Domination terrain (WIP)

So, when Domination comes out next month, there is a PP event which I plan on running at my FLGS. The event calls for two pieces of 6" x 15" mountain walls which count as obstructions. Since nothing can actually land on (or in) an obstruction, I decided that I should make some suitably impassible mountains.

So, here is the basic concept:



And, here it is again with a little shaping with a hot wire cutter. (Technically, this is another piece, but you get the idea.)



The steps are a little rough, so my initial plan was to start evening things out a bit with a layer or two of paper mache. It's fairly quick, cheap, and provides a fairly sturdy base with which to work when I get to the next step.



In a discussion on the PP forums about this terrain article, I mentioned that I generally use step hills for gaming, but for my sons model train layout, I use plaster hills because they look better. Because these pieces won't have anything trying to stand on them, I figured I could go for a more realistic look, so I started applying plaster.



But, I forgot how long it could take - I started working on it, and remembered that the fairly small hills on the layout took a fair amount of time to make - mainly waiting for the plaster to dry enough that it could be shaped, but it would mean that there were periods where I would be waiting for these things to dry, and not able to do much else.

So, I scrapped that plan and decided to go another route. . .



Yep. That's tree bark and spackle. I bought 3 cubic feet of tree back, and later today, I am going to buy a 60 pound container of spackle. No, I won't use them all here, but I might go on a terrain-building binge for the rest of the year.

Painting these is going to be a snap. I spray them really well with black (good thing I applied paper mache across the bottom, even though these are mounted on a plasticard strip), and then do quick, random passes with gray, white, and a couple of earth tones. I know what I am going to do for the peaks - I plan on finishing up the bark layers on one of these this afternoon, so I might be able to have a final one done by tonight, depending on how quickly the spackle dries.





The only real disadvantage of these things is that they will be kind of heavy when they are done. On the other hand, it's not as though they will be tipping over and landing on anything, and putting a box of them in the car isn't going to be a real issue anyway.