered
more terrain than ground!
FIGHT BOREDOM
Large areas of p&p terrain
might look very boring, the
green grass mats often look like
endless parks. A very simple
solution is to use a grass mat
that is not only green, but has
some flowers or stones mixed
in.
You can also add some coarser
flock to represent undergrowth
or mix in spots with a different
shade of static grass. Recently,
meshes with flock or long fibre
static grass were introduced.
They can be glued on top or can
Earthy plain

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MODELLING MASTERCLASS p
art IV
by Stephan Hess ,

Native Trees
The following table shows heights of some
trees. Sizes in m for the original and in cm
for the scaled-down model tree.
Orchard 4-5m 2.5-3.5cm
Old fruit tree 8-10m 5 - 6cm
Maple, 20 -30 m 12 - 19 cm
GREEN, GREENER, GREENEST! Lime and plane tree
TREES IN WARMASTER Oak or poplar 25-35m 15-22cm
In the last article we watched the grass grow
Beech and elm tree 30-40m 19-24cm
and this month the excitement’s reached
new heights – tree height that is! This issue, Spruce 30-40m 19-24cm
we’ll take a look at native (from our point of and pine tree
view) trees, jungle, hedges and fields of
different kinds. Douglas fir 50-60m 30-40cm

If you build some terrain entirely yourself

it’s not essential to know the exact scale
because you can take a miniature as
reference whenever the need arises. Of
course, when you fall back on commercial
products it is best to know what scale you
are looking for.
A Warmaster miniature has a nominal height
of 10 mm. If we agree on an average height
of a man being 175 cm the scale would be Most of us live our lives without ever
1:175. “Ah,” you say “but Warmaster realising just how big trees are. Most people
miniatures are based, so even if you have a would assume a tree is about two to five
house in the right scale, the poor guys will times their own height (3.5m to 8.5m). I
still bang their heads against window frames assume this has to do with perspective and
and have to stoop when entering through a the fact that you rarely have a direct
door!”. It just looks ridiculous, when you tree/man size comparison. When you look at
put your crossbow men behind some the range of commercially available trees
windows and all you can see are their you will see that these are too small, closer
bellies! For that reason I always take the base to that what we expect than what the reality
into account. This increases the height of a is. Model railway accessory manufacturers
Warmaster miniature to 11 mm and the scale specify a tree height of 3.5cm to 10cm as ‘N’
changes to 1:160. All Warmaster miniatures scale tree height. Basically they offer trees
are rather broad shouldered so that the that are half their ‘real scaled’ size except for
miniatures are not too slim for the scale. fruit trees which are scaled correctly. If you
Luckily enough 1:160 is what model railway put a stand beside the trees you will see that
enthusiasts call ‘N’ scale. This allows us to the reduced size looks OK and your brain
choose from a wide range of buildings and accepts them as being in the correct scale.
accessories such as trees and hedges. Now that we have decided to use the wrong
Remember that buildings produced for size for our trees let’s at least choose the
model railways are designed with humans in right look. This, of course, is just as difficult.
mind and therefore will not be appropriate There is a certain type of model tree that I
for other races such as Dwarfs, Orcs, have always considered very unrealistic. One
Lizardmen, etc. day, when looking out of the window of an
aeroplane, I saw that trees in a forest look
quite like these trees, sometimes you just

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Modelling Masterclass

have to be far enough away I guess.

