Draconis Does….. TerrainFest 2024

28th December 2024

Part way through the test piece it was clear I would need to try something different for the next pools. So I cut some larger base pieces, and decided to build up the boggy ground and edges using powder filler (the sort for doing wall crack repairs)

To start with I scored the mdf to act as a key for the filler for extra grab (more on that later…). I mixed up some sand and added that to the filler, then using my fingers I built up the ground for the boggy pools.

Once it had set I covered it with a layer of PVA, in the hope of strengthening the filler. They were then sprayed black, and overbrushed with a ‘brown mix’ paint that I made many years ago, and is still good (unlike modern GW paint it seems).

Then it was the first pour on one. I perhaps went a little thick here, but it did indicate to me that the base had warped a bit (as the fluid pooled to each side). I think the warp may have been caused by the moist filler expanding the score marks I had made in the surface, causing it to bow. But I decided to push on through.

For the second piece I started out by adding some patches of flock, and a frenchie’s arm to the base. Then some tufts and leaves as well. Then I built up several pour layers, tinting several of them with an earthy brown.

On the first piece the water effects had gone a touch cloudy. As an interim measure (since I expect it will clear over time) I got around the cloudiness by tinting the next layer with brown – it turned the cloudiness into a positive I feel.

Then I just rolled out the finishing stages. Adding some minor flock and leaves between pours. The frenchie’s arm has sort of got lost somewhat though. Then it was three types of flock, some clump foliage and some dried parsley (really liking the result that gives at the moment. I also added part of an old tree (one of the branch pieces from the gnarled GW trees that I built previously) that I had planned to use at the start but forgot 😊.