Terrain Workshop: Ground Cover part 2

And here are the finished samples. In the same order as last time, from upper left to lower right: 1. PVA + sand, 2. 'gloop' (Polyfilla + PVA + sand + acrylic paint), 3. Papier-maché, 4. Papier-maché + sand, 5. Papier-maché + sand + acrylic paint.

All samples except the last one were touched up or painted with raw umber acrylic paint. I skipped the basecoat on the last sample as I thought the pre-colored mix worked so well. The samples were then drybrushed, first with yellow ochre then with yellow ochre + white. The highlights on the last sample were a little lighter as the base color had a lighter tone. Finally the samples were given a dark brown wash with Vallejo Umber Shade to tie everything together. This final wash was maybe a bit too dark for the fifth sample.

Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures at this step as I then raced to sprinkle some static grass mix on the samples. Luckily some areas were left bare so the non-grassy bits should be visible too. Here you can see the results:

1. PVA + sand

2. 'gloop' (Polyfilla + PVA + sand + acrylic paint)

3. Papier-maché

4. Papier-maché + sand

5. Papier-maché + sand + acrylic paint

As you can see, the differences between the different ground textures are lessened when the static-grass is applied. Number 4 warped again after painting. When I tried pushing it back a bit, which had helped a bit previously, it cracked.
I'd like to try premixing the Papier-maché with dry pigment instead of acrylic paint next time. And the 'gloop' mixture could be experimented with a bit. Overall I'm happy with the look of both the 'gloop' and papier-maché. Although the ease of use the gloop will probably make it my method of choice for most cases.

Terrain Workshop: Ground Cover part 1

I have been working on improving my terrain lately. Until now I have been using the quite basic painted sand method, which works quite well for basing miniatures.
After reading up a bit I wanted to try several different methods for ground cover. I have heard good things about both the filler+PVA+sand+paint and Papier-maché methods. I started by preparing five pieces of roughly cut 5x5cm plasticard.

Here we have the different testers. The first one is just plain old PVA with sand strewn on top. Number two is  a mix of polyfilla (filler), PVA, sand and raw umber acrylic paint. Numbers three to five are papier-maché: plain, with sand pressed in and the last one pre-mixed with sand and acrylic paint.

I then painted the first sample, and touched up some areas on the second one that had white plasticard showing through.

1. Sand + PVA

2. Polyfilla + Sand + PVA + Acrylic paint

Another view of #2

The last three samples where a bit of a surprise. I had heard that papier-maché could cause warping, but I never thought such a thin layer would cause so much warping. As you can see, all samples with papier-maché suffered from warping. The last one could even be removed from the plasticard in one piece. This could however prove useful if you'd want thin sheets of ground texture. I guess if using papier-maché you need to use thick material underneath, to prevent warping.

4. Papier-maché + Sand

5. Papier-maché + Sand + Acrylic Paint

Overall, before painting and scatter, I think I'd rank papier-maché as having the best texture followed by the Polyfilla+PVA+sand+paint mix.