Therefore, I’ll leave the choice of what’s
realistic to you and give an overview of what
trees are available and how to make them.
The oldest type of commercial tree is the
bottle-cleaner tree. It is made like a wire-
bottle-cleaner (pipe cleaner) and then cut to
shape. Chemists and parents will know what
they look like. Coniferous trees just need
painting green and broad-leafed trees are
flocked with foliage (coloured foam or
sawdust as described in the last issue). The
main advantage with this type of model tree
is that it is cheap. The second advantage is
that you can get some of them without roots
or a base. This allows you to stick them into
foam based terrain and to remove them
when they get in the way.
The standard tree (as available in most
model railway shops) has a plastic trunk ‘Real’ scale and ‘N’ – scale
with only the biggest boughs modelled onto
it. These trees are flocked with different
kinds of foliage. Some manufacturers don’t
use ordinary foam any more but ‘open-
celled’ foam, which means you have more
holes and less material. On model trees this
resembles leaves and small branches. Some
manufacturers use a rather coarse and flat
material instead of foam that looks as false as
foam but in a different way. Other
manufacturers replace the standard foliage
with a fabric/flock combination that gives a
better impression of a thickly leafed tree. A
radical new way is to use the ordinary plastic
trunk/bough as a base, fill the gaps between
the boughs with ‘sea moss’ a material with
very thin branches to represent smaller
boughs. This is covered with very fine
foliage.
Some of the better bottle cleaner trees
Some manufacturers offer trees made from
sea moss and foliage only, but they look very
fragile compared to other model trees. I
prefer etched trees made from brass, readily
painted and sometimes flocked. These are
beautiful but expensive.
You can get materials for trees from some of
the strangest places. Fellow modeller Lex
Van der Roy has a special source for making
palm trees, they are a bit small, but useable.
Nobody would guess that these were
originally cake decorations. These palms are
made from soft plastic and the trunk
requires a drybrush with a lighter brown or
grey. This removes the plastic look and
shine. Of course, if the leaves are made of a
single coloured plastic they will need a
touch of colour as well.

Standard model railway trees

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Different stages of kit

Metal and ‘sea moss’ tree

DIY
I’m not really fond of making trees myself, as
the relation between price and quality of
ready made trees is quite good. Still, once in
a while, I will do so, especially if I need a
specific type of tree. You can model trees
from the Chaos Wastes or a gallows tree for
example, and if I can’t convert an existing
tree it will need to be made from scratch.
The simplest way is to buy a kit. They
contain trunks and boughs usually made
from plastic and foliage to flock them with.
The trunk and boughs are usually flat and
have to be bent into shape. The foliage can
be applied with spray-on glue, or thinned
down wood glue. The foliage itself comes as
loose flock or as a very thin net covered with
flock.
Filigreed trees can be made by cutting sea
moss to shape and flocking it. Simple and
they look the same as their ready-made
cousins. This can be obtained at a garden
Yarrow
centre or at a flower shop supplier (it’s not
that easy to get).

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Modelling Masterclass

Another natural is yarrow as it looks a bit

like an African tree. You will have to trim and
colour it, but that’s about all.
The first tree I made myself had a trunk
made from a piece of plastic sprue and a
‘ball’ of island moss for treetop. Those were
the days of innocence. This basic design is
still useable. Get some twigs, attach island
moss or open celled foam on top and, if you
want, flock it as well. Simple but effective,
especially in large numbers.
Thyme has very fine twigs and is well suited
as a base to make small trees and bushes. Armature with and without bark
If you need a more complex shape or if you
want to have some major boughs on your
tree you will have to make a wire armature.
Use three to five strands of wire and twist
them together from the central trunk to
form different boughs and roots,
The artists amongst you will probably want
to use Green Stuff or modelling clay to
model bark onto your armature and create
the most refined texture. The easy approach
is to use masking tape as used by painters. It
has a rough surface that does look a bit like
bark.
If you can lay your hands on some net
foliage you can now paint and then flock
your tree. If you can only get ordinary flock,
you will need many branches. This is tedious
to make, but you can cheat by gluing island
moss or sea moss onto the boughs to stand
in for the finer boughs and twigs. Again,
paint your tree before you flock it.
You could use different coloured flock, but
try to stick with one type of flock (ie, sponge
like, open celled foam, etc). Metal, GW and ‘cookie’ palm
For a leafless tree it
looks best and more
dramatic if you only
make the major boughs
and refrain from having
finer ones. The leafless
tree is, of course, made
like all the other trees
but... without leaves!

Palms Up
There are many
different types of palm
trees, from as small as
5m to over 30m.
Coconut palm trees
will reach over 30m in
height and have 20 to
30 feather-shaped
leaves between 4.5m Cheap palms on a desert module
and 6m long and 30cm

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When constructing a forest, more things are

much different. Miniatures often prove hard
to place within or move through a forest
with the exception of the very edge of it. To
allow the placement of miniatures within
the forest we will need a way to make part of
it removable. Before we start planting trees
there are some other things to be
considered. It will look good if the trees
near the centre of the wood are a bit larger
than those on the edges, so select your trees
accordingly. Instead of using large trees for
the centre area you could put them on a bit
of raised ground. It is also a nice idea to have
the trees at the edge of the wood at least
4cm apart, so that you can put a stand
between them. Some people like to add
details like undergrowth, stone heaps or
fallen logs to their woods. I do so only if
they are out of harms way, which means they
can neither be ripped off easily, nor will they
influence the play ability.
Back to our problem: We use different
The principle of rings planting techniques for modular and
ordinary terrain.
to 1m wide. Palm trees are rarely found in
the range of model railway suppliers. As MT (Modular Terrain)
mentioned before cake decoration palm
When you flock the area of the module that
trees are very good and I have found some
your forest will be, use a shade of flock
very nice metal ones too. The most
darker than the flock used for ordinary
accessible are the GW plastic jungle plants
terrain. This will define the area of the wood
that make nice but short palms for
even if all trees are removed and will act as
Warmaster. You can also create palm trees
shadow when the trees are inserted.
yourself by making an armature for the
trunk and then palm leaves from paper. Some commercially available trees have the
roots as separate parts into which the trunks
Dig Them In are inserted without the need of glue. This
First, let’s distinguish between single trees comes in quite handy as you glue the roots
and forest trees. on to the module and stick in the trees later.
Glue the roots on with the trees inserted so
A single tree can be glued straight onto your that you can judge how close the trees will
terrain base or module using wood glue or stand to each other. When dry, remove the
hot glue, and does not interfere with game trees and flock the board. Then insert the
play. Do this before you flock the terrain trees afterwards.
piece and cover any tree roots partially when
flocking so that it looks as though the roots The second method uses pins. If your
are growing out of the ground. modules have a foam core you will need to

Different kinds of pins

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Modelling Masterclass

use very thin pins or needles. Use a good and the outer edge of the inner piece.
pair of pliers to remove the pinhead and Otherwise, they may not fit together. You
then drill a very thin hole (less than 1mm) could overcome this by trimming the inner
into the trunk from the underside. Glue the piece by 2mm to 3mm, but it is not worth it.
pin into the hole using a drop of super glue.
When you glue on the trees be careful that
You will be able to insert and remove trees
the inner piece can still be removed.
easily and the hole made by the needle is too
small to notice. Of course you could simply make two pieces
of forest terrain one with the outer ring of
If you use DIY trees made with an armature
trees and a second piece to be put in the
you can bend one of the ‘root wires’ to act
ring but on top of the outer terrain piece,
as pin.
however, this does not look professional.
If you do not have a foam core then you will
have to use stronger pins, like nails. The tree Bushes
is prepared in exactly the same way as for From the modeller’s point of view, bushes
use with pins, but the drill naturally has to are basically little trees without or with only
be larger. You then have to drill one hole for a very short trunk. So all of the techniques
each tree into your module. Be sure that you mentioned earlier apply here as well, but
do not set them too close together and that usually finer materials give better results.
they are straight. You can drill the holes after Sea moss and Thyme are a good choice as a
flocking, but be sure the glue has dried base. Probably the most widely used
firmly. material is island moss, but it looks quite
You do not have to make all of the trees artificial if not trimmed to the right shape.
removable but it will give you more Adding flock makes it more attractive. When
flexibility if you do. Usually having the outer you buy island moss make sure you buy
ring of trees fixed doesn’t cause a problem some treated with glycerine or your bushes
and will define the ‘area of forest’ in will dry out quickly and crumble when
addition to the darker flock. touched, like a vampire in the sun.

OT (Ordinary Terrain) Jungle

You do not have to use a different shade of This is basically a forest variant. The vastness
flock for your terrain as the base itself of green and the lush, damp atmosphere
defines the outline of the forest. create some strong images, but it is really
bad terrain for playing Warmaster in. Still, if
If you want to make single trees removable you want to give it a go...
and your base is thick enough, use the pin
techniques described for MT. There are not many suitable ready-made
trees, so you will have to use DIY and kits.
Another way is to make rings. When you The GW jungle plants come in handy again
have cut out the base for the forest mount, and can be put to good use. A rather good
the outer ring of trees, fastening
them only temporarily using
blue-tac or double-sided tape
(or if you are a follower of
Chaos grow some extra
hands!). Trace the inner line of
those and mark it on the base. It
is important that the line does
not overlap with the treetops or
it will be difficult to remove the
inner ring when playing.
Remove the trees. Drill a small
hole anywhere on the line and
use a fret saw or a scroll saw to
cut along the line. You now
have two separate pieces of
terrain and you treat them as
such. Glue on the trees and
flock them one by one. It will be
better if you do not flock the
inner edge of the outer piece
Jungle terrain

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colour treatment and also to use varnish on

them to give them all a similar shine. The
more glossy the varnish the more wet it will
look. You can even go as far as using a more
glossy varnish in the centre region of your
jungle.
If you have a larger area of jungle it is
advisable to extend the inner/outer ring
A mix of hedges technique and divide the inner ring in
multiple sections, which can be used to fill
source of jungle trees are pet shops that the outer ring, but can also be used as
offer a wide variety of plastic plants for fish separate jungle pieces if desired.
tanks. Most of them are better suited for
Warhammer because of their size, but there Hedges
are still enough to be used in your The best commercially available hedges I
Warmaster jungle. have found are GW’s (ah, cheers mate –
cheque’s in the post – Ed). Unfortunately
You can also combine different types of because they are made for 28mm miniatures
plastic trees to create new and fearsome and can’t readily be trimmed, they can only
plants. be used to represent rather high and wide
Dried fruits (read nuts and seeds not apples hedges like a ‘Gebueck’ (intertwined hedges
and pears!) come in useful shapes and sizes and trees forming an impenetrable wall used
but will need heavy colouring to fit into their successfully as provincial and country
jungle surroundings. You can get them in borders). The hedges of all other
flower or hobby shops that sell materials for manufacturers are sponges cut in strips and
dried flower arranging. dyed green and they really look like it too!

Of course, you can always make your own DIY

jungle trees with the same methods as You can use any of the commercially
described above. Have a look at a book available hedges and flock them. This
about jungle flora for inspiration. Whilst real improves their look immensely. You can also
jungle has a lot of undergrowth it is a buy some foam, cut it into shape and flock it
nuisance for game play. It is for you to which gives the same result.
decide where to set your priorities. Liana
can be made from wire painted green or Some nice effects can be gained with steel
flocked fishing line. Other undergrowth can wool. Trim and bend it to the shape desired
easily be represented with high grass or then spray it brown and flock it with very
coarse turf. Marshy ground is made like fine flock. Instead of spraying it brown you
ordinary ground but add a semi-gloss or could drybrush it brown which gives a nice
gloss varnish. effect, but is very hard to the brush. If you
shape the lower section a bit thinner and do
Coffee grounds can be used for damp, not flock it, it will look like the roots of the
humus-rich earth. You can apply it like hedge without additional effort.
ordinary flock, but be prepared for your
players constantly asking for a cup of coffee. You can further decorate your hedges by
You can strengthen the effect by pouring adding parts of a fence or a piece of stone
transparent liquid resin over the coffee wall. Remember though we are building a
grounds, so that it is soaked but not flooded wargames terrain and not a display piece.
and if you make the terrain a bit uneven, you Usually, I recommend detail only at places,
will get small puddles in the deeper areas. where it can be securely fastened and can’t
be ripped off or knocked down easily and
For parasitic plants, fabric-mounted flock won't interfere with game play.
comes in handy, but you can glue ordinary
flock to trunks or other structures as well. High Grass, reeds and corn
Flock also comes in bright colours, which For all of these you can get mats, just like
can be used for flowers and fruits. Some ordinary grass mats, but with different kinds
manufacturers even offer special ‘flower of vegetation represented. They are used
flock’. just like any other grass mat, but make sure
Because of the different materials, your they blend in nicely.
jungle might look odd – mainly because of Fences or stone walls can be used to divide
the different colours and different grades of up different fields and always look good. Do
shine. So it is useful to give all plants a

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keep in mind that whilst corn fields

and high grass look nice, they do
prove difficult to place miniatures on
and a unit in the cornfield will in fact
look like it is walking on top of it. Of
course, you can apply the
outer/inner ring method for fields as
well as for forests.
Grass fibres are available which can
be used like static grass. There is a
variant that has the fibres mounted
on a net or interwoven with each Fields
other. You tear bushels off and glue
them on separately. This looks nice, metal is usually smooth enough so that it
but means some work. When you choose to comes off easily, but if needs be, brush on a
do this make sure the grass is upright and tiny bit of oil to prevent the plaster sticking
not lying ‘criss-cross’ on the terrain piece. to the stencil. You can use machine or
For reeds and corn there are many types of vegetable oil, it doesn’t really matter which.
loose material you can use. The bristles from The furrows will be very precise so you will
a brush or a broom (the variety with stiff probably want to add the odd break to make
bristles) are always good for this. First apply it more realistic. Painting and dry brushing
a thick bedding of glue and colour to be will finish the plot.
stuck in, take a ‘bushel’ (what you can hold Of course, you can just scratch long lines
comfortably between two fingers) and cut, into the filler, using a comb for the lines is
so that the bristles are even on one side. the quickest way to do so, but using a stencil
Stick them into the bedding. ‘Knock’ them gives a better shape. Whenever you use filler
softly to press them further into the bedding or plaster, mix some colour into it before
while keeping them upright with your other you apply it. You will only have to drybrush
hand. Take some small pieces of wood and it later and if you spill something on already
form a fence around the bushel to keep it finished parts it will look more like the earth
upright while the glue dries. Start with a coming through than spilled plaster.
small bushel and when the glue is dry add
the next one. The bushels can get bigger and Small painted balls (1mm-2mm) made from
bigger, because they can lean on those you wood or styrene can be used as vegetables.
have already done. When the last one is dry, There is also coarse, coloured flock available
cut them to roughly the same height and that could be used and some small
remove any loose bristles. And yes, it is as manufacturers even produce lettuce in ‘N’
time consuming as it sounds. scale!
Sometimes you can find a piece of cloth or You could also plant some peas or tomatoes.
rug that after colouring makes a good field, This will get fiddly and breaks easily in the
as you can see in the pictures that follow. heat of battle. So you will have to find a safe
spot for that. Using brass rod instead of
Vegetables wooden rods increases the durability.
These are generally grown in plots. They are Until next time...
easily modelled by using corrugated
cardboard with the top layer
removed. Cut out a piece to the
desired size and flock it. Instead of
flock you can use thinned down
filler or plaster watered down and
applied like paint. When it is dry
paint earth-brown and when
drybrushed with a lighter tone it
will look quite good.
Instead of using cardboard you
can apply a layer of filler or plaster
and use a sheet of corrugated
cardboard or, even better,
corrugated aluminium or
corrugated brass as a stencil. The Grass mat

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MODELLING MASTERCLASS p
ar t V
by Stephan Hess ,

rock faces. When trying to reach heights of over

20cm it is a good idea to have steep rockfaces on
at least one side. The infamous ‘stepped’ or
contoured hill (a hill built from layers like a
wedding cake) will allow you to gain height
quickly without sacrificing playability. The
drawback of this type of hill is that it looks very
false. So when you resort to a stepped hill design
THE GREEN GREEN HILLS OF HOME! try to hide the steps with terraces like the
highlands or with small walls.
Warmaster can be played on any flat surface. But
folklore says; ‘flat table, flat game’. In the last two Designed to Shrink
articles we’ve worked on different ways, through If you want your hill to look impressive do not
the use of terrain, to ensure that our battlefield model other terrain onto it such as trees and
isn’t totally flat and in this issue we will talk about buildings. If you put a stand of infantry at the foot
the ultimate anti-flat-table device: the hill. of a 10cm high wall the wall looks too big but as
soon as you put a house in front of the wall, it
Standing Stands seems to shrink. The same is true for trees.
Here we distinguish between the two types of hills Buildings and trees help to scale the hill. We
you will get in a game of Warmaster: those that can expect a house or a tree to be just a tiny speck on
be entered by troops and those that can’t. Of a hill so you will need a rather big model hill to
course, there are hills that are part passable and satisfy that expectation. Put trees or houses on a
part impassable. hill only if the hill is very big or if it is meant to be
An impassable hill offers complete freedom of only a small elevation anyway.
design because you do not have to compromise Talking About Buildings...
with placing any miniatures on it. Floors in buildings are always level with the sea so
Passable hills are more restrictive with regard to if you want to put buildings on your hill you will
design. Warmaster stands have such a low centre have to design a flat area parallel to the base as a
of gravity that they will start to slide down the platform for the building. Even if you plan to build
slope of a hill before they topple over. Monsters the house ‘into’ the hill you will need to design a
(and 28mm miniatures) tend to be a lot taller and flat platform on the hill because model buildings
so will topple quicker. Therefore a slope will need usually have flat bottoms.
to be half the height difference (in cm) per cm of
ground coverage (equivalent to 30 degrees). This
is a good choice if you plan to use your hill for
other scales as well.
Size Does Matter
The first thing to decide is what type of hill to
make; a ‘rolling’ hill, a slight elevation or a
mountain with steep rockfaces and a snow
covered summit.
A (small) hill of 100m would be about 60cm high
in Warmaster scale and with an elevation of 30
degrees the slope would cover 120cm until it
reaches the peak. Obviously we will have to cheat
with the scale again. Heights of 8-10 miniatures
(about 100cm) are more than sufficient for a
rolling hill. A playable slope would need to be
20cm to the summit.
A height of 30cm will look quite impressive on the
battlefield and allow for some steep and dramatic Placing a tree on a hill will shrink
the perspective.

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There are many different ways to make hills but all Nothing but Skin and Bone
of these are based on either a massive core or on Hills based on skeleton cores are simpler from an
a skeleton core. imaginative aspect. You can define the height lines
and crests with the skeletal armature and the
Massive Like a Massif
natural flow and smoothness of the slope will be
A massive core is made from foam sheets usually
automatically produced by the skin, stretched
with a thickness of 2-5 cm. Cut the sheets to size
over the skeleton.
and use layers of sheets to give the hill it’s first
rough shape. Then use a knife and rasp or The skeleton can be based on height points or on
sanding block to give it it’s final shape. This is crest/height lines.
simple to do for irregular shape hills, but for a
smooth round hill it’s quite a task and you will
quickly learn to appreciate the existence of power
tools. If you use dense foam sheets you will be
able to flock/paint the finished surface with no
further ado. If you use the kind with pellets, and
plan to paint the surface, you will have to add a
coat of filler or plaster to prevent the pellet
structure from shining through.
Another kind of foam comes in spray cans. It is
used to fill hollows in walls or doorframes. When
dry, it can be cut with a saw or sharp knife and
shaped with a rasp or sanding block.
Unfortunately the way that the foam expands is Make Your Points
difficult to control and you will need some For height points, you put columns of varying
practice to get a natural shape. Nevertheless it is a heights on the base. The skin is then fixed onto
good choice for some alien or chaotic shape to the column tops. The terminology 'column'
your terrain. When dry the canned foam has a shouldn’t be taken too literally – it can be in any
smooth surface but is full of hollows and air shape so long as the outer skin is fastened only to
bubbles inside. When you have finished shaping the outer points of the columns.
the hill, it will need a coat of filler or plaster to get
a smooth surface. Of course, if you would like a Along the Line
'Swiss cheese' look or you want to show some A skeleton core based on crest/height lines is built
chaotic influence there’s nothing to stop you from in a similar fashion to the ribs and frames of a ship.
cutting away some of the surface material and You array a number of boards, usually wood or
showing the raw inside. foam sheet, that define the crest lines and mount
them on the base using wood glue or hot glue.
Foam sheets are perfect for stepped hills and The skin will be fastened along the crest lines and
massive core hills are well suited for rough and so you have closer control over the flow of the
irregular shaped hills. It takes a lot of work to slope as with columns.
bring smooth and round hills into shape and it is
especially difficult to get a natural, flowing shape All Mixed Up
as you have to work whilst thinking in all three The company Noch offers an interesting system
dimensions at once. called TERRA FORM, which consists of plastic
sticks and supports which allow different
numbers of sticks to be combined and placed at
any angle. These sticks are used both for defining
the height (as with columns) and crest lines. With
this you create a frame which looks close to the
support struts of a tent. There is even a flexible
stick, which allows you to define crest lines of any
shape.
Grassy Skin
The skeleton core offers the basic outline, but the
final shape is defined by the outer skin. With small
hills and dense skeleton cores, with many
points/lines of support, you can use grass mats as
skin. Grass mats are rather rigid and can really
only be used for relatively smooth slopes.
Sometimes a well-placed cut will help you out of
(or better into) a tight corner. Moistening the
Useable materials.
underside of the mat will give a bit of flexibility.

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Don’t overdo it though because if the mat gets too sound tedious but it is no slower to do than
soggy the grass will swim away! The grass mat can shaping a hill from foam sheets and it is more
be fixed with wood glue, contact glue or hot glue flexible.
– hot glue being the most convenient way.

From left to right: Skeleton-column, skeleton-frame, From left to right: Aluminium mesh, grass mat,
Terra Form, massive. crepe paper, ‘natural’ foam sheet
Between Skin and Bone
In most cases you will need an intermediate layer
between the skeleton core and surface material.
The best choice for this is dense aluminium-mesh
(aluminium is used because many materials used
for the skin are applied wet). The mesh will be
fastened with wood glue or hot glue (the odd
well-placed nail will keep it in place until the glue
is dry). The good thing about the mesh is that it
flows quite naturally and can be shaped/bent
easily to meet your imagination.
Skin
Obviously you can’t flock the mesh, so you will
need an additional layer to act as skin. You can From left to right: Plaster cloth and a patch of rmc,
apply filler or plaster directly, but the method I grass mat, coat of plaster, foam.
prefer is using ‘plaster cloth’, a bandage covered Sheer walls and rocky faces
with plaster which is available in most model Walls of naked stone add to the dramatic nature of
shops. Cut the cloth into strips of about 5 x 20cm. any terrain piece. If you are using a massive core
Dip a strip into water for two seconds and place it you can cut rock faces out of the hill or add them
on the mesh. The cloth will follow the contours of as separate pieces and blend them in. With
the mesh perfectly and you can smooth the cloth skeleton based designs you can only blend them
with your hands to hide where bandages join. If in but it is a good idea to reserve the space for the
you need extra strength use two layers of cloth rock faces when you make the frame and to insert
Crepe Paper them before you add the skin, because this makes
An alternative to mesh is crepe paper; it ‘flows’ the blending easier.
and can be shaped easier than a grass mat, but not Foam Sheets
nearly as well as the mesh/plaster cloth combo. The white pellet based foam is only usable for
Crepe paper can be flocked directly but in some special hills, which use the pellet structure as a
cases the structure will shine through. In those design feature. For natural looking rocks you will
cases or when you want to show a rocky surface a have to use dense foam. Using a knife ‘faze’ the
layer of filler will hide the structure. edges. Then cut a pattern of horizontal and
All inclusive vertical lines and break the resulting blocks out
A sturdy paper enforced with wire is available using the knife. The foam will break along the cuts
from most model shops. Skeleton core and outer and will break with flat areas. By making the lines
skin in one. It is stable enough for small hills. denser in horizontal or vertical directions you can
Besides having the skin built-in you will have to decide the overall appearance of the rock face.
add a layer of filler/plaster or the frame like Another way is to use a knife with a tip. Stick it in,
structure will show through. turn it a bit and break chunks out of the foam. Or
Not As Bad As It Sounds cut junks out of the frame in any other way that
The aforementioned multi-layer approach does you like. When finished, apply a very thin coat of
diluted filler or watery plaster (like milk) using a

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brush. Make sure to

cover all crooks and
crannies.
Rock Face to Sell
Some manufacturers
offer ready made rock
faces. They represent
different
structure/kinds of
rocks and are made
from hard foam. You
cut pieces from a
sheet and glue them
in place using hot glue
or wood glue. If you
heat the foam (from
the underside) using a
hair dryer you can
bend it within certain
limits to cover
corners. If you need
sharper edges then
thin the foam at the bend before heating by Too Real To Be Real
cutting a wedge from the back. If you use more Real stones can be used, but often look wrong.
than one piece (i.e. to follow the flow of a hill) fill Painting them to give them a model like
the gaps with plaster or filler. You can try to copy appearance is a must, but sometimes it is still not
the structure with filler/plaster as well. The Rocky enough to get rid of that 'real stone meets model
walls are already coloured, but to fit in with your look.
terrain better you should repaint them using your Knead A Wall
usual painting scheme. A new way to make a rock face comes from Heki.
Plaster mould They produce a thin sheet of plastic with a rock
Moulds are used to cast walls and rock faces using structure moulded in. Cut out a piece to the
plaster. Moulds are made from latex and come in required size and knead and crumble it to work
different shapes, representing different kinds of out the structure. Finally glue it on using hot glue.
rocks. The plaster for the cast has to be free Because the sheet is very thin you can easily cover
flowing. When you fill in the plaster, first spread a corners and edges. Very simple and efficient.
small amount throughout the mould and only
when the mould’s surface is covered fill up the
mould. Rocking the mould lightly will make
enclosed air leave the plaster. The results are very
good and the pieces can be easily glued in or set
in a bed of plaster. If you have to go around
corners break the cast pieces and arrange them
along the corner/edge and fill the space in
between with plaster/filler.
You can make your own moulds as well, but
usually it is not worth the hassle. Still if you want
to, make sure the models you use are of the right
scale and that the structure isn’t too big and
coarse. I.e. pieces of coal give good surfaces for
model rocks.
Plaster Sculptor
Make the layer of plaster about 1 cm thick and
when dry work out the rock structure with knife
and chisel. Usually you will make quite flat
structures. With a bit or practice this gives good
results.

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Rock Modelling Compound nice. Nonetheless if you want tack sharp

Many model railroad accessory manufacturers highlights let the base colour dry thoroughly
offer special ‘mountain plaster’ or rock modelling overnight
compound. It is prepared and applied like plaster.
If you colour plaster or filler (even if it’s just a thin
Depending on type and manufacturer it comes in
coat brushed on) use a wash (made from wall
different colours and consistency. Common to all
colour thinned down a lot). If the colour isn’t dark
is that the compound produces a rough surface
enough then just apply a second wash. Add
when dry. Some even crack. When coloured they
highlights using dry brushing. Again, the colour
do a good job as naked rock. You can use them as
stays fresh for a long time and to get sharp
well to represent ground for areas of bone dry or
highlights the base colour has to dry thoroughly.
broken earth.
Thinned dark brown (looks a bit like flesh when
Bark
applied to the plaster), ochre, black (grey) are
This is a material from the good old days of model
good choices for your hills. Adding a bit of brown,
railroading. You can buy bark in junks and its
green or blue to black/grey give interesting and
rough surface will give a reasonable
more natural looking hills.
representation of a rock face. Bark is rather soft
and can easily be cut with a knife or saw. Debris and Boulders
Wherever there are steep walls there will be
debris. The best materials to use are stones
themselves. Of course, you can just pick stones
from the garden, but finding the right types is
most tedious. Stones of all sizes and shapes can be
bought in model shops. Aquatic shops are
another great source as they have stones of any
kind for a small amount of money. It’s a good idea
to choose a bag with stones of different sizes. Just
keep in mind that big Warmaster stones might be
called fine by others.
From left to right: Carved foam, cast plaster (top)
rmc (bottom), commercial foam, Heki plastic sheet
surrounded by plaster cloth.
Colouring
If you paint directly onto foam use ordinary wall
paint diluted with water and a shot of washing up
detergent. The base coat can also be done with
water based spray colours from DIY shops. The rest of the ‘rock modelling compound’ (I love
Drybrush to highlight as you see fit this time using this word construct) that stays in the mug will also
undiluted wallpaper colour. The wall colour stays make nice debris. Break it to smaller pieces and
‘fresh’ for a long time, so even when the colour grind it down if still too big.
feels dry the highlights will be soft as the colour Place the bigger stones/pieces first using a bed of
will soak into the base colour. This looks quite wood glue or press them into the plaster while

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Stephan’s finished hill.

wet. Next add the next layer of smaller Running Out of Space…
stones/pieces again using (diluted) wood glue. Just enough space to remind you that hot glue is
You can add as many layers as you like, but use really hot, sharp knives are real sharp and little
smaller and smaller pieces/stones as you go on. To green men from outer space are real green.
get a natural distribution of the smaller stones you
Stay well
put the glue on the last layer and have the stones
roll down the hill. No matter what kind of material Stephan
you use, you will have to paint it to ensure that it
fits in with the overall appearance of your terrain.

And here’s one we did earlier, by Mark Jones in the Studio

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